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Durham force Yorkshire to play another day in pursuit of long-awaited victory

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Home side begin final day needing 33 runs with two wickets remaining

David Hopps13-May-2023Durham 227 and 213 for 8 (Jones 56, Lees 38, Fisher 4-56, Thompson 3-40) require 33 runs to beat Yorkshire 254 and 218 (Raine 4-36, Potts 4-61)Yorkshire have not won a Championship match for 17 matches. The 18th is in abeyance after they claimed the extra half-hour, but failed to force victory against the leaders Durham at Chester-le-Street. Durham begin the final day needing 33 runs with two wickets remaining. A riveting match remains in the balance.This sounds appallingly like hindsight, but Yorkshire would have been better leaving the last two wickets until the morning when the weather is overcast and the ball might swing. Their impatience to finish the job was understandable, but their seam attack (or at least those seamers the skipper Shan Masood entirely trusted) was weary, the sun was shining (no, really, it was) and their impetus was already on the wane.Durham added another 18 in nine overs as Ben Raine and Matthew Potts resisted gamely. Durham need a win to stay top of Division Two and their supporters talk proudly of a side in good shape; Yorkshire need a win to help them block out the perpetual grumbling from the outer and convince themselves that promotion is a realisable objective. Both sides have been a credit to Division Two.To add to the uncertainty, Brydon Carse will walk out at No.11, if needed, after having scans on a “trunk injury” that restricted him to only five overs in Yorkshire’s second innings. The results of those are not yet known. Carse, fully fit, would be a danger. Carse, severely restricted, might be impotent. Nobody really knows.Matthew Fisher, who holds four wickets overnight, said: “We chucked everything at them, we just needed one to roll. As much as it’s stressful and you’re knackered, we know that we need to go again in the morning. I didn’t really want the extra half hour because it would have been nice to get off and freshen up.”Durham’s target was 246, a tall order that had sizeable chips removed from it during a new-ball assault by Alex Lees who made 38 from 37 balls, driving in carefree fashion as Fisher and Jordan Thompson began timidly and inaccurately as if a long run without success had crept into their consciousness. A failed to attempt to change the ball after 3.5 overs summed up their state of mind as there was little swing to be had.Masood dealt with the situation shrewdly, withdrawing Fisher from the attack after two overs, giving him time to reflect and reintroducing him at the Lumley Castle End. If the ball was not swinging, there was soon further confirmation that it would occasionally keep low as Fisher seamed one through Lees’ gaping gap.Lees dealt with, Durham abruptly slowed as Michael Jones took the long view. Scott Borthwick clipped Thompson to short midwicket, but Jones gradually expanded his range, Mickey Edwards looked too leaky for such a tight match on a surface where accuracy was essential and, at 126 for 2, Durham were edging the match as a series of borderline lbw shouts did not fall Yorkshire’s way.Then came a random moment to shift the emphasis. Bess’ career has stalled at Yorkshire, not helped by the county’s appetite for internecine strife. Runs have eluded him and his bowling average is in the mid-40s. Unsurprisingly, he had struggled to hide his disfavour as several lbw decisions did not fall his way. Then he was clunked on the knee when Graham Clark pulled Matthew Revis fiercely into the ground and limped off with four overs to his name, returning later to sound effect.Masood was forced to return to Hill, who was carrying an onerous responsibility on his slender frame. It immediately paid dividends as David Bedingham was held by Jonny Bairstow, an excellent one-handed scoop as the ball died in front of him.Fisher’s return came with a sense that the game could be turned. So it was as he took wickets in three successive overs: Ollie Robinson’s flashing drive flying to first slip, Jones falling lbw by virtue of the totting-up procedure, and Bas de Leede joining the growing list of bowlers to chop on.If there was ever a time for Jordan Thompson to live up to his somewhat optimistic nickname of “the man who makes things happen” it had arrived and he added two in two as Graham Clark also dragged on and Axar Patel, who had tormented Yorkshire in the first innings with some last-man tomfoolery, losing his magic upon his promotion to No.9 and immediately falling lbw.Bess deserves credit for returning later, ice and painkillers applied, and maintaining an excellent holding operation against admittedly obsessive Durham defending. Against tiring bowlers, in bright sunshine, Durham might have been better giving it a go. But they will ridicule that notion if they steal the game in the morning. A new ball is only 10 overs away and they will surely want to wrap things up by then.Yorkshire had been evenly placed at the start of the day – their closure at 91 for 3 giving them a lead of 118. With Malan and Bairstow at the crease – a rare Championship alliance between two England internationals – they had a chance to kill the game. Just as it seemed they might, Ben Raine dismissed both in successive overs courtesy of excellent catches by Ollie Robinson.Ollie Robinson is quite an upgrade for Durham, released by Kent because the presence of Sam Billings and Jordan Cox meant limited opportunities. He sprang a long way to his left when Malan chased a wide one and then even further to his right when Bairstow edged an attempted drive. Both had scrapped for around two-and-a-half hours, but the first half-century of the match was still awaited.That fell to Hill, who continued an excellent all-round match with 51 from 52 balls until Potts had him caught at second slip with a wide outswinger on the stroke of lunch. A more graceful player than when he first appeared in the side, he made light of the introduction of spin, in the shape of Patel, and played Potts in an assured fashion as anybody.Whatever the outcome, Yorkshire could recognise his growing importance by immediately capping him. They can’t afford it, but then they can’t afford to turn the lights on.

Arsenal “powerhouse” is fast becoming their worst signing since Fabio Vieira

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Arsenal have been almost faultless this season, but on Sunday, their unbeaten run finally came to an end.

Mikel Arteta’s side once again came unstuck at the hands of Unai Emery’s Aston Villa and now sit just two points clear of Manchester City atop the Premier League table.

It wasn’t a dreadful showing from the league leaders, but it was a disappointing and potentially worrying one.

Moreover, it was another game in which a particular player flattered to deceive, a player who could end up being Arteta’s worst signing since Fabio Vieira.

What went wrong for Fabio Vieira at Arsenal

Arsenal fans largely remember the summer of 2022 as the window when Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko arrived from Manchester City and helped the team on their first title charge in a generation.

However, that summer also saw the club sign Vieira from Porto for around £34m, and while it was a surprise move, it was an exciting one.

After all, the Portuguese midfielder had just come off a campaign in which he produced 23 goal involvements in 39 games.

Unfortunately, aside from the odd moment of brilliance, the Santa Maria da Feira-born talent failed to make much of a mark during his first season in North London, racking up a tally of just two goals and six assists in 33 first-team appearances.

