Tag Futebol

In a quick turn of events, Chelsea and Enzo Maresca have parted ways.

The Blues’ form has certainly declined in recent weeks, and they have gone from being talked up as “a finished product and title contender” by ESPN’s Bill Connolly to languishing in fifth place, a massive 15 points off 1st.

The West Londoners only won twice in December, with one of those victories coming against League One Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup. It has certainly been an underwhelming month, to say the least.

It now seems that the club’s directors could decide to part ways with the Italian and might well have a replacement lined up.

Chelsea identify potential Maresca replacement

Reports this week regarding Maresca’s Chelsea future intensified. On Thursday morning it was announced that the Italian would not see in any of 2026 with the team. Both player and club reportedly agreed that a parting of the ways would be beneficial.

As it happens, they have already made plans which will set into motion the act of finding his replacement.

That manager could well be more closely linked to the club than you might expect.

According to a report from journalist Si Phillips, the most likely replacement is Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior, who Phillips says is the ‘only’ person he can see getting the job.

Manager Focus

Who are the greatest coaches in the land? Football FanCast’s Manager Focus series aims to reveal all.

Expand Collapse

Those claims have been backed up by many, including Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol who reports that “Rosenior is one of a handful of candidates who will be considered as a replacement.” Solhekol expects Chelsea “to announce a new head coach in a matter of days.”

French side Strasbourg are a fellow BlueCo side, so it would make acquiring the Englishman a lot easier because of the strong link between the two clubs.

It is unclear how much Chelsea would have to pay to appoint Rosenior, but because of their relationship with Strasbourg, the required compensation might well be less.

Why Rosenior would be a good hire for Chelsea

Former Hull City manager Rosenior has certainly left a huge impression on Ligue 1 outfit Strasbourg during his time at the club.

Last term, he guided them to seventh in the league, helping them reach the Conference League, a competition which Chelsea, of course, are the holders of.

Overall, his record at Le Racing is impressive. In 62 matches across all competitions, the London-born manager has guided his side to 32 wins, at a win rate of 51.61%, and has lost on just 17 occasions. It is easy to see why he was described as “one of the brightest young managers” by Hull fan and podcast host Ant Northgraves.

There is a real emphasis on possession-based football under Rosenior. This season, his side have averaged 52.6% possession per 90 minutes, which ranks them joint 31st amongst all of Europe’s big five leagues, and seventh for clubs in the top flight of France.

This aligns well with Chelsea’s philosophy. Phillips explained that the two-time European champions have “a club-wide ideology to play possession-based football only.” The fact that Rosenior has turned Strasbourg into a possession-dominant side bodes well in that sense.

Someone who might profit from the appointment of Rosenior is Chelsea’s talisman, Cole Palmer. It has been a frustrating campaign for the Wythenshawe-born superstar, who has struggled with injury and has only played eight Premier League games.

Subscribe to the newsletter for deeper Chelsea insight Want deeper context on Chelsea’s managerial rumours and tactical direction? Subscribe to the newsletter for in-depth coverage, analysis of possession-based approaches, and how coaching changes could affect key players like Cole Palmer — and broader club developments.

---

Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

His impact this season has certainly not been felt as much as in previous campaigns due to the interruptions. Palmer has three goals across all competitions, and Maresca has not given him a full 90 minutes since his return to fitness. That has not gone down well with Blues fans.

Rosenior’s potential appointment could change this. There is no doubt about it, Palmer is one of the best players in the Premier League in the final third. Last term, he averaged 2.45 key passes per 90 minutes, and it was higher in 2023/24, at 2.48 each game.

Palmer key stats in 2 full PL seasons for Chelsea

Stat (per 90)

2023/24

2024/25

Key passes

2.48

2.45

Passes into final third

4.68

4.6

Goals and assists

1.13

0.65

Shot-creating actions

5.57

5.7

Goal-creating actions

0.89

0.42

Stats from FBref

Looking at those numbers, it is easy to see how the England star would benefit from Rosenior’s possession-based football. Get him on the ball enough and make him the pivotal figure in attack, and he will produce.

Under Mauricio Pochettino, he was averaging 60 touches per game, but that regressed to just 52 under Maresca. Chelsea’s potential new manager must get that stat higher to have the best impact.

