Shan Masood is set to lead Pakistan in the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. The PCB reaffirmed its confidence in the current Test captain after Masood met with PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, along with Pakistan’s red-ball coach Azhar Mahmood.A PCB statement said Masood and Mahmood have been given “free hand” of the Test side, without elaborating what specifically that entails. The captain and coach are not in the selection committee for the Test side, which comprises a five-member panel including Aleem Dar, Aqib Javed, Asad Shafiq, and Azhar Ali.There was speculation on Masood’s future after the 2023-25 WTC cycle, where Pakistan finished bottom of the table. He was captain for the entirety of that cycle. Last month, when the PCB announced player contracts for the 2025-26 season, Masood was demoted from the ‘B’ category to ‘D’, the lowest rung of central contracts.Related
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In that time, the position of Pakistan’s Test coach underwent several changes, including the brief reign of Jason Gillespie, which ended on acrimonious terms. In that context, the PCB’s declaration of confidence in Masood represents a major upswing his fortunes and the possibility of a fresh start. He is Pakistan’s longest-serving current captain, with the ODI and T20I captaincy changing hands multiple times since he took over the red-ball side.While consistency with the bat has remained elusive, Masood made useful contributions at the top of the order, having established himself as an opener over the last four Tests following an extended stint at No. 3. Two big hundreds, one at home against England and one in South Africa, took his average into the mid 30s; it is higher as captain than it has ever been under any other skipper. However, Test wins have been in short supply under Masood, with Pakistan losing nine of 12 matches.Masood’s first test of the new WTC cycle is against defending WTC champions South Africa, who play two Tests in Pakistan in October.
It was more than 2500 days between IPL fifties, but Nair had churned out runs away from the limelight
Karthik Krishnaswamy14-Apr-20253:33
Nair: If team doesn’t win, your individual runs have no value
“Dear cricket, give me one more chance.”Karun Nair tweeted this on December 10, 2022, when he was at his lowest ebb as a cricketer. Here was a Test-match triple-centurion and a giant of the domestic game – a central figure in back-to-back treble-winning seasons for Karnataka – left out of his state team, across formats. He had only just turned 31.It was only natural, then, that this tweet gained a lot of traction on Sunday, April 13, 2025. Nair had played his first IPL game in nearly three years, and scored his first IPL half-century in nearly seven years – 2520 days, to be precise, the longest gap between IPL fifties for anyone, ever.
Our hearts are full pic.twitter.com/cau5zlrmcE
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) April 13, 2025
Cricket, for all that, had given Nair plenty of chances between that tweet and this game. He had had to wait a full season and move to a new team before making his domestic comeback, but had, thereafter, scored more runs (3035) and hundreds (12) than anyone else in India’s first-class, List A and T20 domestic competitions. This included an otherworldly season of 50-overs cricket in which he scored five hundreds in eight innings and averaged a ridiculous 389.50. He had won a Ranji Trophy and reached a Vijay Hazare Trophy final with Vidarbha. On top of all that, he had played 10 County Championship matches across two seasons for Northamptonshire and scored 736 runs at 56.61.For a lot of viewers, though, Sunday night was that one more chance Nair had been waiting for. Only hardcore fans follow cricket outside international matches and the IPL, and this dictates media coverage of the game, which in turn dictates where the eyeballs go, which in turn dictates…Related
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All this creates a sense among the wider cricket-consuming public that while domestic cricket exists and matters, it only matters in a stepping-stone kind of way. When India calls someone up after three or four strong seasons for their state team, news reports usually frame the story in a “, X is rewarded for years of domestic ” kind of way.And so, here was Nair, getting one more chance, finally. Here he was, introduced for the first time in IPL 2025, in DC’s fifth game of the season, introduced as an Impact Player at 0 for 1 in a chase of 206.For all the runs and hundreds he’d scored leading up to this moment, though, there was still reason for Nair’s fans to feel a bit of trepidation. He had had his share of sparkling moments in 76 previous IPL games, but on the whole his time in the tournament had been stop-start, with more stop than start. He’d come back now, having unlocked a new level of prolific in domestic cricket, but he was about to face Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah in a 200-plus chase.Before he could face those two, though, he had to survive a tricky first ball, a pinpoint inswinging yorker from Deepak Chahar. And he did this in a way that portended good things, radiating a sense of stillness and certainty, seeming to have all the time in the world to move his front leg out of the ball’s way and bring a straight bat down to keep it out.Karun Nair had a rollicking time batting against Jasprit Bumrah•Getty Images”Quite honestly, I had the confidence that I’ve played before and I know how it’s going to be, and it’s nothing different, and I’m not going to be facing anything new,” Nair said in his post-match press conference. “But in my mind it was just about going out there and giving myself a few balls and just getting used to the speed of the game and the atmosphere.”I just told myself, give yourself time, play normal shots, and then improvise when needed, and fortunately everything came off.”His innings was true to those words, except the normal shots he played at the start came with abnormal levels of timing and poise. He hit three fours off the first four legal balls he faced from Boult – he had only faced three balls before this – and each of them was a normal shot, but you need to be in eerily good rhythm to play them the way Nair did.
