Tonked, walloped, steam-engined… A record-breaking innings as described by our commentators

Andrew Miller and Andrew McGlashan04-Jan-201660.2 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, on the pads, flicked firmly through the vacant midwicket. Sweet timing and good patience62.5 Piedt to Stokes, FOUR, tossed up and walloped. A rank loopy full toss and Stokes dropped to one knee to smoke it through midwicket64.6 Piedt to Stokes, SIX, spanked. Stokes treats that ball with the disdain that his detractors deserve. Butchered into the midwicket stands!69.4 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, thumping drive, Perfect weight transfer, and that travelled… all along the ground with minimal followthrough. Timing69.6 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, more bat behind the ball, another boundary. Timing and placement, through the covers this time72.6 van Zyl to Stokes, FOUR, that’s lovely, brings his bottom hand through the shot as he whips this from outside off wide of mid-on80.1 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, what a way to greet the new ball! Full outside off and Stokes responds with a textbook-perfect on-drive80.2 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, and now he flashes one over the slip cordon…all action. Some width outside off, Stokes threw his hands through a cut shot and it skimmed over the catchers to third man. Fifty for Stokes from 70 balls80.5 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, another edge, another boundary! Just the two slips in place now, Stokes drives at a full delivery outside off and the edge races through where a wide(ish) third slip would have been and beats third man82.1 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, he’s not slowing down, he tried to do this last over, this time picks up a delivery that was a touch short outside off and pulls it wide of mid-on84.1 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, another short ball, Stokes pulls it fine of long leg…was in the air for quite some time but well wide of the fielder87.3 Morkel to Stokes, FOUR, no loitering from Stokes! A touch of width and despite the change of angle, no compunction about flogging it to the fence!Stokes’ innings was replete with powerful strokeplay•AFP87.5 Morkel to Stokes, FOUR, width again and Stokes flings his hands through the line, pierces the cover field and brings up the hundred stand. He’s in a busy mood this morning…88.2 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, too wide, too full, too tempting for Stokes not to cash in. Another confident stride onto the front foot, and battered through the covers. Three fine shots88.3 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, he’s done it again! This was even wider, still nice and full for the drive. And Stokes just reached it and timed it. Dreadful start from South Africa, and Stokes is motoring88.6 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, short, wide, uppercut through third man! What on earth is going orf out there?! Stokes is one blow from a hundred and we’ve had just 12 balls this morning …90.4 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, dabbed through backward point but just look at the timing on that! Nothing more than a steer but Bavuma at third man merely ends up in a tangle of boundary sponges90.5 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, short, spanked through backward square leg. Dreadful bowling but what outstanding asset-stripping from Stokes91.4 Morkel to Stokes, FOUR, … but this time he offers just a modicum of width from a fuller length, and Stokes has nine-ironed him to the fence at long-off!92.3 Rabada to Stokes, FOUR, short … no, no, no, no, no, you can’t bowl there to a man in this sort of a mood. Battered through wide mid-on94.6 Rabada to Stokes, FOUR, whoomph! Just a modicum too short, and Stokes leans back and flogs this one violently through midwicket. Fetch that!98.2 Piedt to Stokes, FOUR, reverse swept, and superbly so! Turned full circle at the crease to deposit the ball through third man. Shot98.3 Piedt to Stokes, SIX, walloped, high and tantalising, over long off … there’s a man on the rope, backpedalling, will he get there ..? Will he heck! All the way, with the wind helping it over the line100.2 Piedt to Stokes, SIX, he just keeps going, this a wonderful lofted straight drive and what a way to reach 150 off 135 deliveries…takes a few steps down the pitch and drills him perfectly straight102.2 Piedt to Stokes, SIX, brute force! Took a stride down the pitch on a line outside leg stump and plundered through the line…wasn’t even that close to the ball. Over wide long off, with a little wind assist104.4 Piedt to Stokes, FOUR, down the pitch, heaved into the leg side and splits the gap between deep midwicket and deep square…neither moved very quickly. Stokes nowhere near the pitch again. It doesn’t matter104.5 Piedt to Stokes, SIX, this is into the crowd! Extraordinary batting from Stokes. Down on one knee and slog-sweeps into the stands at deep midwicket…100 runs in the session for him104.6 Piedt to Stokes, SIX, and now it’s straight down the ground! Brilliant stuff, skips towards the bowler and just effortlessly deposits Piedt into the stand behind him105.6 Rabada to Stokes, SIX, into the stands again! Running out of words to describe this innings, picks up a short delivery from outside off and pulls it over deep square legStokes celebrates his third Test hundred – but he wasn’t finished there•AFP107.1 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, plundered by Stokes! It’s a full ball outside off which he dismisses from his presence with a crunching drive over mid-off107.3 Morris to Stokes, FOUR, he didn’t really get hold of this but that hardly matters, a short delivery is butchered from outside off over mid-on108.6 Morkel to Stokes, FOUR, there it is! What a double hundred. The second fastest in Test cricket. He hammers a short delivery wide of mid-on, a trademark of the innings, and he jumps for joy for the second this morning. We have seen something incredible today114.2 Morkel to Stokes, SIX, utterly pumped into the stands at long-on! A decent full length, but Stokes extended his levers and powered through the line of the ball!114.3 Morkel to Stokes, FOUR, on the hip, and sweetly placed in the gap at square leg – two fielders converge but the timing is too true. That is, incredibly, the 300-run partnership!116.6 Elgar to Stokes, FOUR, down on one knee, one bounce through the gap at midwicket. The runs just keep on pouring120.2 van Zyl to Stokes, SIX, up, up, up, up, up and away! Tonked from outside off way over wide long-on, with the sweetest of followthroughs!121.4 Rabada to Stokes, FOUR, steam-engined through midwicket! Not a desperately bad length, but Stokes has forearms like pistons and that choo-chooed into the distance121.6 Rabada to Stokes, FOUR, outside off, climbing further from the bat, so Stokes leans back and wafts it through third man to bring up the 350 partnership!125.1 Rabada to Stokes, SIX, that’s 250…a short ball is pulled over deep square leg, that’s now the highest score by a No. 6 in Test cricket125.2 Rabada to Stokes, SIX, that’s humongous! He has thundered this length delivery almost out of the ground over long on with a golf-style swing of the bat125.3 Rabada to Stokes, OUT, chaos! Another catch is dropped but Stokes is run out as he’s ball-watching! He mowed this miles into the air, de Villiers, of all people, shelled the chance coming in from mid-on but then had the presence of mind to throw down the non-striker’s stumpsBA Stokes run out 258 (338m 198b 30×4 11×6) SR: 130.30

