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The decision over who plays, as with nearly everything about this debate, seems to come down to how it makes everyone feel

Danyal Rasool22-Dec-2023There are certain issues that start off with legitimate debate. But, much like political allegiances – or the supposed superiority of biriyani over pulao – they soon cease to be about what is true. What matters is how they make you feel, and before too long, you’ve fed off your side of the argument enough that it becomes almost impossible to make the distinction. Even facts sound partisan; every phrase is parsed over with a fine-tooth comb, and all debate is just heckling from across two sides of a fence that can no longer be pulled down.Which brings us nicely to Sarfaraz Ahmed vs Mohammad Rizwan, particularly about which of the two should line up on Boxing Day in the starting XI for Pakistan. The issue has been thrown into sharper focus following the first Test in Perth, where Sarfaraz was perhaps the least effective performer, aggregating the fewest runs for any batter across both sides. Though his wicketkeeping was, for the most part, solid, there was a crucial stumping chance missed off part-time spinner Agha Salman, with centurion David Warner the man reprieved.Much earlier, when Australia were on the rampage in the game’s first session, Usman Khawaja skied one that first slip rather than wicketkeeper charged after only to shell it; there is an argument Sarfaraz could have tried to chase after that. The data suggests slip fielders are twice as likely to drop catches as wicketkeepers, a measure of the advantage gloves offer.Related