“I felt confident, I felt like I’m well-prepared to play in the IPL if given the opportunity, so it was all about me preparing the way that I have been all through the season, and waiting for my chance”Karun Nair
The first was a square drive off a good-length ball angled away from him, and all he did was lean on the ball and meet it with a slightly open bat-face. Everything hinged on the moment of contact with the ball: it happened right under Nair’s eyes, and it coincided perfectly with his transfer of weight from back foot to front. The same, impeccable timing went into another drive three balls later, this time between cover point and short cover, and in between there was a gorgeous square cut that showcased one of Nair’s greatest gifts, his ability to use his hands to manipulate his bat face to place the ball just so.A tick next to the box marked Boult; now how would he go against Bumrah? The answer: nine balls, 26 runs, three fours, two sixes. Here again was the same sense of stillness, but taken up a notch, because Bumrah was trying to wrench him out of shape with his changes of pace. They had no effect on Nair: he was seeing the ball beautifully, holding his shape until the ball reached him, and dispatching it where he pleased, with high-elbow lofts, flat-bat swats and wristy steers through and over the off side and, best of all, an effortless short-arm whip over square leg for six.2:05
Jaffer: Would like to see Karun go for the England Tests
And there was one major difference between his set-ups against Boult and Bumrah. Against Boult, he adopted a conventional trigger movement that took his back foot to off stump. Against Bumrah, his back foot went the other way, starting on middle stump and moving to leg. This was a man with a plan, fully prepared to seize this moment.”I felt confident, I felt like I’m well-prepared to play in the IPL if given the opportunity, so it was all about me preparing the way that I have been all through the season, and waiting for my chance,” Nair said. “I was doing my bit to prepare and be ready for the game, and then it’s always a tough call for the team management to pick 11 or 12 players. I’ve always respected that, and for me it’s about preparing and keeping the same process that I’ve followed, which has worked for me, and just being ready to go out there and perform for the team.”Every player will tell you that it’s all about the process, and while you might be tired of hearing it, it remains key to long-term success. It’s a truth that’s particularly hard for batters to internalise, because theirs is a pursuit marked by constant failure. Figuring out the processes that best worked for him – in training, in the middle, perhaps even in life – may well have been what took Nair from a lavishly gifted, high-ceiling batter who often went through frustrating spells of inconsistency and turned him to the run machine of recent years. All those runs and centuries in domestic cricket, in India and England, were both a byproduct of these processes and a means of reinforcing and refining them.Karun Nair showed his full range against the class of Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah•AFP/Getty ImagesBy the time Sunday night happened, Nair seemed fully secure in the knowledge of who he was and what he was capable of.This latter encompassed quite a range: from the stillness and “normal” shots against MI’s quicks in the powerplay to breathtaking improvisation behind the wicket when the fields spread out.Nair has made quick runs in the IPL in the past: his previous fifty, for Kings XI Punjab (as they were still known then) against Chennai Super Kings in 2018, had also come at a 200-plus strike rate. Perhaps never before, though, had this tournament witnessed this full flourishing of his talent.At 33, Nair had grabbed this chance that the IPL had given him. He was primed to do so, though, having grabbed all the other chances cricket had given him since that doleful December day.
You could feel the elation rippling from the pitch. It was palpable. It was a reminder of what this squad are capable of doing to the best teams in the world. Liverpool had beaten Real Madrid in the Champions League for the second year running.
Following the professional win over Aston Villa to stop the rot of a four-match skid in the Premier League, head coach Arne Slot must have felt his side had turned a corner, but last weekend’s sobering loss at Manchester City showed the Reds have merely gone in circles.