Things would only get worse the following season, as a combination of injuries, poor form and suspensions limited him to just 16 appearances, in which he scored one goal and provided four assists.

With two disappointing campaigns under his belt in as many years, the 25-year-old was sent back to Porto on loan for 24/25, where he did improve, but only marginally and ended the season with a tally of 11 goal involvements in 42 games.

The Portuguese giants did not want to bring their player back on a permanent deal this year, and so, with few other options, the Gunners agreed to send him on another loan, this time to Hamburg, with an option to buy.

Season

22/23

23/24

Appearances

33

16

Goals

2

1

Assists

6

3

Goal Involvements per Match

0.24

0.25

In all, it’s clear that Vieira is a talented player, but it’s equally clear he is not, and never was, good enough to play for Arsenal.

Worryingly, the same might eventually be said about another of Arteta’s signings, someone who could go down as his worst since the Portuguese midfielder lest he improve, and quickly.

Arsenal star in danger of becoming Arteta's worst signing since Vieira

Overall, it would be fair to say that Arsenal’s summer business this year was a success.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

The likes of Eberchi Eze, Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke, for example, have all looked good to great so far.

However, there is one signing who has divided opinion more than any other, and is in danger of being labelled a flop if he doesn’t improve: Viktor Gyokeres.

Now, before the pitchforks and torches come out, there is every chance the Swedish international will prove his doubters wrong and become the goalscoring monster Arsenal need him to be.

Unfortunately, there have been few signs of that happening so far this season.

For example, in 17 appearances so far, the former Sporting “powerhouse” forward, as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, has scored just six goals, which is not terrible, but it’s not enough for someone who wants to lead the line for a title-winning side.

Minutes

50′

Shots

0

Expected Assists

0.03

Key Passes

0

Touches

11

Lost Possession

6

Passes

4

Crosses (Accurate)

1 (0)

Moreover, the game against Villa on Saturday was another one in which he failed to stamp his authority on things.

The 27-year-old came on at half-time, but in his 50 minutes of action, he took just 11 touches, lost the ball six times, completed four passes, failed to take a single shot or create a single big chance.

It was a worrying display, and one that could easily see the likes of Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus leapfrog him in the pecking order when they are both fully fit.

Ultimately, while there is time for him to make his mark on this team, Gyokeres has underdelivered for Arsenal so far this year and is in real danger of becoming Arteta’s worst permanent signing since Vieira.

Arsenal hold initial talks to sign £88m Odegaard upgrade who's "Mbappe-like"

The incredible international game-changer would be unreal for Arsenal, but could spell trouble for Martin Odegaard.

1 ByJack Salveson Holmes 3 days ago

Neil Wagner strikes gold to uphold New Zealand and England's unspoken promise

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

A deep bond forged by this ludicrous sport culminated in one of the best days it has produced

Vithushan Ehantharajah28-Feb-2023When Neil Wagner finally calls it quits, he should donate his body to science so they can figure out how a human being can spend 17 years contorting and unraveling his torso for bouncer after bouncer and still, at 36, do it just enough to drag his team to such a famous win. That’s probably an oxymoron, mind, given it would require Wagner to give something up.His deciding spell of 3 for 38 came from 9.2 overs into the wind. Perhaps it should have been more than those 57 deliveries (including a wide) when you consider the ones Wagner might have had to bowl again. Not that we should get bogged down in those. Even dragons scorch the earth beyond their foes.New Zealand became the fourth team in the game’s history to win after being asked to follow-on. They beat England by a single run, making them only the second to win by what is literally the barest margin you can get in this format, thanks to a man who just last week had been flayed so harshly you wondered if his time was up.Evidently, though, his time was now. Specifically Tuesday, when New Zealand needed him most. England were 199 for 5 and walking, not running this time to a seventh successful chase for their 11th win in 12 and a first series victory on these shores since 2008. The wait goes on.Related

McCullum: Wagner is 'one of the toughest I've come across'

Ben Stokes: 'That last half-hour is everything that you wish for'

'No better game in the world than Test cricket'

Stats – NZ pull off rare follow-on comeback

New Zealand beat England in one-run thriller, make history by overcoming follow-on

On from the Vance Stand End in the 57th over, Wagner struck first with Ben Stokes, who was probably going to win it for England, even on one leg, because that’s kind of his thing. Then he took out Joe Root, who was actually winning it for England with the kind of immaculate poise that makes him a modern day great. Then, with the merest of tickles down the leg side, he took out James Anderson to seal it. And I know you’ll never believe it, but he was surely going to win it for England.Yep. Him. The same 40-year-old Anderson who just a week ago said he “wouldn’t get anything out” of hitting the winning runs in a Test match looked primed to do just that. Wickets are his currency, runs, seemingly, an inconvenience. The No. 11 charged Wagner – charged him! – crunching four through midwicket to reduce the ask to just two.And it was probably about then that this game assumed legendary status. Jack Leach played out a maiden to Tim Southee, and was stood at the non-striker’s end on one off 31 deliveries – more than he faced in the great Headingley 2019 heist – on the cusp of possessing more memorable singles than the New Radicals. It took a sprawling stop from Matt Henry – more on him later – at mid-on to keep New Zealand in front.The start of the 75th over from Wagner was down the leg side, Anderson happy to let it pass him by but irked it was not called a wide (it wasn’t). Next ball, having drilled into the middle of the pitch for an hour, Wagner finally struck gold.The roar when victory was confirmed, Tim Southee’s first as New Zealand skipper, was the kind they should bottle and market alongside the Wilhelm Scream. Very few explosions of glee tell the story of this sport, this format and days like these better: the pull of anxiety before the release, sending you into bedlam like the emotional rubber band you are.