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None of this is analysis by hindsight. Before Perth, who took the gloves for Pakistan was one of the most pressing questions, its urgency only matching their resolute refusal to engage with the debate. Team director and coach Mohammad Hafeez had talked up Rizwan’s ability as a fielder, seemingly flirting with the idea of playing him as a specialist batter. On the day before the Test, Shan Masood said Pakistan still hadn’t made up their mind, even, somewhat curiously, saying the side didn’t know who would keep if both of them played.Perhaps the very idea that there was uncertainty was an affront to Sarfaraz’s backers. Two Tests back, he had been Pakistan’s hero and saviour in the fading light of his hometown Karachi’s National Stadium, an epic 118 saving Pakistan from a certain series defeat. In the other three innings that series, he had scored three half-centuries, and he was named Player of the Series. Between then and now, Pakistan only played a two-Test series in Sri Lanka, where Sarfaraz had to be replaced by Rizwan early in the second Test after suffering a concussion ducking into a short ball from Asitha Fernando. Before that, he had scored 17 and 1 in the first Test.And therein lay the problem. Anyone can sustain a hit to the head anywhere, but getting concussed in Sri Lanka is optically not the best way to assuage doubts about one’s ability to play the short ball. That he lasted just 22 balls and scored seven runs while Mitchell Starc set him up beautifully on a fiery Perth surface in each innings wasn’t a surprise to anyone who has followed his career since he made his debut in this very country nearly 14 years ago in January 2010, scoring 1 and 5.”Sarfaraz is not new to Australia,” Hafeez said after the Perth defeat. “He’s played in Australia, England and South Africa before, so you can’t say he’s new here and couldn’t adjust.”ESPNcricinfo LtdHafeez then pushed back against the very idea of batters being suited to specific conditions. “Yes, he couldn’t perform as well as we expect from him as a batter or keeper, but to doubt someone’s skills and to label them as someone who can only perform in a limited set of conditions is not right.”Statistics, however, continue to have the temerity to say exactly that. In the time since, Sarfaraz struggling for runs on surfaces in Australia – and to a similar degree in South Africa – has become something of a theme. In ten innings in Australia, he now has 239 runs averaging 29.87. It includes Pakistan’s tour in 2016-17 where, when Sarfaraz was at his peak with bat and behind the gloves, he came away with plenty of credit, reaching double-figures in all six innings and scoring two half-centuries.Extend that record to include South Africa, and the average drops to 21.70 in 22 innings. His last tour there was egregious enough that it led to him losing his job as Test captain and being dumped from the Test side for almost four years – he had three ducks in six innings. Though he also scored two half-centuries, his other scores in these two countries over the last seven Tests read: 0, 0, 6, 0, 3, 4.And while hard wicketkeeping numbers are more elusive, it’s not as if Sarfaraz’s keeping is what’s keeping Rizwan out of the side. Even in that fairy tale comeback series against New Zealand, Sarfaraz had a poor time behind the stumps in both Tests, combining to miss at least seven catching or stumping chances, including two against Kane Williamson early on in an innings that saw the latter post an unbeaten 200.Mohammad Rizwan’s wicketkeeping in England in 2020 was a highlight despite the challenges•Getty ImagesSarfaraz’s omission from the side before then had also been partly attributed to a continuing decline with the gloves; and even at his best, Sarfaraz was a good – but never truly a great – wicketkeeper. By late 2016, when he was just about as sure of his place in the side across formats as ever, he had missed 63 chances behind the stumps, amounting to a miss percentage of 21%, higher than Kamran Akmal’s 20%. Over the years since, his miss rate continued to trend in that direction.Now to Rizwan. Rizwan has assumed a position of such prominence in Pakistan cricket that it is easy to forget he isn’t the first-choice red-ball wicketkeeper anymore. Much of that is down to his feats in T20 cricket, with his almost superhuman consistency to deliver reliable runs at the top of the order cementing his place in the side despite the availability of top-order hitters with greater intent. And while those astronomical numbers haven’t been replicated in Test cricket, a Test batting average a shade under 40 under no circumstances suggests a wicketkeeper failing to pull his weight with the bat.Like Sarfaraz, his first Test tour also came in Australia, and it was that series which bought him the capital to remain in the side for the next three years. In what was otherwise a dismal tour for Pakistan, Rizwan was a rare bright spot, a second-innings 95 in Brisbane showcasing his ability. Over the series, he was Pakistan’s third-highest run-scorer behind Babar Azam and, bizarrely, Yasir Shah, scoring 177 at 44.25. And though you might argue that sample size is much too small to read anything into, he is already just 62 runs behind Sarfaraz’s total career number, with Sarfaraz’s runs in Australia coming at an average nearly 15 runs lower.But much of the conundrum Pakistan find themselves in is self-inflicted, and perhaps not as much to do with pure cricketing reasons as you might expect. When Rizwan was relegated to the bench ahead of Pakistan’s home series against New Zealand last December, his Test numbers did indeed see a dip, though not nearly dramatic enough to suggest anything more than the sort of downturn most batters will go through. His last ten knocks had produced 261 runs at 26.10, with Rizwan picking up a habit of failing to convert starts, as just one of those innings saw him fail to reach double-figures.Sarfraz Ahmed averages just 29.87 in Tests in Australia•Getty ImagesIn addition, Rizwan really did what it said on the tin to superb effect; he was, after all, a wicketkeeper, and an exceptionally good one. While wicketkeeping alone hasn’t often been enough to win a place in an international side, he demonstrated the value of having one in top form. A rain-affected series in England in 2020 was the highlight, the pitches – and Pakistan’s bowlers – making wicketkeeping conditions challenging, but Rizwan had held his own, with a miss percentage in single digits.He would also keep up to Mohammad Abbas, who bowled in the 130ks at the time, restricting England’s ability to use their feet to mitigate the sideways movement. The value of that quality was further highlighted by his opposition number’s struggles, with Jos Buttler enduring one of the less memorable wicketkeeping series of his career, particularly in the first Test at Old Trafford.But, at the tail-end of last year, Ramiz Raja had freshly been swept aside as PCB chairman by Najam Sethi between the home series against England and New Zealand, and with the new administration in a populist mood, they rung the on-field changes. In Karachi, where both the New Zealand Tests were to be held, Sarfaraz is royalty, but even Mir Hamza, a cause célèbre within Karachi’s cricketing circles, played both Test matches, to rather less positive effect than Sarfaraz.As almost seems compulsory now, it is vital to preface all of this by saying Rizwan’s inclusion would have been extremely unlikely to alter the end result in Perth. Pakistan have never won a Test match there, or even taken 20 wickets in that city in half-a-dozen attempts. Even a side that included Majid Khan, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Mushtaq Mohammad, as wicketkeeper, and had triumphed in consecutive games in Australia – the previous victory had come in 1977 – saw that streak snap in Perth in 1979. It doesn’t, however, excuse Pakistan for fudging up their own selection, one of the few things under their control in a series in Australia.Sarfaraz’s sensational showing across the home series against New Zealand meant anyone could have seen this dilemma coming in a year. It’s always hard to drop a player who performed like that just two Test matches back, even if Rizwan took over in the most recent one partway, scoring an unbeaten half-century in an emphatic win. While it is perfectly mainstream to have a horses-for-courses approach when it comes to the bowlers – New Zealand dropped Ajaz Patel the match after he became just the third player to take all ten wickets in an innings – treating a batter that way, especially in Pakistan, comes with a different set of challenges.Mohammad Rizwan was Pakistan’s third-highest scorer in Australia in 2019-20•AFPIt was clear that Sarfaraz’s woes against Starc in Perth would not be alleviated simply because he had tonked Ish Sodhi and Michael Bracewell around in Karachi a year back, but it’s still anathema to think that way, particularly in Pakistan cricket.Hafeez strongly pushed back against any suggestions playing Sarfaraz in Perth was a tactical misstep, and referred to that New Zealand series as justification.”Sarfaraz has performed brilliantly for Pakistan in the past. His performance against New Zealand in Karachi was outstanding,” Hafeez said after the Perth defeat. “Of course it’s been about five or six months since then [12 months], but you have to give your best performer in the previous series first priority. It’s not as if we start thinking about someone else after one performance.”But then, he appeared to do just that with the next words he uttered. “Rizwan is an excellent cricketer and has played brilliantly for Pakistan. His inclusion is also possible.”A few miles down the road from the MCG at Junction Oval, Pakistan are playing a practice game against a Victorian XI side. The pitch is on the flatter side, and the bowling attack nowhere near as potent as what Australia will line up with at the MCG. Rizwan bats with Saud Shakeel, their partnership now in three figures. He has just reached his half-century with a six. These are the sort of easy runs Rizwan almost never misses out on.Perhaps they won’t matter, because on the day, this decision, as with nearly everything about this debate, seems to come down to how it makes everyone feel.

