Klopp, Warnock and Mourinho speak plus Premier League team news – live!

There’s been a lot of talk of late about a mysterious twitter user who has been leaking West Ham’s line-ups for the last couple of years. This morning’s Times reports:

Manuel Pellegrini is growing increasingly frustrated that news of his team selections at West Ham United is routinely being leaked before he has announced it to his players. The manager is aware that a Twitter account with the handle @ExWHUemployee has revealed the team for more than 60 matches in succession, including the four Premier League defeats over which he has presided this season, leading him to make inquiries as to the likely source.

Here is said Twitter user’s response:

And finally, this is what Manuel Pellegrini said when asked if he was angry about it:

First of all, it’s not true. I’m not angry about that. Normally in teams I managed before all the players know the day before [a game] who will play who will not play. I will not keep the starting XI for the hours before a game. There’s a lot of different ways someone can know the team. I don’t have any idea who is tweeting the teams, I don’t worry about that.

So, in short, move on. There’s nothing to see here.

Bournemouth have been busy over the international break, spending some of it training with the SAS. “We like to do things that stretch the players and give them new life skills,” says Eddie Howe.

Here’s some Liverpool team news:

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana will miss the trip to Tottenham as a groin strain suffered on England duty is likely to sideline him for a fortnight. Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has recovered from a hand injury to take his place among the substitutes as back-up to Alisson Becker. Defender Dejan Lovren is still recovering from a hip injury, but should return in the next month.

Those stats come from the Times’s interview with the always-interesting Troy Deeney. For example, his reaction to Gareth Southgate’s dismissal of his England chances is good. Here, for reference, is what Southgate said:

I think Troy is a player who really suits the way that Watford play. I’m a big fan of his, I think what he brings to their team, the way he leads their team and the way that they play in the games that they have, but I think that we play slightly differently.

And here’s Deeney’s response:

Me personally, I’ve kind of given up on that dream. It’s not going to happen unless there’s a major crisis and someone who plays for Cheltenham gets injured. I might get a game then. I do respect his opinion because that’s his vision of where he wants to go and when you look at what he did at the World Cup, you have to tip your hat to him.

To be honest, I just thought that comment of, ‘He’s great for Watford, but not for what we want,’ I thought it was downplaying Watford a little bit really, like we’re just some small team. I just think what it says as a message is that unless you’re a certain mould of player or play in a certain way, don’t worry about playing for England. That’s what I took from it. Strikerwise I don’t know what he wants. It can’t be mobility and getting around and scoring goals because at the minute that’s what I’m doing.

Here’s a link to the interview (£):

Interesting stats, these. They won’t help Troy Deeney win an England cap, but they do illustrate his effectiveness pretty well:

Here’s some Cardiff team news:

Josh Murphy will be assessed before Cardiff’s Premier League trip to Chelsea on Saturday. Murphy, the £11m summer recruit from Norwich, has been troubled by a slight hamstring over the last fortnight, and faces a late fitness test with manager Neil Warnock again expected to link Bobby Reid and Danny Ward in attack. Aron Gunnarsson is still nursing a knee problem after missing international duty with Iceland and is unlikely to be risked.

Neil Warnock has given his pre-match press conference, in which he let slip a bit of transfer gossip. This from the Press Association:

The Cardiff manager Neil Warnock wants to sign Chelsea and Wales teenager Ethan Ampadu on loan in January.

The Bluebirds travel to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Saturday, and Warnock says he will speak to Chelsea officials about the prospect of signing Ampadu on loan in the next transfer window.

Midfielder Ampadu, who celebrates his 18th birthday today, shone for Wales against the Republic of Ireland and Denmark during the international break.

“I will be speaking to somebody at Chelsea about one or two things,” Warnock said. “I think they should loan him to us and I could help him as well. He doesn’t look out of place. What I like about him is that he is so confident.”

More good reading for you, this time David Hytner’s interview with Nwankwo Kanu, who speaks about his own heart condition, and about his charitable foundation that provides treatment to children who need heart operations.

It changed how I saw the world. For example, if you haven’t been in a hospital, you don’t really understand what is going on in there. I realised there was more to life than only to be comfortable on your own. You can open up to help others. I know the pain that I went through as an adult, so imagine how it is for kids. It’s difficult for them to take that pain.