Liverpool were outfought across every inch of the Etihad Stadium, and Slot will be chagrined after being outplayed by Pep Guardiola on the tactical chessboard. Granted, he’s not the first coach to lose such a battle against the Spaniard.
But the Reds are struggling to do the basics, and are such a far cry from the level of last season, when they dispatched so many opponents and won the league title with relative ease.
Tactical imbalances have been clear all season, and it’s obvious that Liverpool are missing Luis Diaz, who is doing so well with Bayern Munich this season.
If the problems continue for Slot, FSG may be forced to sign a new version of the Colombian.
Liverpool looking to replace Diaz
Florian Wirtz’s struggles since leaving Bayer Leverkusen and joining Liverpool for £116m this summer have been well documented.
The German playmaker, 22, is one of the most talented footballers out there, but he’s yet to find the physicality and fluency to succeed in the Premier League, and he might want to take a leaf from Diaz’s book in that regard.
Aside from Diaz’s potency in the final third, he is relentless in his work rate and rapid besides, adding width and dynamism down the flank. Liverpool need some of that, and appear to have found a candidate.
Indeed, according to Spanish sources, sporting director Richard Hughes has registered Liverpool’s interest in Real Madrid star Rodrygo, who has fallen well down the pecking order under Xabi Alonso.
Arsenal and Chelsea are also keen on the Brazil international, while Manchester City’s intrigue was confirmed by Fabrizio Romano this summer.
Florentino Perez wants €90m (£79m) for the versatile forward, but given his reduced role at Real Madrid over the past year or so, FSG would likely push to whittle down that hefty price tag.
What Rodrygo would offer Liverpool
Rodrygo finished the 2024/25 campaign at a low ebb. A few terms ago, the 24-year-old was regarded as one of the best wingers in the world, but a limited role at Real has precluded that tag from staying put.
This season, Alonso has handed Rodrygo only three starts across La Liga and the Champions League. He hasn’t yet scored, racking up two assists on the continent. This all points toward a divorce from the Santiago Bernabeu, for this is one of the most exciting and talented wide forwards in Europe, and he should have a role at a side that reflects that.
Liverpool could offer him this. Slot wanted to provide Rio Ngumoha with a pathway to the first team during the summer, and that is ostensibly why Diaz was not directly replaced.
This has proved a mistake, with the 17-year-old as yet untrusted to start games and feature prominently.
Rodrygo has the maturity and the world experience to not just challenge Wirtz and Cody Gakpo for a starting berth but stake his claim for a starring role deep into the Anfield pitch.
Sometimes, statistics must be viewed through a wider context. Take Rodrygo’s woes in the Spanish top flight last year, only scoring six goals and supplying six assists across 30 matches.
Poor, right? Well, Rodrygo was only afforded 12 starts by Carlo Ancelotti, and Sofascore data suggests he missed just one big chance, underscoring his clinical nature.
Real Madrid's Rodrygo
Furthermore, the South American maverick posted six goals and assists apiece from left wing last year, despite only being handed a berth on that side 12 times across all competitions. At Liverpool, it is the left which beckons, and there he could refashion that world-renowned status that has been seen on the biggest stages before.
And even after this testing period, Rodrygo’s underlying quality does not lie, evidenced through many tactical similarities with Diaz across the past 12 months.
Goals
0.31
0.47
Assists
0.23
0.20
Shots taken
2.78
2.92
Shot-creating actions
4.71
4.21
Pass completion %
85.4
83.0
Touches (att pen)
6.49
6.27
Progressive passes
4.40
4.21
Progressive carries
5.91
3.73
Successful take-ons
2.47
1.98
Ball recoveries
3.75
4.40
Tackles + interceptions
2.09
1.36
It’s curious to note that the tactical differences between the two are not that great. And this in spite of Rodrygo having fallen to the Los Blancos fringes well before the managerial shift this summer.
With Alonso at the helm, it’s patent that Rodrygo will not enjoy the regular minutes that his talent deserves. After all, Luka Modric once described him as being among the club’s “world-class superstars”.
Diaz has found remarkable prolificness since switching Liverpool for Bavaria in August, and while such levels were rarely sustained at Liverpool, with the Premier League notoriously difficult, there’s no denying Liverpool miss Diaz and his athletic profile.