The first half has seen a batting bounty unlike any in six previous seasons but it is all likely to change with the tournament now moving to Lahore

Osman Samiuddin and Shiva Jayaraman10-Feb-2022The PSL has prided itself on being a bowler’s league – in as much as any T20 league can delude itself into thinking it is a bowler’s league. But it has often looked sniffily at other leagues where fours and sixes have been the currency. Playing out its early years in the UAE, meant it had little choice: slower pitches and bigger boundaries do not a boundary-hitting bonanza make.So the left-arm fast bowler that is the league’s logo has always felt spiritually apt; sure, in the mind at a PSL game, at the crease is poised Babar Azam. But really the league is about the guy running in at him, whether that is Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah or even an old-stager like Wahab Riaz (11 of the PSL’s top 15 wicket-takers are pacers).Until, that is, this season (or more accurately, this half-season).The Karachi leg of PSL 7 has seen a batting bounty unlike any in its six previous seasons: more boundaries, more sixes, higher-scoring, faster-scoring. Only halfway through the season and already there are more 200+ scores (7) than the entire last two seasons combined (6). This half-season contributes nearly a third of all the 200+ scores ever in the league; there have been two more 200+ totals this season than the first three seasons combined.Unsurprisingly, this season has been zipping along with the highest batting strike rate in PSL history – a good five runs per 100 balls more than the second-best season.

The Dodgers are now one loss away from losing the World Series after falling to the Blue Jays, 6-1, in Game 5 on Wednesday night. The series now shifts back to Toronto for Game 6 on Friday night where the Blue Jays will have a great chance to win their first title since 1993.

The Dodgers' bats have gone cold at the worst possible time as they were only able to score a combined three runs in Games 4 and 5. While Shohei Ohtani has carried this team on his back, Mookie Betts, an eight-time All-Star and former AL MVP, has been lost at the plate against the Blue Jays as he has just three hits in 23 at-bats with no RBIs.

After Game 5, in which he went 0-for-4, Betts had a brutally honest take on his struggles thus far.