To say there were no spare seats at the Basin Reserve isn’t technically correct, given all were on their feet long before the 4.06pm finish. But the locals drifted in as day five wore on, free of charge, and by the end were going toe-to-toe with the Barmy Army.They were outnumbered at the start, but any estimates on the working population of Wellington decreased as early as an hour into play. Whether working from the office or working from home, ditch it all and come here.Some parents had pulled their kids out of school to trek down in the hope of something memorable. By the end, kids were turning up in school uniform having taken the decision upon themselves to play hookie. This was an education in itself.England’s resumption of their pursuit of 258 on 48 for 1 had undergone the mother of all collapses. 32 for 4, an unwelcome throwback to an English top-order in complete disarray, even featuring the requisite run out to tip it over the edge into “comical”.Root thought he had guided a ball beyond gully, only for Michael Bracewell to swoop from second slip, gather on the bounce and throw into Tom Blundell to do the rest. Harry Brook was as far away from making his ground as he is from his peers. Though now, courtesy of that diamond duck, he’s a little closer as the average dips to 80.Harry Brook was run out without facing a ball•Associated PressOllie Robinson’s ugly but understandable swipe, Ben Duckett’s footwork-less slash, Ollie Pope’s “Command+C, Command+V” impatience outside off stump were bad enough without some intra-Yorkshire miscommunication. Root said last week Brook won’t shut up about the time he, aged 14, got him out in a net at Headingley. One imagines the youngster will have a new, less jovial nail to hammer.You could link this chase back to making New Zealand follow-on. Not so much the decision to take that option but how things transpired: the lead of 257 eventually accrued, as much as the 215.3 overs in the field split by two nights, the second more restless than the first.The creeping sense of control being ceded as New Zealand began to fancy themselves for the first time this series, thanks to a player-of-the-match sealing 132 from Kane Williamson in the second innings. The grind of simply being out there for all that long and cursing the early conclusion that never came. Tired minds love a mistake.But this could not have come about with mistakes alone. It needed more: skill shotted with that familiar Kiwi cocktail of nous and courage.Knowing England would keep coming at their bowlers after being taken apart at Mount Maunganui and here in the first innings, Southee had an idea. The bowlers could only do so much to keep the batters from advancing, but they could get them to think twice about that by getting Tom Blundell to stand up to the stumps. A tough ask against Wagner, Henry and Southee himself. In truth, there was no real conversation about it: “Straightaway, it was a ‘yes’ from Tom,” said the skipper.It meant that when Root dropped and ran, Blundell was there to assist instead of Bracewell having to throw down the stumps to get rid of Brook. As well as the deciding catch, a 90 in the second innings gave more weight to overall haul of 267 runs at 66.75 and raised him higher as a vital cog in this side going forward.His duties for this series aren’t yet fulfilled, however. It is a Blackcaps tradition dating back to 1998 to celebrate victory at this ground by taking a limousine up to Mount Victoria – Wellington’s highest point – drink champagne and smoke cigars while looking out over the city. As keeper, it’s Blundell’s job to sort the limo. “I’m sure he’s got it under control,” assured Southee, with exactly the kind of confidence Blundell has earned these last 18 months.A more physical example of said bravery came from Henry. Root and Stokes’ partnership, that would eventually end on 121, had reached 58 – the England skipper with just 11 of them as his best mate played the part of accelerator – when Henry suffered a back spasm. Southee had to step in to bowl the final delivery of the 34th over.Matt Henry had to go off after experiencing back soreness•Getty ImagesAs the quickest and possibly most accurate of the seamers, the 31-year-old’s collapse on the field and eventual walk off with the help of New Zealand’s physio did not bode well. Rotating was the name of the game, but with Bracewell being taken apart – notably by Root, who 43 from the 21 balls faced from the offspinner – and Henry’s potential absence was ultimately going to give England the game.After some intense work from the physio in the changing room, Henry spent the lunch interval bowling. Like Blundell, the conversation with Southee was quick. The result? Well, pretty remarkable. Henry ended up putting together an unbroken 10-over spell that allowed just 19 runs and ended up with the dismissal of Stuart Broad, who tried and failed to uppercut beyond third man.The catcher? Wagner, of course. By then he had cramped Stokes for an uncontrolled one-handed swat and then Root for a more controlled and arguably more culpable demise to Bracewell stationed at midwicket for a mistake that did not seem like coming given Root’s previous 112 balls.At 215 for 8, with 43 to win, the script had flipped. Finally, after 11 days of chasing shadows up at the Mount and down at the Well, New Zealand were in charge. In control of their own destiny. But for a valiant Ben Foakes, it would have been theirs sooner.As England’s least expansive batter, his has been an under-appreciated role since the start of last summer. Across the nine matches played, his work behind the stumps has been match-turning. Now in front of them, England needed him to be match-winning.He did it his way: diligently, patiently, almost painfully, yet without doubt. The confusion as he turned down singles when runs were a premium was not for self but rather to ensure Leach was protected at the other end, particularly against Wagner. From the 62nd to the 71st, Foakes ensured Leach only faced two deliveries an over.Slowly, the shots got more expansive. From twos bisecting fielders out in the deep to slapping Wagner back over his head, then pulling him in front of square for back to back boundaries. Then, just as he had got it down to seven, the temptation to go after Southee to rest the nerves further went high and away towards fine leg.Yep, Wagner again. Behind the batter is usually the best place for a bowler to hide and recharge as best they can. Here, though, it was where the action was going to be. And even in the midst of a blood-sweating spell, no-one belonged there more than Wagner.It took until around 6.45pm for Wagner to get his biggest cheer from the English. By then, the crowds had spilled out in the town’s boozers to tell everyone and each other about one of the greatest Test matches there has ever been. Back in the Basin, the Blackcaps had joined the England team to do the same.Initially, the victors joined the game of ‘Pig’: keepy-uppies played in a ring, where the one who messes up gets flicked in the forehead by everyone else in the circle. As Broad bowed his head for his punishment, Wagner came through and gave the 36-year-old’s forehead a thwack that sent both squads into hysterics.

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As time wore on, the circle of footballers got smaller, with groups breaking off for their own conversations in pockets amid cans, bottles and the odd puff of vape smoke.The bangers when these two meet are as common as the hours of that follow. A tour that started with Southee chilling with Stokes and his old mate Brendon McCullum during the warm-up match in Hamilton and ends 20 days later with exactly the same in a field they made their own.Just as McCullum said he knew Southee would ensure New Zealand always push for victory, Southee knew McCullum and Stokes would ask them to follow-on and then go hell-for-leather on the final day in pursuit of any chase big or small.Here we are, then. An unspoken promise between a bond forged by this ludicrous sport has resulted in one of the best days it has produced. It will give New Zealand hope of brighter days to come, and England reassurance their ethos of playing for the people rather than themselves can nourish them even in defeat.The game is as life – about the experiences and memories you make. And this one will carry forward long after we’re all gone.

Blue Jays’ World Series Game 1 Victory Is a Win for an Old-School Approach

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays are out to change baseball, one stinking, annoying, pesky, skin-crawling, chalkboard-scratching, stone-in-my-shoe, please-make-it-stop foul ball at a time.

“That’s our goal,” says Toronto infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa. “To change baseball. We’re doing something that’s not taught anymore. We’re trying to bring baseball back to … well, baseball.”

