Daily Mirror - 17.08.2019

DM1ST

mirror.co.uk/sport SATURDAY 17.08.2019 DAILY MIRROR^61

United lifeline by boss Ole

Gunnar Solskjaer, who has

backed him to play

regularly this season and

prove his enduring class.

Solskjaer (below) said:

“Alexis is such a

professional and he comes

in working every single day,

really hard.

“He wants to be a part of

this and these stories he’s

been put in the reserves...

of course he hasn’t.

“He’s part of our squad

and he’s a really good

player. He’s had three

weeks now, so he’s a

few weeks behind the

rest, but close to

being part of it.

“We don’t have the

biggest forward line

in numbers, so

Alexis might end

up playing a lot

more games

than you expect,

because we expect him

to come good at this club

• he’s quality. He’s doing
  a little bit extra and he’ll
  be gradually integrated
  into more and more
  playing time.”

SANCHEZ GETS

FINAL SHOT AT

UNITED GLORY

BY DAVID McDONNELL

ALEXIS SANCHEZ has been

given one last chance to

resurrect his Manchester

United career.

Sanchez, 30, United’s

highest earner on

£500,000 a week, has not

played for the Reds since

the penultimate game of

last season – 54 minutes at

Huddersfield – and failed to

complete 90 minutes in

more than a year.

The Chile striker,

signed from Arsenal

in January 2018,

has managed just

five goals in 45

appearances and

failed to justify his

whopping salary.

United were

ready to cut their

losses on Sanchez

but his huge wages

have proved an

obstacle to any deal

ahead of the European

transfer deadline on

September 2.

Against that

backdrop,

Sanchez has

been handed a

BE ON CLOUD NINE Sanchez can still prove a point at United

FA Cup and beat them

2-1 in the league.

Wolves play United,

then travel to Torino for

a Europa League clash.

Nuno said: “It will be a

completely new game.

What we did in the past

doesn’t count at all.

“They know they’re

going to face a very

tough opponent, a

fantastic club, fantastic

squad, fantastic players

with talent all over the

place.”

BY DAVE ARMITAGE

WOLVES boss Nuno

Espirito Santo says last

season’s heroics against

Manchester United will

count for nothing on

Monday night.

The Reds visit

Molineux desperate to

prove a point after their

three meetings last

campaign.

Nuno’s newly-

promoted side earned a

draw at Old Trafford,

knocked them out of the

PAST GLORY IS

A NUNO NO-NO

OLIVIER GIROUD has

played under

enough top

managers to know

a good one.

That is why he

believes Chelsea

should not fear

Frank Lampard

leading the club

into a brave new world with

his trust in youth.

Lampard lost his first game in

charge at Manchester United,

then suffered penalty shootout

agony in the European Super Cup

final. Now the pressure is turned

up before they play Leicester.

But Giroud, who won the

World Cup under Didier

Deschamps and three FA Cups

with Arsene Wenger, insists that

Chelsea are in good shape,

despite losing Eden Hazard in the

summer and not being able to

replace him because of a transfer

ban.

The France striker said: “Even

though we lost important players,

I feel this squad is very strong in

both quality and quantity. We

I’ve been proud of the boys. The

most important thing has been to

keep confidence high and being

fearless, playing with freedom.”

Lampard started Tammy

Abraham at Manchester United,

but the 21-year-old struggled to

make an impact in the Premier

League and it appears Giroud

may now get more of a chance.

Since arriving from Arsenal 18

months ago, Giroud has struggled

to hold down a regular place in

the League, scoring just five goals

in 41 appearances, yet he has

been prolific in the Europa

League (bottom left). But he has

never been happier.

“You already ask me this ques-

tion,” he added. “Last season I had

the opportunity to play more

games in the Europa League. But

you have a better chance to score

when you’re on the pitch.

“I feel good at Chelsea and I’m

happy. I’m sad after the results,

but I have high expectations

because we have a good squad.