"I don’t want to speak on anybody else but for me personally I’ve just been terrible," Betts said. "I’ve been terrible and I wish it was from lack of effort, I really do, but it’s not so I don’t have any answers."

David Ortiz, who was teammates with Betts for a few years in Boston, spoke about those comments on Fox's post-game show.

"He hurts. He hurts," Ortiz said. "I know Mookie very well. It hurts to see him answering the question that way because to me he still is one of the best players in the game but it seems like his confidence level is pretty low right now. And of course, I don’t blame him—when you don’t see results, Kevin, you start questioning yourself. When you have already shown superstar status everybody starts questioning you when things are not going well."

Ortiz then offered some simple advice for Betts.

"Now if I’m Mookie, I would put that all behind," he said. "You remember when we used to prepare for to go to play a Little League game? You wasn’t thinking about a scouting report, you wasn’t thinking about what people say, you wasn’t thinking about what I did yesterday. When you played in Little League all you wanted to do was see the ball and try to hit it and have fun. At the end of the day that’s what the game is all about, having fun."

Derek Jeter also weighed in Betts' comments.

"I appreciate what he said because it’s the truth," Jeter said. "We’ve all been there. We’ve all sat there in front of our locker and said that we’ve been terrible. The best thing about the postseason is who cares what has happened up to a particular point? He’s going to be up In Game 6 with an opportunity to do something special and if he does something special no one will talk about his postseason prior too, that’s the way you have to look at it."

Here's that complete conversation:

Betts has a day off before Game 6. It will be interesting to see how he responds because the Dodgers will need him to step up if they want to keep their championship hopes alive.

Smith and Brook went into trance mode and reintroduced a third result to the match when it seemed like England were out of it

Sidharth Monga04-Jul-2025

Jamie Smith was at his attacking best•ECB via Getty Images

Bazball never sounds more like a cult than when Jeetan Patel speaks about it. The press pack half-expected him to say, “we have got them where we wanted” in the press conference at the end of day two. The scores were India 587 vs England 77 for 3.Jeetan is self-aware, give that to him. He acknowledged “you keep laughing at me”. One of the lines Jeetan said might as well be a mantra for a cult: “That was yesterday; today is today; tomorrow will be another day.”The problem with cults usually is that while they can offer light and solace to those needing something to hold on to, their experiments, so to speak, aren’t backed by independent evidence. They need certain, erm, conditions for the believers to find nirvana.Related

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Siraj six-for hands India huge lead despite Smith and Brook hundreds

Smith hails belief to 'do what you feel is right in the moment'

Bazball’s conditions are flat pitches and the recently quick-to-go-soft Dukes balls. Not just flat pitches, but ones that don’t deteriorate, ones that result in progressively increasing averages over the innings of Tests in the Bazball era in England. There is no moisture left because typically on moist pitches the hard Dukes balls leave indentations, which result in uneven bounce over the course of a Test.Even so, at 84 for 5, Mohammed Siraj on a hat-trick in the second over of the day, England 503 behind India, was the ultimate test of this mad belief. England have had their bad days in this era, but they have never been so far behind so early in the game. In comes Jamie Smith, a “made” wicketkeeper, playing ahead of accomplished ones, selected for Bazballing reasons, to face the hat-trick ball. And he smashes it for four through mid-off.In a sensational assault on India in the rest of the session, Smith and Harry Brook reintroduced the third result to the match when it had seemed England were out of it. The fans in the Hollies Stand sang Oasis and “Sweet Caroline”, but the cricket was in keeping with the land of the birth of heavy metal. By two guys who look like they have never contemplated long hair let alone anything as rebellious as heavy metal.To watch that session was to just continuously head-bang for two hours. It was just believers in a trance. They really seemed like they were in a trance. Brook said they didn’t discuss any plans or match state. They just watched ball and hit ball. Brook might have fumbled his lines a little, but Smith went at a strike rate of bazillions with a control percentage of 90-plus.0:59