It is a lofty goal that is three wins within reach after such a pestiferous 11–4 World Series Game 1 victory Friday over Los Angeles that after it, Dodgers pitchers should have been reaching for calamine lotion instead of ice.

After five seasons in which only a top-four home run team has won the World Series, Toronto (11th in homers, first in lowest strikeout rate) wants to turn the baseball world upside down, if not back to the 1970s.

The Blue Jays scored their 11 runs on 14 hits, including three homers, while striking out just four times. Talk about retro. They turned the baseball clock all the way back to 1978, the time of bell bottoms, love beads and the only World Series game in which a team had so many runs, hits and homers with only four strikeouts: an 11–5 win for the Dodgers over the Yankees in 1978 World Series Game 3.

So artful was Toronto it had nearly as many hits as swings and misses (15). The Blue Jays fouled off 39 pitches, 19 of them with two strikes. Their turn at bat in the sixth inning played out like one of those floor-borne domino cascades in which the tiles topple over one-by-one in serpentine style; there was artistry in a chain reaction that seemed to go on forever.

Twelve batters against three pitchers in that inning saw 44 pitches, including 15 pitches with two strikes without a swing and miss, fouled 12 pitches, put nine balls in play, drew two walks, took a hit by pitch and hit two homers.

“The epitome of how we play baseball,” infielder Ernie Clement calls it. “That inning is pretty much all we do as a team, as a group.”

The Dodgers brought to the series the best swing-and-miss pitching staff in the National League, especially Game 1 starter Blake Snell, who had a 50% whiff rate in three postseason starts this year. Now they know they have a fight on their hands with the toughest team to put away in baseball, whether that refers to when the Jays trail (they scored 11 unanswered runs after falling behind 2–0) or when they have two strikes.

“He had his stuff tonight,” Kiner-Falefa says. “We did a good job of getting into their bullpen. The moment he came out of the game we took advantage. We wore him down as much as we could. And it’s tough to wear him down when he’s in the zone as much as he was.”

Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk, right, hit a two-run homer to put the finishing touch on the Dodgers in Toronto’s nine-run sixth inning. / Erick Rasco/Sports Illustrated

Blue Jays’ preparation paying dividends

What is happening in this war of resistance in Canada is a synchronicity of hitting philosophy and sports performance experts on both the athletic training and strength training sides. Everything is connected. Everything is coordinated by first-year hitting coach David Popkins, 35, and assistant hitting coaches Lou Iannotti, 32, and Hunter Mense, 41, none of whom played a day in the big leagues but have plenty of experience playing independent ball.

Each day, for instance, the team posts a readout of each player’s bat speed from the previous night’s game.

“So, if a guy’s bat speeds are down, then he’ll hit the weight room,” Kiner-Falefa says. “Or I'll back off on the field [pregame work]. And if my bat speed’s down again, then I need to go in and get in the weight room and get with the hitting coaches and make the mechanical adjustment to get the bat speed back up.”

Mostly all the Blue Jays also wear Catapult vests that track daily energy expenditure.

“We wear those Catapults and they’d be like, ‘Alright, you’re working out too much,’” Kiner-Falefa says. “It was the first time where I saw it where they helped you get ready for the game. It wasn't just like tracking how much you did. They’re tracking your [swing] rotation to see, ‘Hey, my rotation's 50% low.’ It’s very skill specific.”

Sometimes the fix is physical.

“It could just be as simple as something’s locked up in your body,” Kiner-Falefa says. “Okay, then you go in the training room. And this is the best health facility, weight room and training staff I have ever seen.”

In recent years the Blue Jays so meticulously overhauled their home clubhouse facilities—which stretch from home plate to the leftfield foul pole—that they modeled their recovery room after a Four Seasons resort, complete with sauna, hot and cold tubs and a rock waterfall that spills over a giant Blue Jays logo in a stone wall.

“The hitting coaches will send me to the weight room, like if I’m not hinging properly,” Kiner-Falefa says. “The weight training coaches will send me to the training room and say, ‘You're not able to hinge,’ or ‘do your RDL [Roman deadlift] right. You gotta get worked on.’ They are so in sync that last year when I was here, I had my best offensive year, and I felt like it had a lot to do with weight training coaches and training staff.”

The hitting coaches encourage finding different ways to beat opponents, not just the modern way of selling out for home runs and accepting strikeouts as the tariff. Each day, in addition to posting daily bat speeds, Popkins and the hitting group keep track of an internal points system, which is used in the minor league system as well.

“So, it’s things like balls-in-play points,” Clement says, “and then it’s based on your swing decisions. Like, ‘Did you swing at strikes?’ And then it’s like, ‘How likely was the swing that you had to be at least a base hit or have damage?’

“We did a lot of it in Triple A, not so much here, but I like to kind of check the numbers and see where we're at. I mean, it definitely reinforces the idea of what you're trying to do, right?”

Popkins’s philosophy also adheres to a tenet that is anathema to most teams: ground balls are okay.

“Other teams I played on were more about home runs,” says Kiner-Falefa, a former Yankee. “It’s just, ‘We're going to beat you with home runs.’ But I feel like this team, sometimes it’s better to put a ball on the ground—in certain situations. Where I feel like I could get a hit that way. So, the hitting coaches do a great job of letting you go out there and be like, ‘It’s okay to hit the ball on the ground. Just hit it hard.’

“As opposed to in New York, it’s all pull-side in the air. And if you don’t, if you hit the ball on the ground, you’re in trouble. So here it’s like, we don’t care about the results—I mean, we care—but we care about how hard we hit the ball and putting the ball in play and swinging at good pitches.”

The way Toronto teaches two-strike hitting is fascinating in its posture-based approach.

“Our hitting coaches do a great job of making us be athletic,” Kiner-Falefa says. “They try to make everybody athletic so that when you get to two strikes you’re not breaking down and you’re not stiff. They want us to get our swings off but at the same time it’s not being stiff. It’s just fighting and there’s a [priority on] competing out there and there is pride in putting the ball in play, which is rare these days.”

The Blue Jays had four walks to go with their four strikeouts. It had been 20 years, going back to the 2005 White Sox, since a team opened the World Series with four or fewer strikeouts and just as many walks.

The key storyline at the onset of this series was the matchup between the red-hot swing-and-miss pitching staff of the Dodgers against the red-hot, put-the-ball-in-play hitters of the Blue Jays. Good pitching, as the adage goes, is supposed to win those battles. But Game 1 set up the possibility that maybe it’s good hitting’s turn to win. Maybe putting the ball in play is the postmodern way forward. Maybe the Blue Jays are the future of baseball—or at least for the next week.