MatériaMais Notícias

da aviator aposta： O time sub-17 do São Paulo está classificado para a Terceira Fase do Campeonato Paulista. De virada, a equipe comandada pelo técnico Menta derrotou o Comercial por 3 a 1, no estádio Doutor Francisco de Palma Travassos, em Ribeirão Preto, e assegurou a liderança e a classificação no estadual. Os gols do Tricolor foram marcados por Guilherme Amaral e Boer, além de um gol contra do adversário.

RelacionadasSão PauloComandado por Alex, sub-20 do São Paulo vence Bahia e se classifica para as quartas do Brasileiro da categoriaSão Paulo07/08/2022São PauloSão Paulo vence em despedida da fase de grupos e conhece adversárias das quartas do Brasileirão femininoSão Paulo07/08/2022Humor EsportivoSão Paulo é alvo de zoações após derrota para o Flamengo; veja os memesHumor Esportivo07/08/2022

da premier bet：
Com o resultado, o São Paulo chegou aos 13 pontos e não pode mais ser alcançado no primeiro lugar do Grupo 15. O time Sub-17 volta a campo na próxima quarta-feira, para enfrentar o Santos, às 10h (de Brasília), no CT Rei Pelé, pela segunda rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro. Pelo Paulista, o próximo jogo será no sábado, em Cotia, contra o São-Carlense, às 11h (de Brasília).

Em Ribeirão Preto, o Comercial partiu com tudo para o ataque e abriu o placar logo aos 5 minutos de jogo. O Tricolor soube manter o equilíbrio e buscar o resultado com inteligência. Aos 39, a equipe conseguiu empatar, com um gol contra do adversário.