Brook: Was definitely hungry to get a hundred today

India played their part. They banged on the drums. The ball had gone soft, and they were willing to buy a wicket. Prasidh Krishna was sacrificed for the plan. He bowled two good overs of line and length, drawing an edge that flew through the sparsely populated slips, drew a rare miss from Smith, and then all of a sudden, he started to bang the ball into the middle of the pitch.Two fielders on the hook, Smith went in front of square. Another man went out, and he went over them. Another fielder back, and he went in front of mid-on. Then over mid-on. Not long ago, Bazball was killing Test cricket with lifeless pitches, but now it was reviving it with sensational batting.India had so many runs in the bag they didn’t need to bowl for control, but what do you do with opponents that keep coming at you and don’t seem to care about the match situation or the result? That fear of getting out is the bedrock of batting; it is what makes risk management necessary. No matter the pitches, Bazball is disrupting that fear.In the lunch break, though, India decided to use that bank of runs to their advantage and go hunting only with the second new ball. ODI fields and possibly tiring batters resulted in a slower session following which India struck back just as gloriously with the second new ball, but that one session of mad belief did leave them shaken.Just as well that the new ball created enough jeopardy to restore some balance for those not in on the cult. It still doesn’t seem to matter to the believers, though. There is a second innings to come as well.

The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their recent struggles Tuesday night with an ugly 10-7 loss at home to the Minnesota Twins. It was their 11th loss in their last 14 games and one ugly play in the top of the seventh inning summed up how things have been going for them lately.

The Twins had the bases loaded with one out when Royce Lewis hit a slow grounder up the first base line. Dodgers reliever Edgardo Henriquez ran over and scooped up the ball and then turned a made a horrible throw to first.

MORE: Dodgers fan makes sweet catch on Ohtani's HR

How bad was it? The ball ended up bouncing off the wall in deep right field, which allowed three runs to score and sent Lewis all the way to third base.

This was something straight out of a Little League game:

The Dodgers are still in first place in the NL West with a 59-43 record but they haven't been able to get out of their own way lately.

“Tonight, it just wasn’t pretty,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters after the game. “When you’re walking guys and the defense is spotty and things like that, it wasn’t a good one.”

It certainly wasn't.

Sergio Aguero has claimed Lionel Messi could return to Barcelona before the end of his playing career. A former teammate of the eight-time Ballon d'Or at international level, Aguero also said he hopes Messi could "play forever" and that he backs the GOAT to have an impact for defending champions Argentina at next summer's World Cup in North America.

• Messi's Barca chapter not over

  The Manchester City legend made the comments in an interview with Stake. 

  Aguero was asked on his thoughts of his former teammate returning to Barcelona, ahead of the re-opening of the Camp Nou. Messi returned to his adopted home city of more than 20 years with his wife, sparking a flurry of reports about the relationship between La Blaugrana and their greatest ever player. 

  Messi said he thoroughly enjoyed his time in the city, and that he and his wife Antonela are "constantly talking" about a return to Catalonia. Club president Joan Laporta responded to rumours of a loan deal for the Inter Miami player, while newly signed shot stopper Joan Garcia spoke of his desire to see Messi turn out for the club once again. Recently, a report suggesting Messi had reached a complete agreement to return to Barca after departing PSG, added even more fuel to the fire. There is mounting speculation that he will return to the club in some guise before hanging up his boots. Aguero would be more than happy to see that happen. 

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  Aguero: Messi is the most important player in Barcelona history

  Aguero said: "Messi is the most important player Barcelona has had in its history. He’s a club and city legend. Messi is synonymous with Barcelona and I believe he enjoyed stepping on the Camp Nou pitch again. I think that chapter is not closed." 

  The 37-year-old is close personal friends with Messi, with the pair coming up through the ranks of the Argentinian youth teams at the same time. They played together for the senior national side 88 times, and briefly were on the books at Barcelona at the same time. However, just months after Aguero signed with the Spanish giants in the summer of 2021, Messi departed the club for PSG due to Barcelona's financial issues. 

• Aguero backs Messi to perform in 6th World Cup

  The City legend is backing his old pal to come through for the Alibceleste once again, as Messi prepares to take part in his sixth World Cup next summer. The diminutive Argentinian cemented his status as the GOAT with his heroic display in Qatar in 2022, scoring seven goals, including two in the final, to deliver Argentina's third World Cup trophy. Aguero missed out on that triumph, after he was forced into retirement earlier that summer, due to a cardiac arrhythmia.  

