Category: Football (Soccer)

• Liam Rosenior ‘had a really good conversation’ with Enzo Fernández

• Chelsea vice-captain suspended for 7-0 FA Cup win over Port Vale

Liam Rosenior has insisted he is in a “very good place” with Enzo Fernández as he looked to move on from the controversy of the Chelsea vice-captain’s comments during the international window.

Fernández appeared to cast doubt on his Chelsea future when he talked glowingly about the former Real Madrid midfielders Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić, and mentioned Madrid as the European city in which he would most like to live.

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Tonda Eckert’s impressive team went at Arsenal from the get-go and were rewarded with a place in the semi-finals

1 min: Saints are on the front foot immediately, Fellows romping into space down the right. He takes one touch too many, though, allowing Lewis-Skelly to put a stop to his gallop. An early statement of intent from the hosts.

Arsenal get the ball rolling. Plenty of noise, the St Mary’s faithful marching in.

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It will take more than a thumping FA Cup quarter-final victory over the worst team in League One to ignite Chelsea’s season as it enters the defining stretch. This was, at least, a step in the right direction. Or, perhaps, it was just good for the club to avoid any further chaos.

The occasion was framed by Liam Rosenior’s decision to ban his vice-captain, Enzo Fernández, for the game and Chelsea’s next one, which is here against Manchester City in the Premier League next Sunday. The manager felt he had to act after Fernández’s none-too-subtle message to Real Madrid during the international break. Basically, he is bang up for joining them.

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• ‘Mentality wasn’t there’ in 4-0 loss to Manchester City

• Slot adds ‘the amount of goals we score is far too low’

Arne Slot slammed Liverpool’s “missing fighting spirit” after the 4-0 humiliation by Manchester City that propelled Pep Guardiola’s team into the FA Cup semi-finals.

The manner of the 4-0 reverse will heighten scrutiny of the head coach’s future, with Liverpool next at Paris Saint-Germain for Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg. A similar defeat in the tie may prove terminal for Slot.

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When Erling Haaland swept the ball home for a first Manchester City hat-trick since August 2024 it sent swathes of Liverpool fans for the exits. Only 57 minutes were gone yet City were cruising at 4-0 and Arne Slot’s men were being schooled.

Haaland’s third, in which Jérémy Doku and Nico O’Reilly walked the ball through Liverpool before the No 9 hooked in off the bar, epitomised the pathetic response to the striker’s 39th-minute penalty opener.

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Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick and Mo Salah had a penalty saved as City trounced their old rivals at the Etihad

Pre-match optimism

“You may not be entirely surprised to learn that I’m not confident about this game,” writes proud Welshman and Liverpool fan Matt Dony. “But, having not terribly enjoyed the international break, it would be nice to have something to cheer about. So I’m trying to be rational! The Liverpool XI is strong. City aren’t the force they used to be. The unpredictability of knock-out competition. Szoboszlai has been unplayable at times this season. There are reasons to be cheerful! (City are still going to win, aren’t they? I hate football…)”

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News and discussion ahead of the FA Cup quarter-finals, with Manchester City hosting Liverpool

The Women’s FA Cup is being played, too. Suzanne Wrack runs the rule over the ties.

Arsenal v Brighton, Sunday 1pm

Charlton v Liverpool, Sunday 2.30pm

Chelsea v Tottenham, Monday 1.30pm

Birmingham v Manchester City, Monday 5pm

Peretz was inspired by the Germany goalkeeper as a boy – he had a giant photo of the 2014 World Cup-winner on his bedroom wall – but in Bavaria Neuer, who turned 40 last week, morphed into a mentor. “[It went] from admiring the players, to them becoming my friends and my teammates.

“I watched every single save [Neuer] made and then he was with me day by day and he became a friend,” Peretz says, recalling the emotions of their first encounter. “I was sweating all over, so nervous that I could not speak. I had goosebumps, everything.”

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Goalkeeper on representing Israel, learning from Manuel Neuer at Bayern and targeting an FA Cup upset

A few days after returning from international duty, there is only one place to start with Daniel Peretz: his pride at representing Israel during the unsettling and tense backdrop of war and geopolitical conflict. His excitement at facing Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals can wait. Almost all of his family are in Tel Aviv, where wailing air raid sirens have become a staple of the mood music. “Unfortunately, it has become a bit of a routine,” says the Southampton goalkeeper, who is on loan from Bayern Munich.

When they sound, his loved ones head to the nearest bunkers and safe rooms. “It’s not always easy to do this separation in life and you are worried a lot about what’s happening,” he says. “But they are always following the instructions and I’m always in touch with them. We speak regularly to check everything is OK.

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• Manchester City midfielder can leave if ‘not happy’

• ‘My wish is that Rodri could stay as long as possible’

Pep Guardiola will not stand in Rodri’s way if the midfielder wishes to leave Manchester City for Real Madrid, though the manager believes he will stay at the club beyond this summer.

During the international break Rodri, whose contract expires in June 2027, was asked about reports that Real’s president, Florentino Pérez, wished to sign him. When answering, the 29-year-old referenced how being a former Atlético Madrid player would be no obstacle.

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• Salah critical of head coach in December after being left out

• Slot: ‘The only one who can talk about it is Mo himself’

Arne Slot has no regrets over his treatment of Mohamed Salah and claimed it was entirely the forward’s decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season.

The Liverpool head coach declined to divulge why or when Salah decided to leave the club as he faced the media on Friday for the first time since the Egypt international’s announcement. Slot believes it should be left to Salah to explain the reasons for exiting 12 months before his contract is due to expire.

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Starting at Manchester City in the FA Cup, Arne Slot must show doubters his plan for a team in transition can succeed

There were more important reasons for Jürgen Klopp’s return to Liverpool last Saturday, but it was apposite his presence reminded Anfield of the unshakable bond and belief they once shared, the joy his football brought. Those pillars of Klopp’s reign are weakening under Arne Slot and April may determine whether they are left standing at all.

Two cup quarter-finals in succession should signal a season on the right track for Liverpool; showpiece occasions such as Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday whetting the appetite for what May could have in store.

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Australian manager Joe Brady and New Zealand striker Ben Waine have guided League One strugglers to quarter-finals

The Port Vale manager, Jon Brady, left Australia as a 17-year-old to chase his dream of playing in the United Kingdom. Spells at Brentford, Swansea and Wycombe did not make a first-team debut a reality. The sacrifice would not be wasted as determination to make a career in England grew stronger, becoming a non-league stalwart, but always with an eye on what came next.

Like Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final opponent, Chelsea’s head coach Liam Rosenior, Brady plotted a route to the dugout from early on, earning his B licence at the age of 23. Twenty-eight years later, he has managed more than 500 league games, in charge of Brackley and Northampton before joining League One’s bottom club in January, and embarking on a surprising Cup run.

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