Na segunda etapa, Menta mexeu no time e São Paulo evoluiu ainda mais. Logo aos 10 minutos, Guilherme Amaral marcou o segundo gol são-paulino. Mesmo com a vantagem, o Tricolor não diminuiu o ritmo e conseguiu chegar ao terceiro gol aos 38, com Boer.

Malan makes century for England but aftermath of T20 World Cup victory hangs over contest

Tristan Lavalette17-Nov-2022

Australia 291 for 4 (Warner 86, Smith 80*, Head 69, Willey 2-51) beat England 287 for 9 (Malan 134, Willey 34*, Zampa 3-55, Cummins 3-62) by six wickets Australia’s top-order plundered an inexperienced England attack to celebrate Pat Cummins’ first match as ODI skipper with a comfortable six-wicket victory in the series opener in Adelaide.Chasing 288, after Dawid Malan played a lone hand with a formidable innings of 134, David Warner, Travis Head and Steven Smith struck half-centuries as Australia reached the target with 19 balls to spare.Australia penalized for slow over rate

Australia have been docked 40% of their match fee for maintaining a slow over rate in the first ODI. The match referee, David Boon, imposed the sanction after Australia were deemed to be two overs short of their mark after taking into consideration the required time allowances. Pat Cummins pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the sanction.

On a flat Adelaide Oval pitch under lights, Australia were never threatened in their chase after a 147-run opening stand from Warner and Head, who made an impressive return to the role vacated by retired Aaron Finch.Warner and Head pounced on wide deliveries and took a liking to the short square boundaries on a ground where they posted Australia’s ODI record opening stand of 284 against Pakistan in January 2017. In front of his home faithful, Head further enhanced his growing reputation against the new ball having entered the match averaging 50.07 from 15 previous ODI innings as an opener.He eyed a third ODI ton but fell for 69 off 57 balls when he holed out in the 20th over. Smith, who was on the fringes for most of the T20 World Cup, then issued a reminder of his prowess in the 50-over format with sweetly-timed strokes coming in at No.3.Warner seemed headed for his 19th century before his 84-ball knock ended when he was caught on the boundary off David Willey, who in his 61st ODI was England’s most experienced bowler.Willey then picked up Marnus Labuschagne cheaply to revive England’s faint hopes, but Smith, who recently refined his technique by abandoning shuffling across the crease, slammed the door shut as Australia drew first blood in the three-match series.Fast bowler Olly Stone, playing his first ODI in four years, started well with his first 10 deliveries all producing dots marked by sharp pace around 145kmh/90mph. But he couldn’t break through as Warner and Head took control.Left-armer Luke Wood, making his ODI debut, struggled to find the right line with an imperious Smith stroking him for three boundaries in the 26th over.Dawid Malan constructed a brilliant century•Getty Images

Just four days after their T20 World Cup triumph, a new-look England had the tough task of refocusing and perhaps inevitably played sluggishly, even though only skipper Jos Buttler, Phil Salt and Chris Jordan had been part of the XI against Pakistan in the final at the MCG.After being sent in, England slumped to 66 for 4 before Malan’s second ODI century lifted England to what appeared a competitive total. He made a compelling case for a permanent spot in the 50-over team, and gave his own spirits a timely lift too after missing out on England’s T20 World Cup title-winning team following a groin injury.Malan was particularly aggressive in the middle overs as Malan reverted to T20 mode against Cummins with two brutal sixes on the leg side, while he countered legspinner Adam Zampa with belligerent slog sweeps.But Malan received little support with Willey the next highest scorer with an unbeaten 34, while Buttler made 29 and unleashed several lusty blows reminiscent of his heroics just a week ago at the same ground against India.In front of a sparse Adelaide Oval crowd, Cummins enjoyed a strong start to his ODI captaincy with the wickets of Salt and James Vince in a probing new ball spell.He combined superbly with Mitchell Starc, who bowled sharply to get through opener Jason Roy with a cracker of a delivery in his return with the new ball, after being controversially dropped against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup.Australia’s fielding was energetic, highlighted by several superb efforts from Ashton Agar, to start Cummins’ ODI captaincy on a strong note even though their opponents could be forgiven for going through the motions.