  Aguero shared his thoughts of Argentina's chances in north America next summer. On Messi's role at the tournament he said: "We all want Leo to play forever. Even though we all know that’s impossible. We have to enjoy him while he keeps playing, and he will know until when and where."

  On his nation's preparations, he added: "I see them very well. They maintain their playing style, the coaching staff is clear on what they want, and there have been very important additions that will help keep the team at a high level. It’s true they’ll lack match time because there will be few preparation games, although that will happen to almost all national teams. But Argentina has a solid system and whoever comes in adapts very well."

  On whether Argentina can defend their crown, he replied: "Why not? They keep their core, their playing style, and their hunger for glory. And Scaloni has found great players who are completing the squad after others ended their cycle. A World Cup is always difficult, but I think Argentina are always contenders, because of history and because of the present."

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  Can Messi write another dream chapter in his glittering career?

  The 2022 World Cup was supposed to be the crowning glory at the end of a storybook career, but now four years on, we have one of Messi's closest friends in the game backing him to perform on the biggest stage once again, and maybe making a sensational return to his spiritual home. A move back to Catalonia might seem farfetched, a 38-year-old star should not be able to drive his team to glory at the World Cup, but since when has Messi ever played down to our expectations? He always suprasses them. 

Everton boss David Moyes admitted he was stunned by Idrissa Gueye’s bizarre red card after the midfielder slapped team-mate Michael Keane during a dramatic 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. The Toffees were forced to dig deep with 10 men but still secured a famous victory, leaving Moyes balancing frustration at the dismissal with admiration for his side’s resilience.

Gueye sent off for slapping Keane — Everton dig in for the win

Everton’s trip to Old Trafford produced one of the most surreal moments of the Premier League season when Gueye was sent off just 13 minutes into the match for slapping his own team-mate, Keane, during an explosive on-field altercation. The two players clashed after a stray Gueye pass led to a Manchester United chance, and referee Tony Harrington immediately brandished a red card after the Senegal midfielder appeared to slap Keane.

Despite the chaos, Everton regrouped impressively as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall drove forward on the counter and fired home a superb strike to give the Toffees the lead before half-time. With Old Trafford expecting a second-half siege against 10 men, the Toffees instead dug in, defended with remarkable organisation, and frustrated United’s increasingly desperate attempts to equalise.

Everton’s resolve held firm as Manchester United squandered chances through Bruno Fernandes, Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo. Jordan Pickford produced multiple key saves, and the Toffees escaped with a historic victory; Moyes’ first Premier League win at Old Trafford as an away manager after 17 unsuccessful attempts with Everton, West Ham and Sunderland.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportMoyes opens up on the bizarre Gueye-Keane incident

Moyes admitted he was taken aback by the dismissal and felt the referee acted too swiftly under the circumstances. “If nothing happened, I don’t think anyone in the stadium would have been surprised. I thought the referee could have taken a bit longer to think about it. I got told that the rules of the game that if you slap your own player, you could be in trouble.”

He explained that confrontation between team-mates does not automatically trouble him as a manager. “But there's another side to it: I like my players fighting each other, if someone didn't do the right action. If you want that toughness and resilience to get a result, you want someone to act on it.”

The Everton boss also revealed that Gueye addressed the situation immediately after the match. “He’s apologised for the sending off. He’s praised the players and thanked them for it and apologised for what happened.”

Ten-man Everton dig in for famous Old Trafford win

The incident overshadowed a gritty Everton performance in a match that threatened to unravel early. Seamus Coleman had already been forced off injured just minutes into his first start in two months, and the combination of losing their captain and going down to 10 men appeared to put Everton in a vulnerable position. Yet the team responded with a collective sharpness, reorganising defensively and committing to a compact shape that United struggled to break down.