Not just an intelligent manager, but “one of the best coaches ever” on the training pitch in the words of pundit Clinton Morrison, it might not just be Palmer who benefits.

Related Delap & Pedro upgrade: Chelsea could sign "one of Europe's most in-form CFs"

Chelsea could snap up this big Liam Delap and Joao Pedro upgrade in January.

Posts ByKelan Sarson

Abahani Limited got back to winning ways in style with a 107-run win over Prime Bank Cricket Club at the BKSP-3 ground. A fantastic top-order performance got them to 305 in 49.2 overs before Shuvagata Hom’s 5-wicket haul shut down Prime Bank.Shadman Islam struck his maiden List-A century, making 103 off 100 balls with nine fours and three sixes and added 119 runs for the first-wicket with Liton Das, who contributed with 65 off 63 balls that had four boundaries and three sixes.Shadman followed it up with a 101-run second wicket stand with Saif Hassan who also slammed three sixes and two fours in his 53-ball 51. Ariful Haque and Al-Amin Hossain took three wickets each but could not restrict Abahani from breaching the 300-run mark.Shuvagata then took the five-for while Manan Sharma picked up two wickets as Prime Bank were bowled out for 198 runs in 44.5 overs. Salman Hossain was unbeaten on 61 off 75 balls.Avishek Mitra’s 95 propelled Mohammedan Sporting Club to a six-wicket win over Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium. The opener struck three fours and two sixes in his 134-ball anchor that lasted till the 41st over. in their chase of 229.He added 57 for the first wicket with Rony Talukdar and 52 for the second wicket with Shamsur Rahman, before adding another 55 with Raqibul Hasan who remained unbeaten on 49 off 60 balls.Earlier, Sajedul Islam and Charith Asalanka took three wickets each as Prime Doleshwar were restricted to 228 for 9 in 50 overs. Abdul Mazid top scored with 50 off 73 balls.Legends of Rupganj bounced back from their ordinary performance against Mohammedan Sporting Club in the previous encounter, as they crushed Victoria Sporting Club by six wickets at the BKSP-4 ground in Savar.Batting first, the hapless Victoria side were bowled out for 155 in 45.3 overs. Uttam Sarkar top scored with 35 while Rupganj’s Pakistani recruit Raza Ali Dar took three wickets with his left-arm spin. Mosharraf Hossain and Mohammad Sharif took two wickets each.Rupganj reached their target in 45.3 overs with Pinak Ghosh leading them with a 110-ball 62. Victoria used nine bowlers but could take only four wickets.

	Gordon Brown: taking a hard line © Getty Images

The British government is set to ban Zimbabwe from touring England in 2009, removing the pressure from the ECB to make a decision on sporting relations with the country.An article in The Sun quotes a government source as saying: “We can’t pretend it’s not a matter for the government any more. It’s quite clearly our job to stand up and be counted. Mugabe needs to be given clear signals from all quarters that his regime is unacceptable.”Under Tony Blair, the ECB was encouraged not to play against Zimbabwe but his government refused to go any further, leaving the board with the choice between carrying on or boycotting games and facing massive fines from the ICC. Gordon Brown has shown a firmer approach, staying away from a summit in Portugal because Mugabe had been invited to attend.”England’s cricket authorities wanted assurances from us about what to do,” the government source added, “and now they have it.”A spokesman for Gordon Brown confirmed that the government will hold talks with the cricket authorities on a possible ban, but said it was too early for any decision. “I think that it’s very early to be making these sorts of decisions. We obviously will need to discuss this with the ECB closer to the time. A decision will have to be made about this at some point but we are not at that point at the moment.”New Zealand’s government banned the Zimbabwe side from entering the country in 2006, leading to the cancellation of their tour, and in May 2007 John Howard, the then Australian prime minister, ordered the Australian board not to fulfil a tour to Zimbabwe.While few will shed tears over Zimbabwe not playing a series in England, there are greater possible ramifications as in June 2009 the ICC World Twenty20 is scheduled to be held in the country. It seems unlikely that the ICC would allow a tournament to go ahead when one of its Full Members is barred from participating, and so it is possible that the event might be moved elsewhere. The financial implications for the ECB were that to happen would be far more devastating that any ICC fines.An ECB spokesman declined to comment on what he said was a “speculative story based on insider quotes”.