Rodrygo could be the perfect tonic to turn the ship around. After all, Alonso doesn’t seem to want him, and Liverpool require just the profile.
Whether the Reds manage to pull off an audacious winter swoop is anyone’s guess, but Premier League rivals are also on the hunt, and Hughes needs to pull something off if this season is to be viewed as a success.
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“We have to take responsibility,” Charith Asalanka says of Dasun Shanaka and himself after they fell off back-to-back deliveries at a crucial stage of the game
Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Sep-20251:39
What went wrong for Sri Lanka’s batters?
The back-to-back wickets in the eighth over of Sri Lanka’s innings swung this Asia Cup Super Four match towards Pakistan – this was how Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka, who was the first of the two batters to be dismissed in that passage, saw it.Sri Lanka had been 58 for 3 after 7.1 overs, when Asalanka was caught at deep square-leg off the bowling of Hussain Talat. Next ball, Dasun Shanaka poked at a delivery in the channel and sent a thin edge to the wicketkeeper. Sri Lanka were suddenly five down with more than 60% of the overs remaining. The limped to 133 for 8 in the end.”Although we didn’t get a great start from the openers, at the end of the powerplay we still had 53 runs. We’d lost three wickets, but we were still in a good place, because it’s not easy to score that many in the powerplay,” Asalanka said. “But then myself and Dasun got out off successive deliveries, and that was when the biggest damage was done.Related
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“Neither Dasun or I were going for big shots when we got out. I was trying to put the ball into a gap, but ended up top-edging it. Dasun also played a normal shot first up. But we have to take responsibility.”That Sri Lanka managed to have something to bowl at was down to Kamindu Mendis, who hit 50 off 44 balls, with support from Wanindu Hasaranga and Chamika Karunaratne.”We lost five wickets in the first half of our innings, and against these kinds of teams it’s really hard to come back from that,” Asalanka said. “Kamindu and the others fought hard, but Wanindu also got out at a bad time, when it had felt like we could get to 150. In the end it was not enough.”Sri Lanka are very nearly out of the tournament now, having suffered two big losses in the Super Four stage. They had strengthened their bowling for this match, dropping Kamil Mishara for Karunaratne. Asalanka identified balancing his team as perhaps the primary problem facing Sri Lanka ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup.”We’ve had lots of issues with our combinations, and that’s something we have to get right ahead of the World Cup,” he said. “We tried going with an extra bowler today, but we lost a specialist batsman because of that, and didn’t score the runs we needed. Other times we’ve played an extra batsman and couldn’t defend a score with the ball.”We need to figure out how to consistently score 180 to 200, and also how to use the part-time bowlers – myself, Dasun, Kamindu Mendis – better. Those are things we need to improve in the future.”
While they haven’t been perfect, Arsenal have been far and away the best team in the Premier League this season.
Mikel Arteta’s side are sitting four points clear of second place, and while the attack is yet to click fully, the rest of the team have been exceptional.
One of the standout stars, as was the case last year and the season before that, has been Declan Rice.
The England international has been a difference maker on more than one occasion so far, and so fans should be delighted about reports linking Arsenal to someone who could be another Rice-type signing.
Arsenal target another Declan Rice
There are a few stars in contention for Arsenal’s Player of the Season thus far, and Rice is undoubtedly one of them.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
On top of becoming even more of an attacking threat in that left-eight position he moved into last season, the former West Ham United captain has shown more of that defensive steel he was famous for, dropping into a double pivot on several occasions with Martin Zubimendi.
So with the Englishman thriving in all phases of play, it’s not a surprise to see Arsenal moving for another player of his ilk, an international star in the making: Adam Wharton.
At least that is according to a recent report from Spain, which claims the Gunners are one of several sides keen to sign the Crystal Palace star.
The report has revealed that, alongside the North Londoners, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United are racing to sign the 21-year-old, while Real Madrid are also keeping tabs on the situation.
However, on top of beating out the competition, the Gunners will have to stump up around £100m to tempt the Eagles into selling the jewel in their crown.
With all that said, Wharton’s immense ability and potential make him a player worth pushing the boat out for, particularly after an impressive first start for his country during November’s international break.
Why Wharton would be another Rice for Arsenal
Described as “the best U21 player in the Prem” by one analyst, if Arsenal were to bring Wharton to the Emirates in January, it would be another example of them poaching a highly rated central midfielder from another Premier League side.
