List of All Articles with Tag 'ball'

Former NFL star Tom Brady has become a minority owner of Championship club Birmingham City. The seven-time Super Bowl champion, recognised as one of the sporting greats, has partnered with the club’s holding company Knighthead Capital Management LLC and becomes chairman of a new advisory board. The club say Brady will “apply his extensive leadership experience and expertise across several components of the club, including working alongside the sports science department to advise on health, nutrition, wellness, and recovery systems and programs”. He said on the club’s official website: “Birmingham is an iconic club with so much history and passion and to be part of the Blues is a real honour for me. “BCFC is built on teamwork and determination and I’m excited to work alongside the board, management and players to make our second-city club second to none. “I’ve been part of some amazing teams in my day, and I’m looking forward to applying my perspective to create that same success here in Birmingham.” Brady has partnered up with Knighthead Capital on several other ventures and new Blues chairman Tom Wagner is looking forward to Brady’s “direct impact”. He said: “Tom Brady joining the Birmingham team is a statement of intent. We are setting the bar at world class. “Tom is both investing and committing his time and extensive expertise. As chair of the advisory board Tom will have a direct impact on the club. The men’s, women’s, and academy teams are going to benefit from the knowledge. “The goal that Tom has committed to own is to make Birmingham a respected leader in nutrition, health, wellness, and recovery across the world of football. “A commitment to Blues fans was made on Monday May 8 2023, to add experts from the world of sport and football to the team, putting in place the building blocks for future success. With Garry Cook as CEO, Hope Powell as women’s technical director and now Tom Brady we are off to a fast start. “Success does not come overnight. It takes time. But when you have great leaders in place everything becomes possible.” Read More A new era for old empires? How a summer of rebuilding could change the Premier League Man United join Lavia chase as midfield transfers shape the market Liverpool left with midfield muddle – but Reds have reason for optimism A new era for old empires? How a summer of rebuilding could change the Premier League Man United join Lavia chase as midfield transfers shape the market Liverpool left with midfield muddle – but Reds have reason for optimism

Former NFL star Tom Brady has become a minority owner of Sky Bet Championship club Birmingham. The seven-time Super Bowl champion, recognised as one of the sporting greats, has partnered with the club’s holding company Knighthead Capital Management LLC and becomes chairman of a new advisory board. The club say Brady will “apply his extensive leadership experience and expertise across several components of the club, including working alongside the sports science department to advise on health, nutrition, wellness, and recovery systems and programs”. He said on the club’s official website: “Birmingham is an iconic club with so much history and passion and to be part of the Blues is a real honour for me. “BCFC is built on teamwork and determination and I’m excited to work alongside the board, management and players to make our second-city club second to none. “I’ve been part of some amazing teams in my day, and I’m looking forward to applying my perspective to create that same success here in Birmingham.” Brady has partnered up with Knighthead Capital on several other ventures and new Blues chairman Tom Wagner is looking forward to Brady’s “direct impact”. He said: “Tom Brady joining the Birmingham team is a statement of intent. We are setting the bar at world class. “Tom is both investing and committing his time and extensive expertise. As chair of the advisory board Tom will have a direct impact on the club. The men’s, women’s, and academy teams are going to benefit from the knowledge. “The goal that Tom has committed to own is to make Birmingham a respected leader in nutrition, health, wellness, and recovery across the world of football. “A commitment to Blues fans was made on Monday May 8 2023, to add experts from the world of sport and football to the team, putting in place the building blocks for future success. With Garry Cook as CEO, Hope Powell as women’s technical director and now Tom Brady we are off to a fast start. “Success does not come overnight. It takes time. But when you have great leaders in place everything becomes possible.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Football rumours: Manchester United enter race to sign Southampton’s Romeo Lavia On this day 2014: Lizzie Armitstead and Geraint Thomas celebrate road race gold Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus to miss start of season after knee surgery