IPL 2022 – The wristspinners' domination and middle-overs acceleration

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

A statistical review of the tournament and what made it unique

Sampath Bandarupalli31-May-2022Dominance of wrist spinners
The battle for the purple cap between Yuzvendra Chahal and Wanindu Hasaranga defined how wristspinners dominated through the tournament. Kuldeep Yadav was also in the race but finished fifth, while Rashid Khan found a place in the top ten wicket-takers.

Wristspinners claimed 141 wickets across the 74 matches, the second-most for them in an IPL edition, behind the 143 scalps in 2019. They averaged 24.53 runs per wicket, the best since 2011 (21.03) and the third-best overall.In comparison, fingerspinners picked only 116 wickets while averaging 34.95, the fourth-worst average in an edition. Maheesh Theekshana and R Ashwin were the most successful finger spinners in this tournament with 12 wickets each.New-ball advantage for the pacers
IPL 2022 was a productive season for the pacers with the new ball, as pitches in Mumbai and Pune assisted them through the league stage. Pace bowlers averaged 30.01 in the powerplay this season, the third-best in the IPL. The pacers took a wicket every 23.77 balls in the powerplay, second only to 23.11 in the 2009 edition in South Africa.

Success with the new ball meant teams did not prefer to start with spinners often – as the pacers bowled 83.68 % of the balls in the powerplay – the second-highest in a season since 2010. Punjab Kings had only four overs of spin during the powerplay in the tournament, while the title winners Gujarat Titans handed only six overs to the spinners in this phase.Middle overs acceleration
Teams have looked for early acceleration this season after quiet powerplay overs, resulting in a rise of the scoring rate in the middle-overs to 8.17, the highest ever in any edition of the IPL. The previous highest middle overs run rate in a season was 8.12 in 2018. Most teams targeted the five-over block between overs 8-12.At times, expensive overs in this period have come in the way of the chasing teams. The run rate in these five overs in this season was 8.07, comfortably the highest in any edition, with the previous highest being 7.95 in 2018. In fact, the aggregate run-rate in each over between 8th and 12th overs this season was excess of 8 runs.POTM awards for bowlers
Kuldeep Yadav won the player-of-the-match award four times this season, the most by any player. Seven of the 15 players to win multiple player-of-the-match awards were for their bowling. In 28 matches, a bowling performance earned the player-of-the-match. It is the highest number of player-of-the-match awards won by the bowlers in an IPL season.

The award in 40 of the remaining 46 matches was given to batting performances, while the remaining six recognised all-round efforts. However, in terms of % of awards won by the bowlers, 37.8 in 2022 is the second-highest behind 39 in the 2017 season. The 2017 season had seen 23 awards won for bowling out of the 59 matches while 31 for batting efforts.Season of close matches
In a season where the teams winning the toss preferred to chase, the teams batting first went on a five-match streak (from game 53 to 57) with winning margins of 50-plus runs. Never in the IPL had the teams batting first won more than two successive games by 50-plus runs. Despite this unique streak, the IPL 2022 had fewer one-sided matches in terms of win margins.

Only 47.3 % of the matches this season ended with a margin of 18-plus runs or three-plus wickets with nine-plus balls to spare. It is the fourth-lowest for any IPL edition and the least in the editions where more than eight teams contested. The three seasons between 2011 and 2013 featuring nine or more teams had more than 50% of matches which were one-sided.Pre-auction picks, and how they fared
The only franchise to have made the perfect pre-auction picks was Gujarat Titans, who eventually emerged as the title winners in their debut season. Titans signed up Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill alongside their captain Hardik Pandya. Gill and Hardik ended in the top five run-getters, while Rashid played key cameos down the order adding up to his tally of 19 wickets.Runners-up, Rajasthan Royals also made good choices by retaining Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Buttler won the Orange Cap, while Yashasvi Jaiswal, benched after three games, made a solid comeback in the second half.The big names – Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli produced below-par returns for their respective franchises. Rohit failed to score a fifty for the first time in an IPL edition, while Kohli recorded his worst season since 2009. Kieron Pollard failed to finish matches for Mumbai Indians and got benched towards the end of the league stage.Related

How Gujarat Titans maximised their strengths and minimised their weaknesses

Smart Stats: Russell goes high, Williamson goes low

IPL 2022: The 15 most interesting numbers from the 15th season

Mohammed Siraj was one of the three Indian pacers to be retained but ended up with the most expensive performance for any bowler in an IPL season.Mayank Agarwal, in his maiden season as captain, struggled for consistency and dropped himself to the middle order. Kane Williamson failed to guide Sunrisers Hyderabad with his batting, scoring at less than run-a-ball.Abdul Samad, another retention of Sunrisers, lasted only two games before being left out. However, Umran Malik turned out to be their strike bowler, with 22 wickets.Both Venkatesh Iyer and Varun Chakravarthy, the Indian retentions of Kolkata Knight Riders, were left out after very few matches.Lucknow Super Giants underused their overseas draft pick Marcus Stoinis while Ravi Bishnoi was touch expensive, conceding 8.44 while picking up only 13 wickets. Although Chennai Super Kings did not drop any of their retentions, their skipper Ravindra Jadeja left his responsibilities due to a rib-injury after yielding middling returns.

دوناروما: لاعب مانشستر سيتي أفضل من كيليان مبابي

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

أشاد جيانلويجي دوناروما حارس مرمى مانشستر سيتي الإنجليزي بأحد زملائه في الفريق وقد فضله على كيليان مبابي نجم ريال مدريد.

وقال دوناروما في حوار مع “ديلي ميل” البريطانية: “أفضل وجود إيرلينج هالاند في فريقي على كيليان مبابي”.

ويعتقد حارس المرمى الإيطالي أن زميله في الفريق إيرلينج هالاند يتمتع بصفات رائعة تجعله يتفوق على كيليان مبابي نجم ريال مدريد.

اقرأ أيضاً.. جوارديولا: كنا خارج سباق البريميرليج بعد أول ثلاث مباريات.. وليفربول سيعود

وأضاف دوناروما: “أعتقد أن إيرلينج قادر على تسديد أقوى التسديدات في كرة القدم العالمية، إنه أعسر لذا فهو مختلف عن كيليان مبابي، كلاهما يصعب مواجهتهما، الأمر معقد”.