Here’s the bit of Mourinho’s press conference about Marcus Rashford that preceded the bit I quoted earlier. It is reminiscent of the rant about his record of promoting players from youth academies with which he introduced himself at United in 2016, only hopefully a little more factually accurate:

If you don’t mind to lose a couple of minutes with me, I’m going to do something for the United fans.

In the season 16/17 Marcus Rashford played 32 Premier League matches, 11 Europa League matches including the final, three FA Cup matches, six League Cup matches including the final and the Community Shield. He had 53 appearances but if you want to take the minutes of play he played 3,068 minutes and if you want to divide that by 90 minutes he played 34.2 matches in 16/17.

In 17/18 he played 35 matches in the Premier League, eight in the Champions League, five in the FA Cup including the final, three League Cup matches and the European Super Cup final. He played a total of 52 matches with 2,676 minutes. If you divide that by 90 gives 29.7 matches. So with me in two seasons he had 105 matches, 5,733 minutes, 63.7 matches of 90 minutes including five finals.

So the people that is speaking about these minutes, I think they are a bit confused.

And here’s Jamie Jackson’s take on Mourinho’s performance:

Here’s a bit of encouraging analysis for Liverpool:

Here’s a bit of south coastal team news:

The Scotland winger Ryan Fraser is a doubt for Bournemouth’s Premier League match against Leicester because of a hamstring problem picked up on international duty. Left-back Charlie Daniels (knee) missed the defeat at Chelsea before the international break and remains unavailable. Midfielder Junior Stanislas, who last week signed a new three-year contract, continues his comeback from a knee injury.

Florin Andone and José Izquierdo could make their first appearances of the season when Brighton travel to Southampton on Monday. Romania forward Andone, a summer signing from Deportivo La Coruña, has been sidelined with a groin problem, while Colombia winger Izquierdo has been building his fitness following his involvement in the World Cup. Albion boss Chris Hughton has no selection concerns ahead of the trip to St Mary’s, with defenders Bruno and Lewis Dunk available following their recent injuries.

There has been a further update in the ongoing Watford/Everton/Marco Silva imbroglio. This from the Press Association:

The Premier League has asked a law firm to investigate if Everton made an illegal approach for Marco Silva when he was Watford’s manager last season.

Despite Premier League efforts to mediate between the two clubs, and hopes that Richarlison’s £40m move from Vicarage Road to Goodison Park meant relations had been restored, Watford’s anger over Everton’s autumn interest in Silva has not abated. As a result, the league has been forced to ask lawyers to start a preliminary, independent investigation.

That is expected to take several months and if it suggests Everton do have a “tapping up” case to answer, the league would then appoint a QC-led commission which would have the power to impose a large fine and perhaps even a points deduction.

There’s a slightly expanded version of the story here:

This is a great yarn. You may want to tuck it behind your ear for some lunchtime reading, or you could consume it immediately like Jamie Vardy with a can of Red Bull. Either way, it’s worth a read.

In response to a question from the floor suggesting he should be in the team more often, José Mourinho has pulled out a piece of paper in his press conference today and reeled off a load of statistics about the number of appearances Marcus Rashford has made under his management, how many minutes he has played, and how many major finals he has contributed to.

The people who are speaking about his minutes, I think they’re a bit confused. Marcus Rashford is not Dominic Solanke, he’s not Ruben Loftus-Cheek, he’s not Dominic Calvert-Lewin, he’s Marcus Rashford, a Manchester United player with an incredible number of appearances and an incredible number of minutes played at the highest level and the biggest competitions. So for Manchester United supporters, to know what we’re doing with Marcus Rashford, with Jesse Lingard, with Luke Shaw, with Scott McTominay, that is what we are doing here.

Leicester boss Claude Puel has warned Bournemouth Jamie Vardy is “refreshed and hungry” as he prepares to return to action at the Vitality Stadium.

The striker has missed the last three matches through suspension following his straight red card during the home win against Wolves on August 18, and had a more relaxed international break after asking not to be considered for England duty.

“He’s refreshed and will bring a good mentality,” said Puel, “and he is hungry.”