Chris Gayle’s innings’ of note have come at long intervals of late; he’ll be hoping to break that trend against South Africa following his punishing double against Zimbabwe

Firdose Moonda in Sydney26-Feb-2015

Gayle misses training on match eve

Chris Gayle did not train with West Indies the day before the match against South Africa as he continues to battle a back issue that has plagued him for almost two years. Gayle was “given the day off,” according to a team spokesperson but “is available,” for Friday’s match at the SCG.
After his World Cup record 215 against Zimbabwe on Tuesday, Gayle shed light on the injury which he said “can’t seem to be solved,” and restricted his ability to prepare for games. Gayle explained that he was not able to have as many gym sessions as he would like and that even simple movements like sitting down can become painful after a long day in the field.

Legend has it that Chris Gayle’s penchant for clearing the boundary developed when he discovered it was easier to do that than run between the wickets. You only have to watch a West Indies’ training session to understand where the myth sprouted from.While his team-mates bound about, Gayle sticks to saving his legs, if he is at practice at all. A near-crippling back injury has kept him on the sidelines more often than he has liked, and the result is that he has not been on a run, in the figurative sense, in almost six years.His last period of ODI form came between April 2008 and July 2009, when he scored four of his 22 centuries along with five fifties in 29 matches at an average of 45.57. Before that Gayle had profitable patches early in his career – four fifties in succession in 2002, three hundreds in four innings that same year against India, back to back centuries at the 2006 Champions Trophy – but his recent big scores have been followed by lengthy lean periods.After his 125 against New Zealand in July 2012, Gayle had just four scores over 20 from his next 14 innings, before scoring 109 against Sri Lanka. That was followed by two scores over 20 from his next 10 innings before he managed a half-century against Bangladesh. It was another eight innings after that, before his 215 came.Faf du Plessis joked that it was “unfortunate that Zimbabwe decided to bowl Chris Gayle into some really good form”, but Gayle’s record suggests South Africa may not have to be too nervous about Gayle blowing them over like he did to their neighbours, unless, according to Ian Bishop, he can replicate the most important part of what he did right against Zimbabwe.”One of the things I liked about his innings against Zimbabwe, which I think he has been trying for a while, is that he got himself in. Everyone says he should go in and have a dash. I disagree. I think he is good enough to get himself in,” Bishop told ESPNcricinfo at an ICC event in Sydney.Although Gayle did not bat slowly against Zimbabwe, he was noticeably watchful upfront, especially after surviving a lbw shout off his first ball that was reviewed. Gayle’s first four came after seven balls, he hit just one six and faced 27 dot balls in his first fifty runs. The time he took to his get eye in is what Bishop thinks allowed him to stay in, which is why Shaun Pollock advised South Africa to put all their energy into removing Gayle early.”Before he gets properly in, from a technical perspective, there are ways you can get him out. Within the first few deliveries you bowl to him, we’ve seen it in South Africa, you can get him out cheaply,” Pollock said. “But once he gets going you have to make sure each bowler has a clear game plan.”If Gayle is allowed to gust freely, Pollock would like to see bowlers challenge him by forcing him to look for runs in areas he does not usually score in. “There is an obvious hitting zone, you can see which balls disappear. He loves to play the ball straight down the ground so you if you can take him out of that comfort zone, bowl in different areas and make him try and score in different areas, you can get him out too,” he said.If that fails, Bishop had told South Africa to fight fire with fire and unleash everything they have at Gayle. “If you’ve got pace, you’ve got to run hard at him, you’ve got to be aggressive to him,” Bishop said. “Every bowler in the world has to be precise. Chris is an excellent player but his footwork may be a little bit slower.”Age is creeping up on Gayle, as it did on Jacques Kallis. When Kallis began skipping more training sessions than he took part in and workload was spoken about as something that needed to be managed, twilight found his career. The same could be happening to Gayle. AB de Villiers said his RCB team-mate “doesn’t train often” because “he needs to look after himself”. There has even been talk among those in the know that Gayle could call time on his ODI career after the World Cup.”He has obviously found it a little more challenging in fifty-over cricket in the last couple of years. Fitness wise, it’s also a challenge. Can he stay fit?” Bishop asked. “If he continues scoring runs and if he is happy, he is the only one who can judge if he wants to continue … But the team enjoy him, they enjoy his success and he keeps them going.”So much so that Bishop believes Gayle’s knock in Canberra has completed the batting outfit and put West Indies on course for the quarter-finals. “It has buoyed them hugely,” Bishop said, and the first mention of Gayle to Jason Holder confirmed it. “Chris is one of the most jovial people in the dressing room. He brings a lot of fun and he is a real team man. It was really good to see him get runs,” Holder said. “He has set the benchmark in world cricket, in a sense. We love him.” And they would love him to get on a good run too.