Stuart Broad put England A in a strong position as the second Test against Bangladesh A finally got underway at Bogra following the first-day washout. He claimed 3 for 54 as the home side struggled to 121 for 8 after being asked to bat in bowler-friendly conditions.When play started after lunch Broad struck without a run on the board when Jahirul Islam was bowled. Graham Onions continued his impressive form with two wickets and Tim Bresnan also chipped in with a brace.Bangladesh managed a small recovery late in the day with wicketkeeper Sahagir Hossain Pavel holding firm with an unbeaten 30.England’s captain Michael Yardy said his decision at the toss had been a simple one. “I had no hesitation in asking Bangladesh to bat,” he told ecb.co.uk. “The wicket had been under cover for two days and looked as near an English bowling wicket as we’re likely to get here.”Despite the loss of the entire first day, Yardy is still thinking in terms of a victory and a 2-0 series win. “If we could accelerate the game and make-up for the lost day, then we can win this match – and again we want to play positively, as in the first Test.”We’ve put ourselves in the driving seat now, especially if we can get the remaining wickets in the morning and look to bat through day three. It was a tremendous performance by our seamers to get us into that position.”

Shaun Pollock’s three early wickets were crucial blows for South Africa © Getty Images

Shaun Pollock was a relieved man after South Africa registered their first win of the VB series on Sunday, beating Australia by five wickets as Brisbane. Pollock, who won the Man-of-the-Match award, admitted their next game, against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, held an added significance.”We’ve played some good cricket, we’ve just not been able to capitalise on certain times in matches where we can kick on and put pressure on them,” he said. “But it’s nice to get a win under our belts. It’s a big game now for us on Tuesday against Sri Lanka. We’ll try to keep the momentum going for the rest of the series.”Mike Hussey played well with Brett Lee, who did a great job, but we realised the wicket was playing better,” Pollock said. “It didn’t seem to do as much later so we knew that if we kept them down to as little as possible we could chase them down.”After losing three early wickets to Pollock, the home side recovered through Hussey, who compiled another fifty, and Lee to post a total that Ricky Ponting felt wasn’t enough. “You can’t get 228 on that sort of wicket and expect to be competitive,” he said. “We are going to have a look at the way we were dismissed and some of the shots we played early on in our innings. We had a very good hit-out as far as skills were concerned a couple of days ago so we were 100% ready and ripe for this game.”

The good old days: Andy Blignaut enjoys life as an international player© Getty Images

Tasmania have paved the way for Andy Blignaut to return for Zimbabwe by releasing him from a two-year state contract. While Blignaut re-committed to his homeland on Monday, the Tasmania Cricket Association did not receive formal advice of his decision until today."The TCA has always been of the view that it would not stand in the way of any player’s aspirations to play international cricket," David Johnston, the TCA chief executive, said. "It appears that Andy’s impasse in Zimbabwe has been resolved and he can now work to regain his position in the national team."Tasmania stopped paying Blignaut when he flew to Zimbabwe before Christmas to resume negotiations with the country’s board after he had struggled to break into the first team because of injuries and poor form. Blignaut’s arrival in Australia at the start of the summer was delayed by visa troubles and things didn’t improve when he landed. He played only one Pura Cup match against Western Australia, bowling 12 overs for 79 and making 9 and 0.

Close Sri Lanka 331 and 99 for 5 lead England 235 (Butcher 51, Thorpe 43, Muralitharan 7-46) by 195 runs
Scorecard

Ashley Giles and Michael Vaughan celebrate Sanath Jayasuriya’s wicket © Getty Images 2003