Moreover, they would once again be taking a non-big six London-based outfit’s best English central midfielder.
Finally, it would be the second time within a three-year period that the North Londoners spend north of £100m to do so.
Now, beyond what would make the deals so similar, what makes the Palace ace analogous to the former West Ham star?
Well, like his older compatriot was at the time of his move, the 21-year-old ace is very highly rated, with former Sky Sports employee Matthew Stanger labelling him a “generational talent” and one CONCACAF B certified coach dubbing him “the best deep-lying English midfielder since Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick.”
While that is indeed supreme praise, it’s easy to see where it has come from, as much like the 72-capped England star, he is capable of doing more than just sitting deep and shielding the back four.
For example, FBref ranks him in the top 1% of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues for expected assisted goals, the top 4% for key passes, the top 5% for through balls, the top 10% for shot-creating actions, and more, all per 90 minutes.
Wharton’s Scout Report
Statistics
Per 90
Percentile
Key Passes
2.07
Top 4%
Through Balls
0.58
Top 5%
Expected Assists
0.22
Top 6%
Inswinging Corner Kicks
1.29
Top 7%
Shot-Creating Actions
3.75
Top 10%
Crosses into Penalty Area
0.26
Top 13%
Goal-Creating Actions
0.39
Top 17%
Crosses
2.78
Top 18%
All Stats via FBref
Additionally, he has already won three senior caps for the Three Lions, and played a pivotal role in the Eagles winning the FA Cup last season – the first major honour in their history.
Ultimately, it is still early in his career, but Wharton looks to be a superstar in the making, and under someone like Arteta, could develop into another Rice-type monster.
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She hopes for a good start to the tournament, but SL’s first five games are against India, Australia, England, NZ and SA
Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Sep-2025
Chamari Attapaththu looks at and dreams about lifting the World Cup trophy•AFP/Getty Images
Chamari Athapaththu would do anything to get Sri Lanka to the semi-final of this Women’s ODI World Cup. No Sri Lanka team has managed this over 11 years, at an ICC event, and the women’s team has never got there. Athapaththu has long been the talisman of this side, but feels she has the young players in her side now, who can excel in their own right.”More than in the other tournaments, I’m pretty relaxed in this one,” Athapaththu said in Colombo. “The youngsters have been performing – Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, and Kavisha Dilhari, are all batting well. So more than other times, I’m able to relax a bit.”Gunaratne, Dilhari, and Samarawickrama had all played important roles in Sri Lanka’s chart to an Asia Cup victory at home, though that was in the T20 format. Still, that was enough to inspire more trust from Athapaththu, who suggested she would be more fearless in the first 10 overs.Related
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“I’m going to be playing the game I play in the powerplay,” Athapaththu said. “Then, after that, the challenge is to figure out how I can change gears and do more damage. My one aim is to get Sri Lanka into the semi finals. Before I retire, what I want is to take Sri Lanka to a semi-final. If we can get there, we can figure out the next steps. But even getting there is big.”On paper, Sri Lanka have no easy games, especially at the start of their campaign. Their World Cup begins against India on September 30 in the tournament opener in Guwahati before matches in Colombo against Australia on October 4, England on October 11, New Zealand on October 14 and South Africa on October 18. They then play Bangladesh in Navi Mumbai on October 20 before flying back to Colombo for their final league-stage match against Pakistan on October 24.But the motivation is high, since Sri Lanka are returning to the ODI World Cup after eight years. They did not feature in the ODI World Cup in 2022, owing partially to Sri Lanka not having played a single international between March 2020 and January 2022.”We haven’t been able to play a World Cup since 2017. We lost the chance to play in the last World Cup, because with Covid we couldn’t play the qualifying rounds, and that’s where our rankings were. It’s after eight years we’re playing a World Cup.”We’ve sacrificed a lot and worked really hard to get here. We’ve played really well in the last cycle. We’re in a good mental space. I’m hoping we can get a good start to the tournament.”
Chelsea have made a solid start to the season under Enzo Maresca despite being presented with a fair few obstacles, and the Blues briefly climbed to second in the Premier League table last weekend.
Maresca’s approach has been defined by extensive squad rotation, a strategy that has drawn both praise and criticism.
The Italian has made 93 changes in total this season, a staggering number and more than any other Premier League side. This rotation policy could reflect Chelsea’s depth and ambitions to compete on all four fronts, even if Maresca reportedly isn’t completely satisfied with the squad right now.