Leeds United moved up to second in the Championship table after an emphatic and impressive 3-0 win over Plymouth Argyle at Elland Road on Saturday.

All three goals were, bizarrely, scored within eight minutes of each other and all came within the first-half, as the Whites saw out the match in the second 45.

Dan James opened the scoring with a superb finish, before Joel Piroe and Brenden Aaronson added a second and a third shortly after, to secure all three points.

The former Manchester United winger was key to the victory, having scored the opening goal, and put in an excellent performance down the flank.

Dan James' performance in numbers

The Wales international was teed up by Wilfried Gnonto on the edge of the box and managed to get a brilliant shot away under pressure that went flying into the top corner to make it 1-0.

It was a sublime finish, with defenders closing him down quickly, and it takes his tally to two goals in five starts in the Championship so far this season.

Aside from the goal, however, some of James’ play left a bit to be desired. He only completed three of his ten attempted crosses and failed to create a ‘big chance’ for his teammates.

The right-footed forward also lost three of his five duels in the game, which suggests that the Plymouth players found it a bit too easy to get the better of him at times.

James, due to his struggles at times in other areas, was not the real star of the show for Leeds, as Ao Tanaka was even better than him for Farke on Saturday.

Ao Tanaka's performance in numbers

The Japan international has benefitted from injuries to Ilia Gruev and Ethan Ampadu to enjoy a string of games in the middle of the park for the Whites, and thrived since coming into the team.

His qualities in and out of possession naturally help Leeds to dictate and control games in midfield, because he has the strength to win duels off the ball as well as the quality to keep play ticking throughout the match.

The Whites ended the afternoon with a whopping 78% of the ball and Plymouth did not have a single shot at goal, which meant that Illan Meslier was not tested at all.

As you can see in the table above, the former Fortuna Dusseldorf star dominated in duels, winning 83% of his battles, and was incredibly reliable in possession, with a 91% pass success rate.

Tanaka was also awarded a player rating of 8/10 by LeedsLive reporter Beren Cross, who highlighted his dominant display in the midfield for Leeds, and he played a part in the second goal – with his shot deflected into the path of Piroe.

The statistics back up that ‘dominant’ claim, as the central midfielder helped to control the match with his use of the ball and his strength in duels for Leeds.

Move over Gnonto: Leeds have unearthed next PL talent in "underrated" star

The Leeds United midfielder has caught the eye with his impressive performances this season.

By
Dan Emery

Oct 31, 2024

Therefore, Tanaka was even better than James, who was fairly average outside of his goal, because his all-round performance was sublime.

West Indies have dropped Shimron Hetmyer from their men’s T20 World Cup squad after he missed a “rescheduled” flight to Australia. CWI said the decision had been taken “unanimously” by the selection panel, which also decided to name Shamarh Brooks as Hetmyer’s replacement.The rest of the West Indies squad had flown to Australia in different groups following the conclusion of the CPL on Saturday. When asked about the situation, the white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran said, “To be honest, that’s not my focus at the moment. A decision has been made, there’s consequences for your action. At the moment just want to focus on why we’re here and how we’re going to achieve our goals.”Hetmyer, who was captain of Guyana Amazon Warriors, was originally set to fly out on October 1, but wanted his flight rescheduled due to personal reasons. CWI booked him on a flight that would leave on Monday, only for Hetmyer to later tell Jimmy Adams, CWI’s director of cricket, that he would not be travelling.Related

• Haynes: Hetmyer available but 'fair to stick with the guys' who did well in South Africa

• Pollard bemoans 'sad day' for WI cricket, says players not at fault for T20 WC exit

• 'If we stay together, it'll be fine' – Nicholas Pooran backs West Indies to fire despite lack of big names

• Fight or flight: New-look West Indies begin the long journey back towards the top

• Tough turnaround for West Indies as Australia look to fine-tune T20 World Cup selection