Muttiah Muralitharan, an unlikely batting star yesterday, returned to type and tormented England with the ball at Galle, finishing with 7 for 46, his best figures on this ground. That restricted England’s first innings to 235, and although Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty hit back, reducing Sri Lanka to 99 for 5 in their second innings, the overall lead of 195 is assuming ominous proportions for England, who will have to face Murali again in the final innings of the match on a pitch taking increasing amounts of turn.The first two sessions belonged to Murali. There was an air of inevitability as he mowed his way through England’s inexperienced middle and lower order with a magical spell of spin bowling – which included his 50th Test wicket against England. Mark Butcher and Graham Thorpe, the overnight batsmen, did their best to resist him with a third-wicket partnership of 75, but the danger signals were all too apparent.Had Sri Lanka’s fielders – and umpire Daryl Harper – been more alert, England would have been even deeper in the mire. In the space of eight deliveries in the first hour, Butcher was reprieved twice and Thorpe once, and Sri Lanka’s frustration was plain to see, especially when Murali threw the ball to the ground in anger after dropping Butcher off his own bowling.But after England’s trial by spin, it was the seam of Chaminda Vaas that made the breakthrough, as Thorpe was trapped lbw for 43 by a ball that was angling into middle and leg (142 for 3). One run later, and Paul Collingwood had completed an unhappy first Test innings, when Murali found the outside edge, and Sanath Jayasuriya snaffled an excellent one-handed catch at slip.Murali was rampaging and England were unable to resist. Andrew Flintoff tried to play himself in, but was caught napping when he played back to a big-turning offbreak and was given out leg-before for 1. Then Chris Read fell for a duck to become Murali’s fifth wicket of the innings, Tillakaratne scooping up a one-handed chance at bat-pad (155 for 6).As the wickets tumbled and the run rate dried up, the pressure piled onto Butcher’s shoulders, and while he managed to keep Murali at bay, he fell to Jayasuriya shortly after lunch. Attempting to cut a ball too close to his body, he nicked it to Kumar Sangakkara for a hard-fought 51 (177 for 7).Batty hung around for 41 balls, and scored a gutsy 12, including a sweep for six off Kumar Dharmasena. But in his next over, Dharmasena got his man when Batty clipped him to Jayasuriya at leg slip (183 for 8). Giles whacked Dharmasena for six over mid-on to bring up the 200, and then repeated the shot in Jayasuriya’s next over. But when he tried to do the same against Murali, he picked out Marvan Atapattu on the midwicket boundary (201 for 9).Richard Johnson and Matthew Hoggard put on a valuable 27 to give the total some respectability, including two meaty sixes over midwicket by Johnson. He perished, though, going for another big shot, as Atapattu took his second catch on the boundary.England trailed by 96 runs and needed to make early inroads, and Giles did just that. Jayasuriya edged a well-flighted delivery to Marcus Trescothick at first slip, who did well to latch on to a sharp chance at the third attempt (26 for 1). Atapattu and Sangakkara were then made to work hard for their runs, as the bowlers built up the pressure and gave little away. Little urgency was shown by either batsmen, even though Sangakkara slowly began to up the tempo with a couple of elegant cuts for four off Hoggard.

Muttiah Muralitharan appeals for another victim © Getty Images 2003

Just as Sri Lanka seemed to be grinding their way to a big second-innings lead, two wickets in five balls dented their progress and sparked off a mini-collapse. Atapattu drove Giles into the body of Collingwood at silly point and set off for a risky single. Collingwood turned and chased the ball, and as the batsmen hesitated, he returned to Read and Sangakkara was run out by miles (72 for 2).The mix-up must have affected Atapattu, as in the next over he was outfoxed by Batty. Atapattu danced down the track, but completely missed a straight one and Read stumped him (72 for 3). Suddenly England had a spring in their step. Batty gave them more heart when he trapped Tillakaratne leg-before. Padding up to a quicker one, Tillakaratne was hit in front of middle and given out by Harper to complete a miserable match with the bat (78 for 4).Thilan Samaraweera was next to go when he edged Giles to Trescothick. The ball flew off the bat, hit Read’s right glove, and Trescothick was alert enough to take his second juggled catch of the innings – this time at the second attempt (85 for 5). Vaas and Mahela Jayawardene shut up shop for the last ten overs, but it was England who finished the stronger. They were understandably buoyant after their impressive fightback, but there is still much for them to do to save, let alone win, this intriguing Test match.