That being said, injuries and suspensions have significantly tested that depth this term.
Levi Colwill remains a long-term absentee after sustaining an ACL injury during pre-season training in August, ruling him out for most of the campaign and likely England’s Euro 2026 preparations. Superstar forward Cole Palmer has also been sidelined with a niggling groin injury since September, with Maresca initially expecting him to return shortly after the last international break before the recovery timeline was extended by six weeks.
The England international missed a full month of action and was targeting a return in December, but he is now expected to return before the end of this month and could feature against Barcelona in the Champions League.
The striker department has been particularly affected by injuries. Summer signing Liam Delap sustained a hamstring problem early in the 2-0 win over Fulham in August, leaving him out for two months, and following his return from a lengthy layoff, the forward’s comeback quickly turned into a disaster.
Delap picked up two needless yellow cards against Wolves, prompting fury from Maresca, who labelled his conduct ’embarrassing’.
After Roméo Lavia’s latest in a long line of injuries since joining from Southampton, Chelsea’s medical room is starting to feel overcrowded again, but the west Londoners have done well to navigate it with Colwill, Palmer, Benoit Badiashile, Enzo Fernández, Pedro Neto, Dario Essugo, Delap, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos and Josh Acheampong all missing at various points.
Chelsea became the first team in history to win all five UEFA club tournaments back in May, and as Maresca looks to build upon that feat, their form on paper suggests the club have every chance of doing so.
BlueCo’s ownership appears to finally be reaping dividends, but it hasn’t always been this way.
There’s been a fair few trial and error, high-profile mistakes since Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly took over the club in 2022, not least their deal for ex-Arsenal star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang admits Chelsea transfer was a "big mistake"
Speaking to YouTube content creator Troopz, via ESPN, Aubameyang himself has now admitted that joining Chelsea was a “big mistake”.
Aubameyang signed for Chelsea in September 2022 for a reported fee of around £10 million, reuniting with his former boss at Borussia Dortmund, Thomas Tuchel. However, Tuchel was sacked just days after the Gabonese’s arrival, setting the tone for a disastrous spell.
He was handed his first Premier League appearance in October, scoring his first goal for the club in a 2-1 away victory over Crystal Palace. The now-Marseille striker made 21 appearances in all competitions for the Blues, scoring just three goals, and all three of them came in the space of ten days that October.
Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
By February, he was dropped from the Champions League squad by Graham Potter, highlighting his fall from grace, and he didn’t fare any better under Frank Lampard either. Aubameyang struggled for form and consistency, and just 10 months after signing, the 36-year-old left Chelsea and signed a three-year deal with Marseille on a free transfer.
He’ll go down as one of, if not the worst signing of BlueCo’s tenure — so the feeling of regret will be pretty mutual in London.
O Flamengo inicia sua campanha no Brasileirão 2024 na espectativa de, mais uma vez, brigar pelo título da competição. No entanto, além da pressão pelo favoritismo, o Rubro-Negro carrega a herança de um 2023 decepcionante e o desafio de consiliar diferentes competições, problema comum das últimas temporadas.
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ELENCO E REFORÇOS
O Flamengo teve mais saídas do que chegadas neste início de temporada. Jogadores outrora titulares e destaques de conquistas históricas – alguns com status de ídolo – deixaram o clube, além de peças secundárias. Everton Ribeiro, Filipe Luís, Rodrigo Caio, Santos, Thiago Maia, Matheuzinho e Pablo foram os nomes do elenco principal que se despediram do time.
Por outro lado, o Rubro-Negro trouxe reforços pontuais para suprir carências da equipe e qualificar o grupo. O meio-campista Nicolás de la Cruz, o lateral-esquerdo Matias Viña, o zagueiro Léo Ortiz e, mais recentemente, o centroavante Carlinhos são as novidades do Flamengo neste ano, até o início do Brasileirão.
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INCERTEZAS E DESAFIOS
O Mais Querido não contará com a figura mais marcante de sua história recente neste Campeonato Brasileiro, pelo menos por enquanto. Condenado por tentativa de fraude em exame antidopagem, Gabigol está suspenso do futebol até abril de 2025 e não pode sequer treinar com o grupo. O atacante e o clube recorreram da decisão e aguardam um novo julgamento.
