Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Antonio Conte lambasts Chelsea’s ‘really, really bad’ display at Roma

Football | The Guardian
Antonio Conte lambasts Chelsea’s ‘really, really bad’ display at Roma
• Roma had more hunger, more desire, more fight says Chelsea manager
• Conte says team were complacent in Champions League mauling

Antonio Conte has questioned his side’s hunger, desire and will to fight and suggested some players at Chelsea have been guilty of complacency as his team were embarrassed by Roma to surrender leadership of their Champions League group.

The visitors were behind after 38 seconds at the Stadio Olimpico and, despite creating chances before the break, wilted horribly in a disjointed and chaotic second-half display that left the head coach livid. The emphatic 3-0 defeat puts Chelsea second in the group, albeit they were spared further damage by Atlético Madrid’s failure to beat Qarabag’s 10 men in Spain, and with concern mounting over Sunday’s visit of Manchester United to Stamford Bridge.

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Barcelona held to goalless draw at Olympiakos

BBC Sport - Football
Barcelona held to goalless draw at Olympiakos
Barcelona held to goalless draw at Olympiakos
Barcelona are held to a 0-0 draw by Olympiakos as they fail to score in a Champions League group stage game for the first time in five years

The Fiver | Ghoulish capacity for calculated self-sabotage

Football | The Guardian
The Fiver | Ghoulish capacity for calculated self-sabotage

In today’s Fiver: bloodcurdling japery, gut-holsters and Danny Murphy

Having spent 17 months living alone in a suite at Manchester’s Lowry Hotel, José Mourinho occasionally leaves The Fiver wondering how much like Alan Partridge he has become, as the solitude of his hotel existence takes its inevitable toll. The one-time BBC chatshow host-turned North Norfolk Digital presenter famously descended into something approaching madness while spending 182 days residing in a Linton Travel Tavern that was equidistant between London and Norwich.

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David Squires on … the Halloween football special 2017

Football | The Guardian
David Squires on … the Halloween football special 2017

Our resident cartoonist gets in touch with his dark side and celebrates the macabre as he rounds up the latest hair-raising happenings in football

View all of David Squires’ cartoons in his archive hereAnd David’s only got another book this week. More details here Continue reading...