“The decision by the CWI selection panel was made as Shimron Hetmyer missed his re-scheduled flight to Australia, which had been changed from Saturday 1 October at his request, due to family reasons,” CWI said in a media statement. “With flight availability a real challenge, a seat was found for him to leave Guyana today, Monday 3 October, meaning he would unfortunately miss the 1st T20 International (T20I) against Australia on Wednesday 5 October at the Metricon Stadium. This morning, Mr Hetmyer, informed the Director of Cricket that he would not be able to get to the airport in time for his flight this afternoon to New York.”Adams said that Hetmyer had been informed that “any further delay” in travel would cost him his World Cup spot.”This afternoon we informed the CWI board of directors that the selection panel had unanimously decided to replace Shimron Hetmyer with Shamarh Brooks in our T20 World Cup squad,” Adams said. “Whilst we changed Shimron’s flight from Saturday to Monday due to family reasons, it was made clear to him that if there were any further delays and issues with his travel to Australia then we would have no choice but to replace him in the squad, as we are not prepared to compromise the team’s ability to prepare for this extremely important global event.”Pooran admitted that Hetmyer was a big loss. “Obviously, yeah, we plan with him but unfortunately he’s not here and we have to plan differently now.”Brooks will fly out later this week but will not feature in the two-match T20I series against Australia. He will instead join the World Cup squad directly in Melbourne, where they will start their campaign in the qualifying round. West Indies are placed in Group B, alongside Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe with the top two teams progressing to the Super 12s.Brooks and Hetmyer were pitted against each other in CPL playoffs last week. It was Brooks’ unbeaten 109 in Qualifier 2 that helped Jamaica Tallawahs make the final, which they went on to win against Barbados Royals.

في وجه سيل من الانتقادات، خرج مهاجم برشلونة ومنتخب بولندا، روبرت ليفاندوفسكي ليدافع عن قراره بعدم الانضمام لمعسكر منتخب بلاده هذا الشهر.

وكان مهاجم برشلونة قد أعلن في 26 مايو عن انسحابه من وديتي بولندا أمام مولدوفا وفنلندا، مما أثار استياء البعض.

اقرأ أيضًا | بعد رافينها.. الدوري السعودي يستهدف لاعبًا جديدًا في برشلونة

ورد ليفاندوفسكي على الانتقادات في تصريحات نقلتها صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية: “لست مضطرًا لتبرير قراري، هل كان القرار صائبًا؟ نعم، في لحظة اتخاذه، كنت أراه كذلك، أعتقد أن اللاعبين قادرون على التعامل من دوني، فالمنتخب لا يعتمد علي”.

وأوضح ليفاندوفسكي أن قراره لم يكن مفاجئًا، بل جاء بعد محادثة صريحة مع المدرب، ميخال بروبيرز: “أخبرته أنني لا أشعر أنني بحالة جيدة بدنيًا أو نفسيًا، كنت أمر بمرحلة هبوط في المستوى، وشعرت أن الذهاب إلى المعسكر لن يساعدني على الوصول للمستوى الذي يريده مني”.

وفي لهجة حادة تجاه الإعلام، تابع قائلاً: “الناس لا يملكون كل المعلومات، ويفسرون الأمور بشكل خاطئ، مع كامل احترامي للإعلام والصحفيين، لم يفكر أحد منكم أن الإرهاق الذهني لا يقل خطورة عن البدني، من منكم يعرف كيف أشعر فعلًا وما هو الأفضل لي؟”.

وتابع ليفاندوفسكي: “أدرك أن الفرص المتبقية أمامي للعب على هذا المستوى باتت قليلة، أعلم أن قراري لن يلقى قبولًا لدى الجميع، لكن الاحترام يجب أن يكون حاضرًا دائمًا”.

واستمر: “بدأت إحدى المباريات على دكة البدلاء، فانهالت الأسئلة لماذا لا يلعب؟ ثم شاركت في مباراة أقل أهمية وتعرضت للإصابة، وجاءت الأسئلة بالعكس لماذا شارك؟”.