Quem também tem sido ausência neste início de temporada é Gerson, que sofreu com um problema no rim e precisou passar por cirurgia. O meio-campista começou o ano como titular e capitão da equipe, mas viu De La Cruz tomar conta de sua posição enquanto esteve fora. Polivalente, o “Coringa” estará disponível para as primeiras rodadas do Brasileirão, enquanto luta para recuperar a forma e um lugar entre os 11 de Tite.
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➡️ Muralhas! Aposte R$100 no Lance! Betting e ganhe R$230 para o Flamengo não tomar gol em sua estreia no Brasileirão!
Além disso, o Flamengo terá de lidar com um antigo desafio, que tem sido pedra no sapato do clube nas últimas disputas de Brasileirão. Consiliar o campeonato nacional com as outras competições, como Copa do Brasil e Libertadores, é um problema não só do Rubro-Negro, mas de todos as equipes mais fortes do país.
Após o bicampeonato em 2019 e 2020, o Mais Querido se manteve entre os primeiros colocados, mas longe de brigar com força pelo título. A excessão foi justamente o ano passado, quando o Botafogo, líder por boa parte do torneio, iniciou uma derrocada e permitiu que não só o Flamengo, mas outros quatro times se aproximassem. Apesar de matematicamente ter entrado na última rodada com chances de ser campeão, o Rubro-Negro terminou o Brasileirão na quarta colocação, e o Palmeiras, que na prática havia garantido a faixa na rodada anterior, levantar o troféu mais uma vez.
➡️ Tudo sobre o Mengão agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso canal Lance! Flamengo
PERSPECTIVAS PARA A COMPETIÇÃO
Como de costume nos últimos anos, o Flamengo entra no Campeonato Brasileiro como um dos favoritos à conquista do título. Apesar de já ter um elenco recheado e das poucas contratações, o clube foi o que mais investiu em reforços, com cerca de R$ 170 milhões em quatro jogadores. Somado a isso, o desempenho no Carioca, que culminou no título invicto e na melhor defesa da história da competição, é de animar o torcedor.
A opinião da Nação Rubro-Negra parece seguir essa ideia. Em enquete realizada no Canal de Whatsapp Lance! Flamengo, incríveis 99% dos participantes indicaram que o Flamengo tem que brigar pelo título do Brasileirão deste ano. Você pode deixar sua opinião também no post abaixo, no Instagram do Lance!.
O Flamengo faz sua estreia no Brasileirão 2024 diante do Atlético-GO, fora de casa. A bola rola no Estádio Serra Dourada às 16h de domingo (14), e o confronto terá torcida mista; os rubro-negros cariocas já esgotaram sua parte dos ingressos.
أعلنت اللجنة المنظمة لبطولة كأس العرب 2025، عن رجل مباراة منتخب مصر ضد الكويت، التي أقيمت بينهما اليوم الثلاثاء، في مواجهات مرحلة المجموعات للبطولة.
وتواجه منتخب مصر مع الكويت، في إطار مواجهات الجولة الأولي من عمر مباريات المجموعة الثالثة لبطولة كأس العرب المقامة في قطر.
وانتهى اللقاء بالتعادل الإيجابي بين المنتخبين، بهدف لمثله، حيث تقدم منتخب الكويت عن طريق فهد الهاجري وتعادل لـ مصر محمد مجدي أفشة.
واختارت اللجنة المنظمة لبطولة كأس العرب، محمد مجدي أفشة رجل مباراة منتخب مصر أمام الكويت في كأس العرب.