Moyes highlighted his team’s mentality in his broader post-match reflections, praising their structure and resilience. He acknowledged the significance of winning at Old Trafford, particularly under such challenging conditions, noting that Everton “showed the toughness behind the scenes” that had carried them through recent adversity. The performance embodied the “resilience and discipline” he expects from his squad, especially when facing an opponent in strong form.

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AFPWhen will Gueye return to the Everton squad?

For Everton, the focus now shifts to building momentum from a victory that could serve as a turning point in their campaign. After a mixed start to the Premier League season, the Toffees will look to maintain form when they take on Newcastle, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest before two tough clashes against Chelsea and Arsenal.

Gueye is likely to be suspended for the Newcastle and Bournemouth clashes. However, if Everton decide to hand him a further punishment, his return could be pushed into the festive period.

West Ham United look to be in absolute free fall at the moment.

Not even the new appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo has been able to stop the Premier League losses from piling up in East London, with the forlorn Hammers at least thankful to Wolverhampton Wanderers for picking up no wins to keep them off the very foot of the division.

Still, West Ham only have the one dire win from nine league matches themselves, as the ex-Nottingham Forest boss grows increasingly concerned that he is steering the ship straight down to the Championship.

Max Kilman has received plenty of pelters in recent weeks for his disastrous performances at the back, with the £40m recruit looking anything but a stable presence defensively in the daunting Premier League.

Kilman's woes at West Ham this season

With Kilman in the heart of defence this season, West Ham have leaked a shambolic 20 goals already in league action, which is the worst defensive record in the entire division.

He isn’t helped by his regular partner being Jean-Clair Todibo, who has just one clean sheet in claret and blue from 30 Premier League appearances, but the ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers man is very much on borrowed time when focussing in on the number 3’s woes, having been descrobed as “shocking” by one West Ham content creator during the 2-0 loss to Brentford last month.

Igor Thiago for the Bees completely bullied the weak 28-year-old all night long, with Kilman’s feebleness in the air, and when going in for duels one major concern. Indeed, he won only two of his eight duels against Keith Andrews’ visitors.

He did improve on this weak area against Leeds United last time out, with 100% of his aerial duels successfully won, but he still isn’t in the West Ham fans’ good books off the back of a debut season in East London that saw him collect just six clean sheets from 38 league outings.

His ex-Old Gold manager in Gary O’Neil has even opened up to state that one of Kilman’s biggest problems is his frustrating nature to “switch off” during games, with Nuno now potentially wanting to get rid having seen how shoddy the 6 foot 4 defender has been already during the early stages of his West Ham managerial career.

Thankfully, in the long term, West Ham could already have an in-house replacement for the £40m flop.

West Ham's "unreal" Kilman replacement

Nuno could look towards the next generation emerging up the ranks at West Ham to try and breathe life back into his side’s disastrous season, with Freddie Potts one face who could be deserving of a senior shot soon.

Alongside Potts, Kaelan Casey also looks ready for some first-team action imminently, having already been labelled as an “outstanding” asset to have at Swansea City by his short-term boss Alan Sheehan, after not looking fazed by the challenge of Manchester City in the EFL Cup.

Minutes played

90

Interceptions

0

Clearances

14

Blocked shots

2

Recoveries

3

Total duels won

5/5

Total tackles won

2/2

Last man tackles

1

Looking at his numbers above, Sheehan was right to shower the 21-year-old with praise, with Swansea in danger of being on the receiving end of a drubbing without Casey stepping up to the mark, as seen by the number 26 registering a mammoth 14 clearances all across the 3-1 defeat, on top of winning every single duel and tackle that came his way.

With a full EFL season soon to be under his belt, it’s clear that Casey could soon be fast-tracked to the first team picture back at the London Stadium, having already lined up for three senior games for his boyhood employers.

He also has 106 games next to his name for the Hammers U18s and U21s, with Declan Rice once even labelling Casey as an “unreal” talent off the back of him scoring 11 goals as a dependable defensive figure in youth football.

Kilman will know that he’s on borrowed time in East London, and if Casey returns with even more impressive showings to boast about – like his imperious night against City – he will soon surely be demoted down the pecking order for the 21-year-old to shine.

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Are Arsenal now ready to bring the biggest trophies back to North London?