New faces, same issues. Pre-season is not the proving ground, more the moment to set the tone of what’s to come and, where needed, prune and alter approaches. For Liverpool, this summer is shaping up to be more of a change than manager Jurgen Klopp had expected, but perhaps just enough of the same remains to serve as a reminder that alterations were required before and that is still the case now. On the one hand, that isn’t unexpected. Defensive issues plagued the season in 2022/23, even among the improvement of the final third of the campaign, and while the new in-possession shape has brought definite improvements on the ball, it was still jarring and lacking cohesion by late May. Fast forward a few mostly meaningless games and that same mix of output remains on show – and that’s all the more the case after a totally new midfield trio looks to be in place once the 23/24 Premier League season starts. Wednesday’s friendly 4-3 defeat with Bayern Munich showed the good and the bad of the past few months, in the most relevant and difficult encounter of the summer for the Anfield club: great interplay at times, plenty of players in goalscoring areas, ragged running back against transitions and a mix-up in responsibilities inside the defensive third. New signings Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister look increasingly likely to start the campaign as the two advanced midfielders, left and right-sided respectively. The former appears to have brought more of his A-game so far, showing good ball-carrying and chance creation, but sheer numbers probably dictate they’ll both be in the line-up anyway – six senior midfield options have left since last season, with just those two through the door so far. Behind them, Curtis Jones once more operated as the No.6, the stand-in replacement for the departed Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, having starred for two or three months last term in the left-sided role now occupied by his new Hungarian teammate. Between the trio, the build-up approach, playing from deep and manipulation of the ball around a press can at times look exceptional. Jones in particular can be seen taking more risks in individual movements than his predecessors did, but against that comes his lack of natural positional awareness and lesser tenacity in ball-winning. Certainly, the latter is a big trait currently missing in the Reds’ heart of operations, along with aerial ability and overall aggression to get goal-side against counter-attacks or direct balls over them from deep. Of more importance remains the ability for the team to organise itself after Trent Alexander-Arnold roves centrally or beyond the midfield line, in his still-new, impactful style. Two of Bayern’s goals came in this regard while he was still on the pitch; one more came down that side after the new vice-captain departed. It’s clearly an area that Klopp and his coaches have not yet reached a consensus on, or else been able to transmit to the players who is responsible for each area according to different phases of play: the person covering centre-back if the right-sided defender is pulled across, where Alexander-Arnold himself is most effective getting back to and where the left-back needs to track if runners are both centrally and on his side. Andy Robertson has been a victim of this indecision and lack of clarity more than once, and the same proved true against Bayern, missing a tackle and tracking a runner in the wrong area before a goal ends up being scored from his side of the box. And yet so much of this is a knock-on from the No.6, the defensive midfielder. Jones has impressed on the ball and has the diligence to fight for a place in the team, yet again, and his summer with the England U21 team saw him get game-time in that role. But runners surging past him, still-to-improve tackling technique and just the natural inclination to be in place against the best central passers and runners are, naturally, not going to be his forte. Should he remain in place for the opening league match of the season, Chelsea vs Liverpool could be an epic opener for the top flight: both have clear attacking excellence, but neither have secured the ball-winner in the middle they desire. It could be that Romeo Lavia or an alternative arrive at Anfield between now and then, leaving Klopp to decide between the lack of cohesion between three new signings who have never played together – but one has natural defensive tendencies – or three players who are new to their roles in this team, but one who at least has had a regular role over the past few months. Either way, it won’t be perfect. And either way, the set-up doesn’t yet look fully prepared for the rigours of bigger challenges ahead– just as was the case three months ago, albeit with very different faces in place. Read More Jurgen Klopp wanted a midfield change at Liverpool – instead he got a revolution Man United join Romeo Lavia chase as midfield transfers look set to shape the market Klopp hits out at the Saudi Arabian transfer window length: ‘Not helpful’ Man United join Lavia chase as midfield transfers shape the market A new era for old empires? How a summer of rebuilding could change the Premier League Liverpool transfer news: Lavia, Andre, Doucoure, Thiago and more