جدير بالذكر أن دوناروما قد انضم إلى مانشستر سيتي الصيف الماضي قادمًا من باريس سان جيرمان بعد خروجه من حسابات المدرب الإسباني لويس إنريكي، وقد فاز مع الفريق الفرنسي بالعديد من الألقاب مثل دوري أبطال أوروبا الموسم الماضي.

ويحتل مانشستر سيتي هذا الموسم في جدول ترتيب الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز المركز الثاني برصيد 16 نقطة خلال 8 مباريات.

How G Periyaswamy beat the odds to become a TNPL star

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

If not for two persistent mentors, this season’s leading wicket-taker of the T20 tournament would have been lost to cricket

Deivarayan Muthu08-Sep-2019On the night of August 15, G Periyaswamy found himself hoisted on the shoulders of his team-mates, with fireworks going off around them, to celebrate their second Tamil Nadu Premier League title. He had just taken five wickets to defend a total of 126 in the 20-over final, which took his tournament tally to 21 wickets – the most by a bowler in one TNPL season. So it wasn’t surprising that he was named player of the final and the tournament.The surprise was in how he overcame disability and difficult circumstances to get to a place where IPL scouts and Tamil Nadu selectors are now paying attention.Periyaswamy fell in love with cricket around the age of seven, but a bout of smallpox had blinded him in his right eye, which made him a target of jibes and insults at school. That made him drop out after seventh grade. He then suffered a bout of severe typhoid, followed by a knee injury. All of that, and his family’s stressful financial circumstances, threatened to end his career before it even took off, but his friend and mentor, medium-pacer T Natarajan, who plays for Tamil Nadu, and Kovai Kings in the TNPL, refused to let him give up.Periyaswamy had not played under lights with the white ball before, but he shone the brightest in this season’s TNPL with his slingy, Lasith Malinga-like action. Even some of the higher-profile Tamil Nadu players struggled to gauge his point of release. His yorkers, in the 135kph range, thudded into the base of the stumps and his cutters tricked batsmen into miscuing shots.His Chepauk Super Gillies team-mate and India allrounder Vijay Shankar said Periyaswamy was the side’s “X factor”, and was particularly impressed with how he had made the step up to a higher level of cricket.A couple of years ago, Periyaswamy attended trials for Dindigul Dragons, but they didn’t pick him. Chepauk, though, picked him as their first player in the draft this season and he helped them get to the title, brushing Dindigul aside twice in the knockouts: he followed his 3 for 27, which included the wicket of Dindigul captain R Ashwin, in the first qualifier with 5 for 15 in the final against them.”” [It feels like a dream], Periyaswamy says. “I never expected to first play the TNPL and then win it. I had to work, and I had to ask permission from my family to come and play in this tournament.”Coming from tennis-ball cricket, I initially struggled to grip the white ball, but then got used to it. This slingy action and the yorker come naturally to me. I didn’t feel much pressure playing under lights, even with the matches being shown on TV. We face pressure in tennis-ball T20s too.”

On the night of the final, Periyaswamy’s family back home in Chinnappampatti, a hamlet about 30 kilometres west of Salem, also celebrated his success with fireworks. It had not been easy for them to let him go to pursue his dream. They needed his wages to make ends meet. At one point, Periyaswamy himself thought cricket ” [I can’t continue playing cricket], but two locals convinced his family that he had the talent to do it professionally – his mentor Natarajan and Jayaprakash, who runs the Chinnappampatti cricket club.”I am here because of Natarajan [older brother] and Jayaprakash ,” Periyaswamy says. “They came and spoke to my parents, asking them to let me play this tournament.”Periyaswamy’s father, Ganesan, runs a small tea stall and his mother, Gandhamani, rears cattle. After losing vision in his right eye, Periyaswamy found solace in playing tennis-ball street cricket in his village, but he juggled it with cattle-rearing and working as a weaver.Jayaprakash first came across Periyaswamy in 2011 and was impressed by his very round-arm action. Natarajan and Periyaswamy would combine to win several trophies for their club in tennis-ball cricket with their yorkers and slower variations.Periyaswamy went on to break into the Under-19 district side and became a yorker specialist, but then came the typhoid and the knee injury, which threatened to crush his dreams again.By then Natarajan had graduated to league cricket in Chennai – and later made it to the IPL and the state team. He and Jayaprakash always had Periyaswamy’s back.G Periyaswamy was the Player of the Tournament in this season’s TNPL for his 21 wickets•TNPL/TNCA”After Periyaswamy was down with typhoid, he became very weak and had body aches,” Jayaprakash recalls. “We consulted a doctor in Salem and after one month he recovered from fever. Then he had problems in his leg. We used to pick him up from his home at 4am, consult doctors in Coimbatore, and even Bangalore, and then drop him back after treatment. Natarajan and I always knew he had the talent to succeed. Natarajan moved to Chennai to play cricket, but he always looked after Periyaswamy.”Periyaswamy took a break from cricket at one point to work as a welder, to help his family. However, having seen a spark in his bowling, Natarajan, with assistance from a couple of club managers in Chennai, brought him to the city, to play lower-division cricket.After playing the 2017 IPL, where he was bought for Rs 3 crore by Kings XI Punjab, Natarajan set up his own cricket academy in Chinnappampatti to coach players for free. Periyaswamy was one of those players, but Natarajan soon realised he might need more help than his academy could give. In January this year, he put the bowler in touch with Tamil Nadu physio Thulasi Ram, who worked on his fitness and tuned him up for a stint with a second-division club in Chennai.Periyaswamy was intimidated by the big-city life – he still is, according to Natarajan – but his accurate yorkers made Chepauk coach Hemang Badani and performance analyst Lakshmi Narayanan (who also works with Chennai Super Kings) sit up and take notice. And despite his blindness, Periyaswamy is a good outfielder.Players who can bowl yorkers and mystery balls usually pique the interest of franchises at IPL auctions. Cases in point: Natarajan himself, Shivil Kaushik, KC Cariappa, and more recently, Varun Chakaravarthy.When Periyaswamy bowled to Natarajan in the TNPL in Tirunelveli, he did so wearing shoes that used to belong to Natarajan. After that match, Periyaswamy joked to the host broadcaster that he will never dismiss Natarajan and will instead look to beat his edges.Off the field, Periyaswamy is quiet, even in the dressing room. In contrast, in Chinnappampatti he is known as an entertainer who can mimic voices of famous Tamil cinema actors like Rajinikanth and Vijayakanth and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi.Natarajan hopes the TNPL will finally launch the 25-year old’s stop-start career.”A lot of people have discouraged him throughout his life and that has broken him,” Natarajan says. “But I always knew he had something in him. His slower-ball variation is not easy to pick.”He can swing the ball in, attack the stumps, and gets a lot of wickets lbw or bowled. The next step for him is to do more strengthening and improve his fitness. Let’s wait and see if he gets into the IPL, but for now I’m eagerly hoping to open the bowling with Periyaswamy for Tamil Nadu this domestic season.”Periyaswamy is now back in his village, juggling cricket and work once again to help repay his family’s debts. It remains to be seen if a call-up for Tamil Nadu or the IPL arrives, but his story is already one of triumph in the face of adversity.