On Tuesday night, the Gunners sent out a serious statement by smashing Atlético Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League, all the goals coming during a 12-minute second-half scoring spree.

New striker Viktor Gyökeres scored twice, easing some of the pressure on his shoulders, while fellow summer signing Martín Zubimendi put in another eye-catching display.

Thus, the additions made this summer have elevated Mikel Arteta’s team to another level, but is balance one of the under-the-radar reasons why the Gunners have found red-hot form of late?

Arsenal's right-sided bias

During their previous title challenges, a high proportion of Arsenal’s attacks have come down their right flank.

The Gunners’ peak form under Arteta came during the second half of the 2023/24 campaign, winning 16 of 18 Premier League matches, with the Benjamin White, Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka attacking trident down the right-hand side, by some distance, their most dangerous outlet.

As documented by the Athletic, the most common combination would see White overlapping, thereby making space for Saka, with Ødegaard’s primary task to find one or the other, this functioning thanks to White’s ‘energetic and well-timed runs’ alongside Ødegaard’s ‘exquisite passing’ as well as Saka’s ‘dribbling ability [which] forces teams to double up on him’

Meantime, the Telegraph outlined that a whopping 45% of their attacks last season came down the right flank, up from 38% and 41% the previous two campaigns, making this a clear pattern across an elongated period of time, something they describe as an issue when the opposition are able to nullify this.

We could have included dozens of goals to demonstrate the threat Arsenal pose down their right-hand side, but Kai Havertz’s late winner against Brentford in March 2024 illustrates it nicely.

Now, recent acquisitions have made Arteta’s team significantly more balanced, no longer solely reliant on some Saka magic, while neither White nor Ødegaard have featured particularly much, for various reasons, so far this season.

Thus, Arteta has reshaped his left side, so has this become equally as effective?

Arsenal's new look creative left-side

Where once Oleksandr Zinchenko stood as Arsenal’s marauding left-back, Riccardo Calafiori is the current occupant of that position.

The Italian has started all eight Premier League games so far, paradoxically described as both ”defensively very solid’ and “the most electrifying man in sports entertainment” following last weekend’s 1-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.

The table below documents Calaifori’s importance this season.

Stats

Calafiori

PL rank

Minutes

614

6th

Goals

1

5th

Assists

2

1st

Shots

16

2nd

Shot-creating actions

17

4th

Goal-creating actions

5

1st

Progressive carries

16

4th

Tackles

12

3rd

Clearances

20

3rd

Ball recoveries

30

2nd

As the table notes, amazingly, only Gyökeres has attempted more shots among Arsenal players in the Premier League this season, while the Italian is contributing across all areas of the pitch, including the fact he’s second only to Declan Rice in terms of ball recoveries.

However, as White can testify from the other flank, a full-back going forward is only as good as the players he has in front of him, so could Eberechi Eze be that man for Calafiori?

Right now, the England international is being deployed more towards the right, deputising for Ødegaard, with Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, both of whom have scored crucial goals this week, time-sharing on the left flank.

Chalkboard

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

Nevertheless, Eze’s natural tendency is to drift to the left, something he’s having to fight against at the moment.

Thus, analyst Ben Mattinson posited back in 2024 that the pair could be something of a “left-sided White and Saka”, noting that there are “a lot of similarities”, adding that Calafiori is a “better carrier” and Eze is “creative”, concluding that this could be enough to fire Arsenal to the Premier League title.

The man who arrived from Crystal Palace, too much excitement, in August notched his third assist for Arsenal on Tuesday, setting up the first of Gyökeres’ two goals, while he himself opened his Gunners account at Port Vale in the EFL Cup last month.

As Arteta searches for more central creativity, Eze has regularly been deployed through the middle so far, but has started on the left too.

The best example of what he is capable of from a wider position came against Nottingham Forest, bursting in behind to get on the end of a driven ball over the top by, you guessed it, Calafiori, before squaring it for Gyökeres to tap home.

This goal could prove to be just an amuse bouche of what this £110m pair are able to contribute this season so, if Arsenal’s left side becomes anywhere near as potent as their right, supporters have every reason to believe that this genuinely could be their year.

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