وأتم مهاجم بولندا: “أنا ألعب من أجل الجمهور، هؤلاء الذين دعموني طيلة السنوات الماضية، ألعب من أجلهم ومن أجل عائلتي، تحمل مسئولية بلد يتكون من 40 مليون نسمة ليس سهلًا، أحيانًا، أحتاج أيضًا إلى أن أرتاح”.

The Hungarian suffered a dip in form after a stunning start to his Anfield career, but he's re-emerged as a huge influence in recent months

It's not always easy but, in general, footballers don't like to look too far ahead. Things can change quickly on and off the field. Getting caught up in trophy talk can be dangerous. It's nearly always best to embrace the 'one game at a time' cliche. Dominik Szoboszlai learned that valuable lesson last season.

He never made any ill-advised or arrogant predictions or proclamations but, looking back on Liverpool's quadruple bid under Jurgen Klopp, which unravelled not long after their Carabao Cup triumph, the Hungary captain now feels he was a little too forthcoming about his team's chances of a clean sweep.

"When I came to Liverpool I wanted to win everything in my first season!" he recently admitted. "So, I don't like to talk about the title now."

Hardly surprising, then, that when Szoboszlai was asked about Liverpool fans singing 'We're going to win the league' during the closing stages of last Sunday week's 2-0 win at Manchester City, he swerved the issue. "I didn't hear that," he said before immediately adding, "I was so tired."

Of course, that could easily have been the case, because Szoboszlai really did run himself into the ground at the Etihad – quite literally, with the exhausted midfielder collapsing to the turf the moment the full-time whistle blew. Just three days later, though, he somehow summoned up sufficient energy to produce another 90-minute display of dynamism as Liverpool took another significant step towards winning the title by beating Newcastle at home to move 13 points clear of second-placed Arsenal.

What's more, Szoboszlai had scored in back-to-back games for Liverpool for the first time since arriving at Anfield in the summer of 2023 – further evidence that a player still being criticised just last month for his lack of an end product has become a staple in Arne Slot's side.

• £60 million 'steal'

  Not many players have made a more immediate impact at Liverpool than Szoboszlai. He'd been signed from RB Leipzig for £60 million ($76m), a not insignificant sum of money, but quickly set about showing why his former boss at Red Bull Salzburg, Jesse Marsch, considered it "a steal".

  There were no airs or graces about Szoboszlai, but from the moment he walked in the door, he looked right at home at Anfield. Even the incredibly colourful Klopp was struck by the Hungarian's "charisma".

  He clearly didn't lack confidence, either. Szoboszlai took the No.8 jersey once worn by his idol Steven Gerrard (he even has a tattoo inspired by the former Reds skipper) and plenty of comparisons were drawn between the two during the first few months of the 2023-24 season.

  Marsch felt that Szoboszlai was actually more like "a modern-day David Beckham" because "when the ball is on his right foot he can put it anywhere he wants. The precision and the pace he can put on the ball is ridiculous. And I say 'modern day', it's because he is more mobile and more dynamic [than Beckham]."

Advertisement

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Heavy work load takes its toll

  However, it wouldn't be long before Szoboszlai's all-action approach began to catch up with him. After playing every minute of Liverpool's opening 10 Premier League games, he almost inevitably began to slow down, before breaking down. He picked up a hamstring problem in January and never really recovered.

  Szoboszlai was directly involved in 11 goals last season, but only three after returning from injury – and all of those arrived during the two legs of the Europa League last-16 tie with Sparta Prague. Tellingly, he ran out of steam around the same time as his team, with Szoboszlai afforded just one start during Liverpool's final seven Premier League games.

  Unsurprisingly, he also struggled at Euro 2024 as Hungary failed to make it out of their group. "He was not in top form and this is also a consequence of the fact that he has not been at 100 percent since his injury in the winter," the president of the Hungarian football federation (MLSZ), Sandor Csanyi, told in July. "At the Euros, he had also been struggling with a minor injury for a long time."

• 'Numbers need to go up'

  Thankfully, Szoboszlai has had no such fitness issues this season. He's only missed two Premier League games to date: one through suspension, and the other through illness.

  Ryan Gravenberch's emergence as the solution to Liverpool's longstanding problem at No.6 has certainly helped, as Slot now essentially has four versatile potential starters to choose from in midfield (Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones are the other three), while Wataru Endo has proven himself an extremely useful option off the bench, a dual-winning machine that can be utilised when team-mates are exhausted and games need to be closed out.