“Last year the Europa League

was my main competition and I

always tried to bring something

to the team and I was happy to

score again. I gave everything.”

remain firmly behind their

midfield legend and in support of

what feels like an experiment in

giving youth a chance.

It is in stark contrast to big-

name appointments of the past

who have almost been

scared to play the kids

because of the club’s

revolving-door managerial

policy.

But Giroud said: “We’ve

been very strong. I think

we can build good things

from here.

“It was painful straight

after the game – I’m

disappointed for the team

because we showed a

great strong team

character after the tough

result at Old Trafford.

“Everybody then said

Liverpool would be the

favourites, but we played

at least as good as them

and we created a lot of

chances.

“It’s been unlucky. I’m

not used to saying that in

football because it’s never

random.

“We’ve done a good

team performance and

have a super mentality and I’m

sure we can do good things this

year.

“He always tries to be very

positive. He’s not going to be

tough with us when we’re not

doing well or put us

above the moon when

we are doing well.

“He is always trying to

analyse the situation and

he was very proud of our

performance after the

games. He said it was

tough to lose like that,

but we need to keep our

heads up.

“We hope to look

forward and winning

this first game at home

will be important for us.

It’s been tough, but we

need to recover now.

“We need to

remember what we’ve

done and there are a lot

of positives to take in the

defeats.”

Lampard is guaran-

teed a heroic home-

coming against Leicester

tomorrow.

Even after painful

defeats, Chelsea fans

STRIKER IS BACKING POSITIVE LAMPARD TO HERALD A BRAVE NEW WORLD

w s b r p b w f a d b g c r L

ff

a a c n f r t

f

BY JOHN CROSS

Chief Football Writer

@johncrossmirror

LINE-UPS: SEE PULLOUT, PAGE 12

Abraham f**k off back to the jungle you

silly cotton picking dirt n****r.”

Lampard was particularly angry with

one of the messages from a Blues

supporter. “I am disgusted by the

so-called Chelsea fan. I don’t know how

these platforms can allow this – I think

it should be policed,” he added.

“Tammy asked to take the fifth

penalty – he wanted to stand up and be

brave with the world watching.”

Chelsea’s bitter legal battle with

former boss Antonio Conte (above) is set

to continue into next year. The Italian

coach was awarded compensation in

May following his sacking in July 2018.

But the dispute has now gone to an

employment tribunal in a case unlikely

to be heard before March.

FRANK FURIOUS

AT RACIST FANS

England Under-21 striker back in

against Leicester tomorrow. The Blues

boss said: “Is he in the right frame of

mind? Yes. He’s trained the way he

always does. With enthusiasm and

application.

“He’s a great young man and he’s

experienced something there that is

not right at all levels. It will be a test of

that character that he shouldn’t need.

“The social media companies, are they

ever going to stop someone casually

putting up what someone did against

Tammy? That’s their responsibility.”

One vile tweet sent to the 21-year-old

read: “F*****g N****r” and was

accompanied by a video of a Ku Klux

Klan lynching. Another read: “Tammy

played very well. They have

won some and gone close

in others. This is a game I

am really looking forward

to. But it will be a difficult

game for us.

“Under Frank, Chelsea

have lost a couple of games

but the tempo has been

good from them.”

Leicester started the

campaign with a goalless

draw at home to Wolves

and Rodgers (above) said:

“If you are strong

defensively at this stage of

the season, you have a

good base to build from.”

Rodgers has

the bigger

picture now

BY JAMES NURSEY

BRENDAN RODGERS says

Leicester’s big-game

performers can pile on the

misery for Chelsea boss

Frank Lampard.

Leicester beat Chelsea

last season and also

downed Manchester City

and Arsenal, and manager

Rodgers said: “We have a

group of players who relish

the big games. We are a

team who have gone there

in the last couple of

seasons and done very well.

“In my time here in the

big games the players have

FROM BACK PAGE

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