A reminder of Vardy’s pre-match routine, and this isn’t even when he’s particularly hungry (as told to the Sun a couple of years ago):

With a traditional 3pm Saturday kick-off, I’ll have a can of Red Bull as soon as I wake up, which is gone in 30 seconds. I don’t have breakfast and won’t eat anything until I have a cheese-and-ham omelette with baked beans at 11.30am. I wash that down with another Red Bull, which I also neck quickly.

While we’re waiting and killing a bit of time, I have a double espresso. We get into the dressing room an hour and a half before kick-off, and I’ll have a third can of Red Bull straight away.

Jurgen Klopp is chatting with Sky, ahead of his team’s trip to Tottenham. He’s asked first about the international break, and about flying his Brazilian trio home in a private jet:

They’re all back, all fit, so it was a good break. We brought them back as comfortable as possible. On a plane like that it’s really comfortable so they could have a proper sleep. It’s the best way to do it. It’s absolutely not perfect, but it’s OK.

Then he’s asked when we might get a glimpse of Fabinho:

The team is doing well. That’s one thing. It gives us the time to work with him. He could have played already but the other players are a step ahead, they know already what we are doing. His time will come, 100%.

On the impact of his team’s 100% start to the season:

I’m not interested in it. It’s gone. The next game is Tottenham, it’s a completely different challenge. We have to see. It’s always a challenge. It’s always interesting, you never know exactly what will happen but I’m pretty sure we will have a good time in the next few weeks but we have to fight. It’s still early in the season. Four games only.

Of course it’s the toughest test so far, 100%. They’re a great team, they worked together for five years nearly. Still a very young squad but they made experiences together. It’s a really interesting project there. A good team, fantastic manager, can cause any team problems. So we have to see.

It’s such a long season. We don’t have to talk about what happens at the end of the season. We have to play football and we really need to fight hard, not listening to all these softening words from you, how good we are, how we will challenge. We have to perform, we have to deliver results. We know that but it doesn’t work here in an interview, it works only on the pitch.

Meanwhile, here are 10 things to look out for in the Premier League this weekend:

Today’s Rumour Mill includes the knockout news that the man behind Watford’s Harry the Hornet, Sam Allardyce and Roy Hodgson’s least favourite mascot, has hung up his comedy outsize head for the last time.

Here’s some early team news, all for some reason (media bias, presumably) from London or not-far-from-London teams:

Crystal Palace will be without Belgian striker Christian Benteke because of a knee problem for the Premier League trip to Huddersfield. Wilfried Zaha (groin) has returned to training and is being monitored. Defender James Tomkins (calf) has also stepped up his recovery so could be involved, but Scott Dann (knee) and Connor Wickham (calf) remain unavailable.

Fulham must again do without captain Tom Cairney for the Premier League trip to Manchester City.
The midfielder continues his recovery from a foot injury suffered against Burnley before the international break. Midfielder Neeskens Kebano (ankle) and defender Tim Ream (thigh) are also not yet available.

Tottenham will be without Hugo Lloris and Dele Alli for the visit of Liverpool. Goalkeeper Lloris, who was sentenced this week for drink-driving, has been ruled out for several weeks with a thigh injury while England midfielder Alli has a hamstring problem sustained during the international break. Forward Son Heung-min is back from a lengthy stint of international duty, but Moussa Sissoko is still missing with a hamstring strain.

Watford have no fresh injuries ahead of their bid for five wins from five Premier League games, against Manchester United on Saturday. Winger Gerard Deulofeu has been out with a groin problem in recent weeks and suffered a minor injury on his return to training, but should be back soon. Midfielder Tom Cleverley, still suffering from an achilles injury, is the Hornets’ only long-term absentee.

Hello world!

And lo, the weekend is upon us. This one features the following Premier League fixtures, about which I’ll be bringing you the very latest preaction and team news as the day unfolds:

Saturday (3pm kick-off unless stated)
Bournemouth v Leicester City
Chelsea v Cardiff City
Huddersfield Town v Crystal Palace
Manchester City v Fulham
Newcastle United v Arsenal
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool (12.30)
Watford v Manchester United (5.30)

Sunday
Everton v West Ham United (4pm)
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Burnley (1.30)

Monday
Southampton v Brighton & Hove Albion (8pm)