طالع | ترتيب مجموعة مصر في كأس العرب 2025 بعد التعادل مع الكويت
ومن المقرر أن يلعب منتخب مصر ضد الإمارات، يوم السبت المقبل في مباراة الجولة الثانية من دور المجموعات لبطولة كاس العرب. هدف أفشة في مباراة مصر والكويت اليوم ببطولة كأس العرب
With higher honours seemingly around the corner, Glenn Phillips’ brother is adding to his set of skills and trying to live up to the potential he has always had
Deivarayan Muthu22-Aug-2025Glenn Phillips can do incredible things in the field and with the bat. His younger brother Dale Phillips isn’t too bad either. Just look at this. And like Glenn, Dale can also play some trick shots, including the scoop, which he was honing during his stint at the Chennai Super Kings Academy in June.Leaving the fear of failure behind and expanding his range have put Dale on the radar of his national team. After training in Chennai during the New Zealand winter, Dale is now set to travel with the New Zealand A team to South Africa, his country of birth, to play three one-dayers and two four-day games.”I think my role was different earlier. I was conservative and getting out of the box opened up a lot more options,” Dale told ESPNcricinfo during his stint in Chennai. “People may see the scoop as a high-risk option, but for me if I get out scooping and I’ve got the right theory behind it [that’s okay], and I’m not going to get a slap on the wrist. I think being fearless and not being worried about getting out helps when you’re playing aggressively. As soon as you start to worry about [getting out], that’s when the poor things start to creep in.”Related
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Dale credits his former coach at Otago, Ash Noffke, for helping him realise his white-ball potential in the previous domestic season. In the Ford Trophy, he was the second-highest scorer with 457 runs in ten innings at an average of 45.70 and strike rate of 86.38. Dale also fared well in the Super Smash, coming away as Otago’s second-highest scorer, with 210 runs in ten innings at a strike rate of nearly 155.”With me being a bit of a shorter player, I found scooping a good option,” Dale said. “I think last year with my coach [Noffke], we really worked on it as an attacking option to be able to score especially in the powerplay. If you scoop, then it puts the bowler off and opens up a bit more access to the rest of the ground.”Dale has always been strong on the front foot, and in his quest to become a better-rounded batter, he was looking to find ways to score risk-free runs on the back foot on a variety of pitches, including black and red, against a variety of spinners in Chennai.”I think the main one was I wanted to really nail my strike-rotation options,” Dale said. “I’m relatively good at playing down the ground off the front foot but being able to do it off the back foot and being able to get a good reach to rotate the good-length balls through the covers and midwicket and straight as opposed to just defending them – that was the learning.”
“You have to adapt your game to be successful in different areas. Over here in Chennai and Bangladesh, it’s more spin-friendly and you have to develop your spin game more. South Africa [conditions] will be different. So, I think it’s a great experience to be able to play cricket around the world”Dale Phillips
Earlier, Dale used to bowl seam-ups but recently he has switched to offspin. He is eager to improve his secondary skill with help from Glenn, who had refashioned himself into an offspin-bowling allrounder from being a wicketkeeper-batter.”Back in the day I was bowling seam-ups, and I think it got to a point where I didn’t grow taller and at the pace that I was bowling if I wasn’t as accurate it was a lot easier for the batters to hit,” Dale said. “So I decided to change it up to bowl spin, which was maybe more suited to the kind of bowler I could be.”He [Glenn] has always been a pretty good mentor to me. We’re constantly chatting before and after games both technically and tactically. I think we’re slightly different bowlers. He’s obviously a little bit taller than me, but the general skillset is still the same, so he’s definitely a good help.”While Dale has emerged as a “player of interest” for New Zealand in white-ball cricket, his red-ball game has taken a back seat. After scoring a chart-topping 686 runs in 15 innings in the 2023-24 Plunket Shield, his numbers dipped to 427 runs in 15 innings in the following season. Dale hopes to remedy that and re-establish himself as an all-format player.”I think my white-ball game kicked off in the Ford Trophy and T20s in the last season, so potentially because of that development my Plunket Shield took a bit of a hit,” he said. “Now it’s about how I can adapt and make all three [formats] have a good season for me.”Dale Phillips is a “player of interest” for New Zealand in white-ball cricket•Getty ImagesAfter the Chennai camp, Dale returned to New Zealand and completed his move from Otago to Auckland, where his family lives. He is looking forward to working with coach Rob Nicol in the upcoming domestic season.”I enjoyed my time playing for Otago but for my family, with the kids, it’s the right decision to move to Auckland,” Dale said. “It was a good time to move, and I have a good relationship with Rob, and he’ll be able to keep me on the right track as I look to grow my game.”Having travelled to Bangladesh with the New Zealand A team and Chennai with Adi Ashok, Rhys Mariu and Tim Pringle during the New Zealand winter, Dale was looking forward to playing in South Africa.”Being able to play in different areas is cool,” he said. “You have to adapt your game to be successful in different areas. Over here in Chennai and Bangladesh, it’s more spin-friendly and you have to develop your spin game more. South Africa [conditions] will be different. So, I think it’s a great experience to be able to play cricket around the world. That’s the kind of stuff you want to be doing.”