10 on 10, but get those bails to fall

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

A fan relives a perfect day out at The Oval, where India beat Australia

Sudhindra Prasad10-Jun-2019Choice of game
911. That’s just a concatenation of my current plan and eventual hope for this tournament – I’ll be at all nine India group games and hope for India to play the maximum of 11 games, obviously with me attending them all. My brother, Raghavendra, travelled from Bangalore to accompany me to eight India league games.Team supported
India. As some cricketers say, if one has a long career, the milestones come along. Similar from a fans’ perspective, if one attends events constantly over years, then milestones happen. Having been at Ahmedabad 2011 and Sydney 2015, this was my hat-trick of India-Australia World Cup encounters. While my brother accompanied me to the 2011 quarter-final, he did not travel to Sydney in 2015. It was a successful comeback for the siblings.Key performers
Shikhar Dhawan was the standout performer. His aggression at the top and relentless strokeplay through the middle overs made life difficult for the Australian attack. That solid platform provided the license for the middle order of Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni and KL Rahul to throw caution to the wind.Wow moment
The wow moment for me was a very Aussie effort by one of the Indian fielders. Aaron Finch had made his intentions clear with 19 runs off the 10th over and worryingly, the Indian attack did not appear to have a retort to Finch in prime form. As Warner hit the ball towards extra cover, the call for two seemed a risky affair from the outset. I watched closely from the stands, as Kedar Jadhav rushed in, picked the ball up and quickly relayed it back to Pandya to break the stumps. It was apparent with the naked eye that Finch was a goner and the crowd roared in approval of that superlative Jadhav effort.One thing I would have changed
With David Warner being out of sorts, I would have sent in Glenn Maxwell or Alex Carey in place of Usman Khawaja at No.3 to stop Australia from getting too far behind in the chase.Gripe factor
Warner got away off the first ball from Jasprit Bumrah, wherein the ball hit the stumps, but the bails didn’t dislodge. It is extremely frustrating that the ICC has let the situation drift to this point. My greatest fear is that this could occur at a crucial juncture of the tournament and could mean the end of the road for some team. That would be a travesty.Getty ImagesJerseys and A-B-C tales
The Australian World Cup attire brought back my first memories of cricket – the World Series Cricket with its floodlights, white ball and more significantly, mind-blowing jersey designs. It centred around something fundamental as A-B-C.On a Sunday morning, as we cousins gathered eagerly to watch the delayed telecast of the Australia-India game, my uncle stormed out of his bedroom and later the house for a walk around our locality Malleshwaram in Bangalore to calm himself, stating 161 was never enough and that we kids shouldn’t waste our time watching the game. He was up from the early hours listening to ball-by-ball commentary from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.A-B-C: The mid-80s were all about the grit and resolve of Allan Border, who rebuilt a flailing Australian team along with Bob Simpson. The acronym ABC back then stood for Allan Border and Century, Allan Border and Catch, Allan Border and Cup, Allan Border and Championship etc.Crowd meter
India supporters occupied more than 90% of the stadium, with isolated pockets of Australia fans. The stadium was absolutely packed and unlike Hampshire Bowl in Southampton, the cramped seating at The Oval packed more people together and certainly added to the decibel levels.Fancy dress index
While Australian supporters predominantly stuck to match jerseys, their Indian counterparts came up with innovative versions of their traditional wear. The 1999 World cup jersey replicas are on sale through the ICC fan shops and many fans sported their respective country replicas. While it wasn’t quite fancy dress, a group of about four-five England supporters were spotted outside the Lock/Laker stand, sporting India’s 1999 jerseys and hats, loudly chanting “”. Obviously they had taken to support the opponents of their traditional enemy.Close encounter
Seemingly not recognised by the fans milling around, the unassuming Monty Panesar sported a relaxed look as he headed out of the Pavilion stand. He stopped to acknowledge and pose for selfies with the few fans who did recognise him.Shot of the day
In this age of T20-fuelled batting, Maxwell’s second boundary in the 37th over was the sort one wouldn’t associate with him in such a chase. The delicate glide between the keeper and gully got a boundary and also got opposition fans to worry.An Oval swansong?
Dhoni’s presence sent the crowd into delirium as “Dhoni, Dhoni” chants erupted spontaneously. As Dhoni departed after a good little cameo, it just occurred to me that this might well be the last occasion for us to have seen him play in an Indian jersey in that wonderful ground in Lambeth.Marks out of 10
An absolute 10 and a perfect day out. Fantastic all-round display by India, the best atmosphere I have ever experienced over the decades at The Oval, with plenty of singing through the day and a post-match party at the Fentiman Arms with friends.Want to do a Fan Following report? Read our FAQ here.

Move over Wirtz: Liverpool can sign Salah's next Firmino in £84m "magician"

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Liverpool fell by the wayside under Arne Slot’s wing last season, the Dutch tactician getting the sack as the Anfield side failed to qualify for the Champions League and went without silverware.

That paragraph is completely, painfully incorrect, but it perhaps conveys the result that rivals had hoped for and expected after Jurgen Klopp packed his bags and left Liverpool at the end of the 2023/24 term.

Arne Slot celebrates Liverpool's Premier League triumph

Liverpool might have lost Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid, but things are going well indeed, with the Reds revelling in the glory of winning the Premier League and now making staggering moves in the transfer market.

FSG are planning for extensive changes this summer, and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz is sure to be the cream of the crop, currently in the process of signing for the Merseysiders.

However, Liverpool need new forwards too. Wirtz is technically an attacker, but he’s more of a playmaker, a string puller.

Liverpool looking for new forwards

With Luis Diaz potentially leaving Liverpool this summer, courted by Barcelona and Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr, Reds sporting director Richard Hughes may want to turn toward a new wideman.

Liverpool's Arne Slot and Luis Diaz

And if recent reports are to be believed, Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon is one of Liverpool’s top targets to replace their Colombian talent.