The final day of group stage action takes place in the Women’s World Cup as Colombia, Germany and Morocco all hope to reach the last-16. Colombia have the best chance after their shock victory over Germany in their previous outing. Manuela Vanegas scored a dramatic 97th-minute winner to put the South America side top of Group H and needing just a point to ensure they progress to the knockout rounds. They take on Morocco who have hopes of causing an upset of their own. The African side currently sit third in the table on the same amount of points as Germany. To have any chance of making it out of the group they need to defeat Colombia, by a big margin and hope the Germans drop points. Meanwhile, Germany have the easiest task on paper. South Korea are bottom of the group having lost their opening two fixtures. A win for Alexandra Popp and co. should be enough to get them through thanks to their healthy goal difference yet they may have to settle for second place. Check out our best bets and predictions for Thursday’s matches. Elsewhere, Lauren James shone again on with two stunning goals as England put in their best performance of the Women’s World Cup so far earlier this week to sweep aside China 6-1 and march into the last 16. The Lionesses are now preparing for a clash with Nigeria for a place in the quarter-finals. Follow all the latest news and match updates below: Read More Genius Lauren James takes over Women’s World Cup — but England must learn from rivals Sarina Wiegman’s brave England switch solves key Women’s World Cup problem USA’s narrow escape spells the end of Women’s World Cup dominance

What the papers say Manchester United have joined Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in the race for Belgian midfielder Romeo Lavia, according to the Independent. Liverpool had their bid rejected by Southampton and United look like they will swoop in to try and lure the 19-year-old to the club. Aston Villa look to be interested in American Tyler Adams and are willing to reach Leeds’ £25million release clause to free up the 24-year-old midfielder, the Daily Mail says. The Telegraph reports that Bournemouth look like the favourites to sign Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott, beating Wolves to matching the £25m transfer fee. Turkish club Besiktas are in talks with former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose contract with Liverpool expired this summer, according to the Daily Express. The Manchester Evening News says the confirmation of Manchester United’s big-money capture of Rasmus Hojlund could be delayed after the 20-year-old arrived in the north west later than planned. Social media round-up Players to watch Kylian Mbappe: The 24-year-old told Chelsea he would be open to playing with them but only for one year and only if they agree to let him move to Real Madrid on a free transfer next year, Spanish media outlet Sport says. Gianluca Scamacca: The Evening Standard reports that Inter Milan are raising their bid to £21.5m for the West Ham striker.

Former Northwestern University offensive lineman Ramon Diaz is suing the school and its recently fired football coach Pat Fitzgerald over allegations of racism and hazing during his time on the team -- joining a succession of similar accusations against the university's athletic programs.

Hunter Dekkers, the starting quarterback for all 12 Iowa State football games last season, is among several athletes who have been charged in Iowa district court in Story County in connection with an investigation into alleged student-athlete gambling at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa.

Gabriel Jesus will miss the start of the Premier League campaign after Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta confirmed the forward has undergone a minor operation. The Brazil international missed three months of last season after suffering a knee injury at the World Cup. Jesus impressed following his move from Manchester City last summer but now faces a short spell on the sidelines after going under the knife after “irritation” with the original knee issue. “Unfortunately, he had a little procedure this morning,” Arteta said after Arsenal’s penalty shoot-out win over Monaco in the Emirates Cup. “He had some discomfort in his knee that has been causing some issues and they had to go in and resolve it. It is not something major but he looks to be out for a few weeks I think. “It is a big blow because we had him back to his best, especially the way he played against Barcelona, and he was in good condition and we lost him. “But he has been feeling some discomfort in the last few weeks and we had to look at it, we had to make a decision and the best one is to protect the player and get him back as quick as possible so we decided to do it. “It is something related to the previous injury that he had and the surgery. He had some irritation in the knee and we had to get it resolved.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Manchester City are closing in on a 90million euro (£77.5million) deal for RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol, according to reports. Leipzig were said to be holding out for a fee of 100m euros (£86m) for the Croatia international. However, it appears City have been able to push the transfer through and Gvardiol is expected have a medical later this week. Gvardiol would add competition on the left side of City’s defence, having helped Croatia reach the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup and then the final of the Nations League, where they were beaten by Spain. Midfielder Mateo Kovacic is so far City’s only summer signing, with the Croatian having moved from Chelsea during June. City saw captain Ilkay Gundogan leave for Barcelona on a free transfer and Riyad Mahrez last week completed a switch to Saudi Arabia club Al-Ahli in a £30m deal. The Premier League champions will take on Arsenal in the FA Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