  However, while Slot was happy with Szoboszlai's performance and fitness levels during the first half of the season, it was telling that he publicly demanded more decisive contributions from his first-choice No.10 in the final third.

  The Dutchman acknowledged that while the 24-year-old's pressing was "outstanding", he needed to be "even more involved in scoring goals and creating chances for us.

  "Last season he scored three [in the league] and, for an attacking midfielder at Liverpool, his numbers need to go up." They are now, though.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Stepping up

  Szoboszlai has already surpassed his tally of goal involvements for 2023-24 and he's in far better shape going into the business end of the season than he was at this point last year. Indeed, only three Reds played every minute of their crucial and gruelling recent run of five Premier League games in 15 days, and Szoboszlai was one of them (captain Virgil van Dijk and goalkeeper Alisson Becker were the others).

  Even more encouragingly, he got stronger as the games got tougher. Szoboszlai was excellent in the 2-2 draw at Aston Villa and would have had a deserved, game-winning assist had Darwin Nunez not missed an open goal midway through the second half.

  Mohamed Salah, though, was never going to waste the clever near-post flick that bamboozled Man City at the Etihad, while Szoboszlai then netted the killer second goal after being released into space shortly before the break by the Egyptian.

da dobrowin： They might not be the best team in the country, but one thing is certain: Tottenham Hotspur are the most entertaining team in the Premier League.

da doce： Ange Postecoglou’s side reminded us of this fact in the League Cup last night, as they almost blew a 3-0 lead before eventually coming out 4-3 victors over Manchester United.

Now, there were a handful of worrying performances from the home side, especially from Fraser Forster in goal, but there were also several players who more than justified their inclusion in the starting lineup.

In fact, there’s now another player who, alongside Dejan Kulusevski, has made himself undroppable going forward.

Dejan Kulusevski's importance to Spurs

Unfortunately for the Spurs faithful and Postecoglou, this season has exposed a number of their players as not being of the level required to help them progress.

On the other hand, Kulusevski has been playing out of his skin from the word go, and now undoubtedly looks like one of the best players in the country.

For example, before last night, the “world-class” superstar, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, had a seriously impressive haul of five goals and seven assists in 24 appearances to his name.

Kulusevski’s 24/25

Appearances

25

Minutes

1694′

Goals

6

Assists

7

Goal Involvements per Match

0.52

Minutes per Goal Involvement

130.30

All Stats via Transfermarkt

The former Juventus ace then added another goal to his tally last night, which means he is currently averaging a goal involvement every 1.92 games, which is sensational for someone who’s spent most of the campaign in midfield thus far.

However, the 24-year-old contributed more than just a goal against United, as his all-round play was equally important and saw football.london’s Alasdair Gold award him an 8/10 match rating at full-time.

Overall, Kulusevski showed once again last night that he is utterly undroppable to this Spurs team, which could now be said about one of his teammates.

Spurs' newly undroppable star

So, while goalscorers Dominic Solanke and Son Heung-min have received plenty of plaudits since the final whistle, and rightly so, the player we are talking about is Djed Spence.

Yes, the talented defender whose Lillywhites career looked all but finished when excluded from the Europa League squad earlier this year made his first start of the campaign against Southampton on Sunday and was just as impressive against United last night.

The “unbelievable” talent, as dubbed by the iconic Ian Wright, picked up an assist and helped the team keep a clean sheet against the Saints over the weekend, and then grabbed another assist against the Red Devils while also looking solid in defence to boot.

It’s not hyperbole, either, as football.london’s Gold was just as impressed by the 24-year-old’s display, awarding him an 8/10 match rating at full-time and writing that he was a ‘constant option down the left.’

It’s that ability to play on either side of a defence that should also see the Englishman keep his place in the team for the foreseeable future, as with both Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie leaving a lot to be desired this season, he looks like the best full-back at the club at present.

Ultimately, while he might not be the biggest name at Spurs, Spence has shown over the last week precisely why he can become a star and why, like Kulusevski, he is already undroppable.

Related Forster's saviour: Spurs' 9/10 "monster" showed he'd be perfect for Man Utd

The incredible talent won Spurs the game.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes Dec 20, 2024