Gordon, however, has struggled to recapture his form from 2023/24, and given the Magpies want £80m for his sale, Liverpool might be better off focusing their time and resources elsewhere.

Anthony Gordon looks dejected for Liverpool

Though the England international’s dynamism and ability to shift across the frontline is something which echoes Diaz, who has played a false nine role at times in Slot’s set-up, there might be another option on the market who can play that Bobby Firmino-esque role.

Though Wirtz would be the obvious pick for such a position, he might actually be placed on the wing during his Liverpool career, for his ball-carrying skills are “out of this world”, according to one data analyst.

Real Madrid star Rodrygo faces an uncertain future at the Santiago Bernabeu, and while Arsenal are interested in striking a deal for the Brazilian, Liverpool have also been credited with an interest last month, holding discussions to ascertain the feasibility of launching an official bid.

But given Los Blancos would be hoping to bank around €100m (£84m) for the 24-year-old’s sale, FSG would need to be certain he’s the man for the job.

Luckily, Rodrygo ticks all the boxes, and could be the perfect fit.

Why Liverpool should sign Rodrygo

Real Madrid signed Rodrygo from Brasileiro Serie A giants Santos in a deal worth €45m (£39m) back in 2019, when the talented young forward turned 18.

He’s been immense in white, praised as a “world-class superstar” by former teammate Luka Modric. Rodrygo perhaps doesn’t get the acclaim teammates like Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham reap, but then he’s often placed on the right flank, which he doesn’t enjoy.

That’s because it inhibits the right-footer’s goalscoring, and given that Mohamed Salah has extended his Liverpool contract by two years, the Brazil star shouldn’t have that problem, instead allowed to play on the left or in the false nine role that Diaz has performed across the past year.

Right winger

145

34

30

Centre-forward

82

22

8

Left winger

78

23

16

Attacking midfield

4

–

1

It’s not as if he hasn’t played in the centre before, and with such dynamic technical qualities, Rodrygo could become Salah’s new Firmino, ranking as he does among the top 2% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, as per FBref.

Regarded as a “magician” by Statman Dave, the £202k-per-week talent has a similar silkiness to his compatriot, who in his Liverpool pomp was one of the most elegant and influential forwards in the business.

Excitingly, Rodrygo is also a superior finisher to Firmino, evidenced by his missing just one big chance in La Liga this season, converting six big chances, as per Sofascore.

Moreover, he’s one of the definitive big-game players of his generation, as evidenced by his immense record in the Champions League knockout rounds.

As Liverpool look to clinch number seven in the coming years, Rodrygo’s profile would be doubly important. You’d have to say, his record and indeed future potential suggest Liverpool would be better off moving for him than pushing ahead with a move for Newcastle’s Gordon.

With Salah likely entering the penultimate year of his legendary Liverpool career, finding the right formula to win the Champions League is going to be crucial for the Egyptian, who would certainly relish the opportunity to play alongside a seasoned continental star like Rodrygo.

And further to the point, Rodrygo’s finishing could find the perfect battery power in Salah, who stormed his way toward the Premier League Playmaker award this season, scoring 34 goals from 52 matches in all competitions but also laying on 23 assists.

Two years ago, Salah declared his departing Brazilian peer would be remembered as one of “the best players to ever play for Liverpool”, and now he could find a new incarnation of Bobby Dazzler in Rodrygo.

Only a few months ago, in March, Jude Bellingham claimed Rodrygo is “the most gifted player in the squad.”

It’s clear that Rodrygo isn’t drawing the praise he perhaps deserves, and if Liverpool were to make their move, he could become a bona fide superstar in the Premier League, acting as the connective force in the frontline to elevate Salah and combine with Wirtz.

Rodrygo, for sure, could emulate his iconic countryman Firmino and become a staple of the incipient era at Anfield.

Better than Gyokeres: Liverpool dream of signing "the best ST in the world"

Liverpool plan on signing a new centre-forward in the transfer market this summer.

1 ByAngus Sinclair Jun 7, 2025

ريال مدريد يحدد ثلاثة لاعبين لتدعيم خط الدفاع .. والكشف عن الهدف الرئيسي

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

كشفت صحيفة “ماركا” اليوم الخميس، عن آخر التطورات المتعلقة بخطط نادي ريال مدريد لتدعيم صفوفه خلال فترة الميركاتو الصيفي العام المقبل.

ريال مدريد خاض ميركاتو صيفي هذا العام جيد للغاية، وذلك بالتعاقد مع كل من ترينت ألكسندر أرنولد من ليفربول، ودين هويسن من بورنموث، وفرانكو ماستانتونو من ريفر بلايت، إضافة إلى تصعيد جونزالو جارسيا من الكاستيا إلى الفريق الأول.

وأشارت الصحيفة إلى أن المركز الرئيسي الذي يستهدف نادي ريال مدريد تدعيمه هو مركز قلب الدفاع، خصوصًا مع احتمالية رحيل أنطونيو روديجير، وديفيد ألابا.

وسوف تنتهي عقود ألابا بجانب روديجير مع ريال مدريد بنهاية الموسم الجاري ، وعلى الأرجح لن يتم تجديد عقود الثنائي لتقدمهما في السن وتراجعهما في المستوى.

اقرأ أيضًا .. تروي ديني منتقدًا محمد صلاح: لم يلعب بشكل جيد أيضًا الموسم الماضي

وأفادت الصحيفة، أن ريال مدريد حدد كلًا من دايوت أوباميكانو، لاعب بايرن ميونخ، وقائد كريستال بالاس مارك جويهي، إضافة إلى إبراهيما كوناتي، نجم نادي ليفبول، كأهداف رئيسية لتدعيم مركز قلب الدفاع صيف العام المقبل.

وتنتهي عقود أوباميكانو، وكوناتي، وجويهي مع فرقهم بنهاية الموسم الجاري، مما يعني إمكانية التعاقد معهم مجانًا.

وأضاف المصدر قائلًا أن كوناتي وأوباميكانو على رادار إدارة ريال مدريد منذ فترة طويلة، لكن جويهي انضم لهذه القائمة وقد يوقع معه الفريق الملكي.

وأردف المصدر، أن ريال مدريد يفضل التعاقد مع كوناتي، والذي يبلغ من العمر 26 عامًا.

ويعول مدرب نادي ريال مدريد، تشابي ألونسو، على خدمات هويسن بجانب إيدير ميليتاو، في مركز قلب الدفاع بجانب تواجد راؤول أسينسيو كخيار ثالث مع إصابة روديجير وتراجع مستوى ألابا.

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