The Times - UK (2022-05-02)

Chris Kamara. The

ex-player and wildly

popular pundit is a

constant reminder

that football is serious

but should also be enjoyed. Even

just a minute in “Kammy’s”

company is uplifting. His

enthusiasm shone like a ray of

sunshine through his appearances

as a pundit on Sky Sports,

especially his “unbelievable”

rapport with the Soccer Saturday

host, Jeff Stelling. Kamara put a

smile on the viewers’ faces, but he

also informed as well as

entertained. The 64-year-old

knows the game as deeply as he

loves it. He has stood down from

the show after recently revealing

he has apraxia of speech. Saturday

just lost some of its fun.

WINTER’S

WEEKEND

WONDERS

2

Saturdays lose their

fun without Kammy

Joe Gomez. No

ordinary Joe, Gomez

would start for most

teams, at centre back

or right back. His

main issue at Liverpool is the

vibrant Trent Alexander-Arnold,

who brings so much to the team’s

attacking play from full back.

Whenever Gomez steps in, he

never lets Liverpool down, as

shown again in the 1-0 win over

Newcastle United. He is reliable,

especially defensively, but can also

get forward and deliver precise

crosses. Gareth Southgate was at

St James’ Park and, although he

could almost field an entire XI of

good right backs, the England

manager needs centre halves at

ease in a two or three. So Gomez

will hope to add to his 11 caps.

Versatile Gomez just

what England need

£41m man Aké is finally paying off for City

Nathan Aké. No ego,

just a reliable

professional, now

showing his full

worth for Manchester

City. Pep Guardiola clearly trusts

the Holland defender. With big

games coming thick and fast, the

27-year-old has made five starts

and two appearances from the

bench in April. Aké is not the

tallest but he is very athletic and

possesses a strong leap. He

enjoyed another good

performance against Leeds United

— and scored the second goal in a

4-0 win. After a season and a half

settling in following his £41 million

move from Bournemouth, the

versatile defender seems to be

coming of age at City — at just

the right time for them.

1

Chief Football Writer on Aké’s coming

of age and Gomez’s England appeal

3

Carlo Ancelotti. As a

player, Ancelotti won

three Serie A titles

and two European

Cups. As a manager,

as well as three Champions

Leagues, the Italian won La Liga

with Real Madrid this weekend to

complete the grand slam of titles

in the five elite European leagues

— adding to his Serie A, Ligue 1,

Premier League and Bundesliga

honours. Ancelotti has achieved

all this with quiet determination, a

quick tactical mind, a ready smile

and innate humility. It was typical

of him that the proceeds for his

2009 autobiography went towards

research into motor neurone

disease, which claimed the life of a

former AC Milan team-mate. He’s

the definition of class in football.

4

Class-act Ancelotti

deserves grand slam

Ben Mee. When all

were celebrating Josh

Brownhill’s late

winner for Burnley at

Watford, Mee stayed

typically calm, knowing there was

still four minutes plus stoppage

time to go. As Brownhill sprinted

to celebrate with the fans, Mee

gathered the caretaker manager,

Michael Jackson, and coach, Paul

Jenkins, for a talk, focused on

seeing out the win. Jackson rightly

gets praise for the ten points from

12 since Sean Dyche’s exit, and

even has a fans’ chant — “We’ve

got super Michael Jackson; he

knows exactly what we need;

Tarky at the back, Weghorst in

attack; Burnley’s staying in the

Premier League” — but Mee’s

influence is immense.

Mee’s calm head key

to Burnley’s survival

5

Aké scored against Leeds and now looks to have settled in City’s defence

MATTHEW ASHTON/AMA/GETTY IMAGES

the times | Monday May 2 2022 1GG 7

Son’s double

lifted him to 19

league goals

for the season,

his best return

for Tottenham

Gary Jacob

Lucas Moura struggled on his

first start in 12 league games for

Tottenham Hotspur, and his

declining minutes and lack of

physicality suggest that he will not be

in Antonio Conte’s plans for next

season. He was caught dawdling in

possession when trying to break, lost

the ball to Ayoze Pérez as Leicester

City nearly equalised and was taken

off ten minutes after the restart.

Moura was arguably the club’s

best performer this term until the

turn of the year, scoring a wonderful

solo goal against Norwich City.

Yesterday, he came into the starting

XI in place of Dejan Kulusevski, who

has made a big impact since he

arrived in January on an 18-month

loan deal from Juventus.

Perhaps Conte felt that Moura has

a better connection with Emerson

Royal, his Brazilian compatriot at

right wing back, while Kulusevski

has looked better playing with Matt

Doherty, whose season has been

ended by injury.

Boubakary Soumaré showed

both the good and the bad on

his first appearance in six weeks, and

his performance neatly summed up

his first season at Leicester City

since an £18 million move from

Lille. The French midfielder,

23, began brightly, carrying

the ball into the final third and

showing good interplay to

release Marc Albrighton several

times on the right. But he also

took too long on the ball and

lost possession, especially when

Spurs led, and was taken off

midway through the second half.

Leicester believe that Soumaré

needs time to adjust and will

come good next season.

Brendan Rodgers signed

Soumaré, Patson Daka

and Jannik Vestergaard

for about £50 million last

summer to add much-

needed depth to his squad,

although none have made a

significant impact yet.

It looks likely that Harry Kane

will not finish as Tottenham’s

top scorer in the league for the first

time since he broke into the team in

2014-15. The England captain, below,

has struck a minimum of 17 league

goals in each of the previous seven

seasons and has 13 in the

competition this campaign after he

opened the scoring with a header

yesterday. Son Heung-min scored

twice to take his tally to 19 in the

league, the most he has scored in a

single campaign in seven seasons

at Spurs.

Kane’s former England

team-mate Jamie Vardy

looked off the pace in his

23-minute cameo off the

bench. He also looked

leggy in the draw

with Roma in the

Europa

Conference

League semi-

final first leg, having

missed six weeks with

a hamstring injury,

and Rodgers must

decide whether to

start him in the

second leg in Rome

on Thursday.

TALKING POINTS

to inspire Spurs

f

KANE’S FAVOURITE

OPPONENTS

Kane has now scored 17 PL goals

against Leicester. Alan Shearer holds

the record for most goals against a

single opponent (20 v Leeds United)

Games played Goals

Leicester

Everton

Arsenal

Southampton

West Ham

14

17

14

13

14

11

14

11

18

11

MARK LEECH/OFFSIDE/GETTY IMAGES

TAA KI

Ga

TALKING PONG POINTSG POPOIOININTSNNNTTTSSSS

Gary