Alan Edwards has announced his decision to stand down as Chairman of the West Australian State Cricket Selection Panel, effective at the end of this season.Edwards made his announcement to the WACA’s International and Interstate Committee (I & I) during a regular monthly meeting of the committee, last Thursday evening at the WACA ground.Alan Edwards is one of WA’s most experienced Cricket Selectors, having stood on the State Selection Panel for a total of 27 years, from 1960-61 to 1987-88, including the final 20 years as Chairman, from 1967-68.Edwards returned to the State Selection Panel for this season to add experience, following the loss of Ron Bowe, Doug Harris and Chairman Kim Hughes from last season’s panel.WACA Cricket Manager Rob Thompson said, "The WACA would like to thank Alan Edwards for making yet another valuable contribution to WA cricket. Alan returned to the State Selection Panel this season to add some stability and experience after the loss of some long serving members and once again Alan has done a great job for WA cricket."The WACA’s I & I Committee is due to appoint next season’s State Selection Panel and appoint a new Chairman at its next scheduled meeting in April. The State Selection Panel is appointed by the I & I Committee via nominations received from WACA District clubs.

NatWest are bringing cricket fans live, free coverage of the NatWest Series match between England and Australia at Old Trafford, tomorrow at the first-ever NatWest Giant Screen Event in Manchester.With all games sold out and Old Trafford being one of the first venues tosell all tickets, the first NatWest Giant Screen Event will offer family andfriends a free, action-packed and social day out. Located at the G-Mexcentre forecourt on Thursday 14 June, coverage of this day/night game willbe broadcast live on the giant screen from 2pm, with food and drinkavailable throughout.The NatWest Series is the triangular one-day international tournamentbetween England and the two visiting teams, Australia and Pakistan, runningfrom 7 June through to the final at Lord’s on 23 June.England will be hoping to improve on their recent performances that tookthem so close to winning against both Australia and Pakistan in the NatWestSeries so far this year. Fans can join in and enjoy the big-match atmospherewith free four and six cards, as well as having the chance to win a cricketbat signed by all three teams competing in this year’s NatWest Series.The NatWest Giant Screen Event is part of a series of new NatWestinitiatives introduced this year to encourage and develop people’s interestin cricket. The ‘Cricket in Unusual Places’ promotion that is taking cricketinto shopping centres across the country has been a huge success. Theroadshows that have taken place in Durham, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchesterand Bluewater, Kent, with one in Leeds to come, have given the youngergeneration the opportunity to test their cricket skills.NatWest has been a major sponsor of cricket since 1981 when the bank began20 years of sponsorship of the NatWest Trophy. In 2000, following asuccessful sponsorship of the 1999 Cricket World Cup, NatWest become thefirst title sponsor of the new international, one-day triangularcompetition, the NatWest Series.NatWest, now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, is one of the biggestbanks in the UK. NatWest provides a whole range of financial services toover seven million personal and business customers. NatWest has over 1,640branches and operates nearly 3,800 cash machines.

Tasmania have picked 18-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Jake Doran and uncapped 21-year-old right-arm pacer Ryan Lees in their squad for next month’s Matador Cup one-day competition. The 14-member squad also includes fast bowler Jackson Bird, who has not played a List A game for Tasmania since December 2012.The side will be captained by George Bailey, with Alex Doolan serving as his deputy. The squad includes left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty and allrounder James Faulkner, who, along with Bailey, were part of Australia’s World Cup-winning squad.Lees, who hails from Flinders Island, has represented Tasmania in the Imparja Cup and earned a rookie contract in the 2013-14 season. He was picked in the squad after strong pre-season performances, according to Michael Farrell, Tasmania’s chairman of selectors.Doran, who is uncapped in List A and first-class cricket and moved from New South Wales to Tasmania recently, has performed consistently in Under-19 cricket. The left-handed batsman is Australia’s highest run-getter in Under-19 cricket with more than 1000 runs in 30 Youth ODIs between 2013 and 2015. He was also the leading run-getter for Australia Under-19s in the 2014 World Cup and made his Twenty20 debut for a Cricket Australia XI against the touring South Africans last November.”Ryan Lees has been rewarded with selection due to strong performances in various games throughout the preseason, and we are delighted with the form of our newly recruited player Jake Doran,” Farrell said.Tasmania, though, will be without the services of fast bowler Andrew Fekete, who has been picked for the Tests against Bangladesh. Batsman Jordan Silk was unavailable for selection due to personal reasons, according to Farrell.Tasmania’s first match of the competition will be against Queensland on October 5.Tasmania squad: George Bailey (c), Alex Doolan (vc), Jackson Bird, Xavier Doherty, Jake Doran, Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Evan Gulbis, Hamish Kingston, Ryan Lees, Dominic Michael, Tim Paine, Sam Rainbird, Clive Rose