Lauren James headed into this summer’s Women’s World Cup having emphasised her desire to make a name for herself – and she has certainly done so with the performances that have followed. There was already a considerable buzz around the 21-year-old forward – the younger sister of fellow England and Chelsea player Reece James – in the build-up to her first major tournament as a senior international. And during the Lionesses pre-tournament preparations she spoke about wanting to carve out her own name, saying: “I do feel like that, a lot. “Even just, ‘that’s Lauren James, that’s Reece’s sister’ – I want to carve that out and be known as, ‘this is Lauren James’.” James also said the advice she had received from Reece was to “just enjoy it, have fun, try and score goals”. And she looks to be having the time of her life so far at the global showpiece in Australia and New Zealand, having registered three superb goals in England’s group-stage matches, plus three assists, to truly announce herself. The early stages of James’ journey to this point saw her spend time in Chelsea’s academy before moving on to Arsenal and making her debut aged 16 in October 2017. After a handful of appearances for the Gunners, she left to join Manchester United in 2018 when they were relaunched as a professional outfit in the Championship. And she went on to play a major role as the Red Devils secured promotion to the Women’s Super League at the first attempt, scoring 14 goals in 18 league appearances in the 2018-19 season. She netted the club’s first ever WSL goal at the start of the following campaign, was nominated for the Professional Footballers’ Association young player of the year award after it finished and a year later a reunion came about as she rejoined Chelsea. James had had injury troubles at United, and had limited game time in her first season back with Chelsea. She then impressed as a regular in the team last term as the west Londoners once again won a WSL and FA Cup double, and reached the Champions League semi-finals. And she has paid tribute to Blues boss Emma Hayes for helping her get “back to being myself again”, adding: “I had two years of just like constant injuries. She managed me well and it’s allowed me to find my feet again.” As well as scoring eight goals in all competitions for Chelsea in 2022-23, she also made an England breakthrough, having already represented her country at under-17 and under-19 level and been part of a senior training camp in 2020. Boss Sarina Wiegman handed James a debut off the bench in England’s first match after winning the Euros, the 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Austria last September. She then took the player of the tournament of award when Wiegman’s side retained the Arnold Clark Cup in February, scoring her maiden England goal in the 4-0 victory over South Korea that kicked the campaign off. Inclusion in the World Cup squad – and being named young player of the year at the inaugural Women’s Football Awards – followed in May, and it would be fair to say that James has since lived up her billing as one to watch at the tournament. After coming on as a substitute when England beat Haiti 1-0 in their Group D opener, James then came into the starting line-up for the second pool match against Denmark and scored a delightful winner, curling in what proved the only goal of the game with a shot from outside the box in the sixth minute. She then produced an even more eye-catching display as China were thrashed 6-1 on Tuesday, notching a brace with two more wonderful strikes, seeing another ruled out for offside, and setting three goals up. The youngster labelled “cheat code” by her team-mates became the first England player of either gender to be directly involved in five or more goals in a World Cup match – a rising star shining brighter than ever, who after the China game said that “for sure, there is more to come from me”. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Jose Maria Olazabal named as Luke Donald’s fourth vice-captain for Ryder Cup Jac Morgan leads Wales against England as Warren Gatland ponders captain options England docked 19 WTC points and players fined for slow over-rates during Ashes

The new football season is nearly upon us and it’s just over a week before the Premier League returns. After a poor season last year, which saw Liverpool miss out on Champions League football this term, the Reds have been undergoing a midfield rebuild this summer. Ageing players like Jordan Henderson and Fabinho have moved to the Saudi Pro League with manager Jurgen Klopp bringing in replacements in the forms of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister. Liverpool have done there business early in this transfer window and will hope their new signings can hit the ground running. Szoboszlai and Mac Allister will form the basis of Liverpool’s starting XI this season and start alongside each for the first time in pre-season today. The Reds face their toughest test as they take on the Bundesliga champions and have named a strong line-up. Follow all the action as Liverpool take on Bayern Munich in Singapore: Read More Liverpool name Virgil van Dijk as new captain after Jordan Henderson exit Klopp hits out at the Saudi Arabian transfer window length: ‘Not helpful’ Jurgen Klopp responds after Kylian Mbappe to Liverpool rumours

Rachel Daly revealed her pre-match premonition about England team-mate Lauren James came true on Tuesday night after the Chelsea prodigy scored twice and picked up three assists in the 6-1 victory over China at the World Cup. James, 21, became the first England player of either gender to be directly involved in five or more goals in a World Cup match as the Lionesses clinched top of group D to set up a last-16 meeting with Nigeria in Brisbane on Monday. Daly was one of five Lionesses who got their names on the scoresheet at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium, where boss Sarina Wiegman switched to an inspired 3-5-2 system in the wake of an undisclosed knee injury to midfield maestro Keira Walsh. Versatile Daly, who happily occupied an unfamiliar left wing-back role in the shake-up, said: “I will just say one thing, last night (Monday) we were walking round the pitch and we have come out of here and there’s the ‘player of the match’ sign as you walk out. I said: ‘Have a look at that kid, because that will be you tomorrow night’. “That’s how much we back her! She is unbelievable. I have got no more words to say about her. She is growing and growing and the most important thing is we keep around her. “She is a young player at the end of the day and she’s learning every day. She can pick up little bits from the older players, but she is LJ – and she’s brilliant. 'Cheat code' as everyone is calling her. That's what she is Rachel Daly on Lauren James “She has got great technical ability, but those (goals) come out in training all the time. It’s nothing new for us. “Like I said the other day, it’s just nice for the rest of the world to see how good she is. ‘Cheat code’ as everyone is calling her. That’s what she is.” England only scored once in each of their first two group-stage victories, first through Georgia Stanway’s penalty against Haiti before James netted six minutes into her first World Cup start, ultimately enough for three points against Denmark. Tournament veteran Daly – who started every game of England’s European championship-winning campaign – had called for patience earlier in the week over concerns that the Lionesses were not living up to their world number four billing, particularly in attack against a Haiti side 49 places below them in FIFA’s world rankings. Others joined her, often accompanying the call with a reminder that this was not the same squad that lifted the trophy at Wembley 367 days ago, following the retirements of Ellen White and Jill Scott and injuries to Beth Mead, Fran Kirby and Leah Williamson. Walsh, who was also part of that triumph, remained at England base camp on Tuesday after it was determined she did not injure her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), though her status for the remainder of the tournament remains unclear. Daly said: “I think obviously there has been a lot of criticism about us not being ruthless enough. “I said we would grow into the games and it’s tournament football. It’s not about the first, second, third win, it’s how we grow into it. “We knew it would come and that it would only be a matter of time before we scored goals – and there were some unbelievable goals on display (against China). “I think (the formation change) is what tournament football is all about. We have got that in our locker now. “We know that we can do that system and keep growing and working on that. “We obviously can revert back to type with a 4-3-3. It’s another weapon in the armoury.”