Outgoing Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards is confident his replacement Julian Ward has the skills to help head coach Jurgen Klopp bring more success to the club.
Edwards will step down from his role at the end of the 2021-22 season, when his deal expires, having joined Liverpool in 2011 as head of analytics before eventually rising to his current position in 2016.
In his time as sporting director, Liverpool have won the Champions League, Premier League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
Edwards is certain, however, that assistant sporting director Ward will be ready to step into his shoes when he leaves and that the change will spur the Reds on in their continuous pursuit of silverware.
I know the Liverpool Football Club that I am leavin…
The qualification campaign for the 2022 World Cup is all but over.
Some key matches still have to be played, with Wales yet to find out their fate as they wait to face the winner of Scotland s play-off with Ukraine, which has been postponed due to Russia s invasion of the country, while there are inter-confederation play-offs also to be decided.
In total, 28 nations have qualified already, and most of football s star names will be present.
That being said, while France s world champions will bid to defend their crown, Neymar will bring the Brazilian stardust, Lionel Messi will look to build on Argentina s Copa America triumph and Cristiano Ronaldo will feature at a record-equalling fifth tournament, some huge players – and indeed teams, in the case of Italy �…
Simone Inzaghi has great regrets following Inter s 2-1 aggregate defeat to Liverpool, but stands by his decision to not substitute Alexis Sanchez prior to the forward s sending off.
Inter trailed 2-0 heading into the Champions League last-16 second leg and were fortunate not to be further behind as Joel Matip and Mohamed Salah hit the frame of the goal.
However, Lautaro Martinez s superb 20-yard strike with just over an hour played changed the mood around Anfield and gave Inter serious hope of salvaging extra time.
Inter s prospects of staying in the competition were badly dented 107 seconds later, though, as Sanchez received a second yellow card for following through on Fabinho.
Former Arsenal and Manchester United forward Sanchez had been yellow carded …
Holders Manchester City will face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals with rivals Manchester United taking on outsiders Coventry.
The draw for the last four raises the prospect of a repeat of last season’s all-Manchester final.
Treble-chasing City eased through with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Newcastle on Saturday while Chelsea saw off Leicester 4-2.
The draw for the semi-finals is complete
We re off to Wembley
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup)
United’s reward for a thrilling 4-3 extra-time victory over Liverpool on Sunday is a clash with Championship outfit Coventry, who stunned Wolves 3-2.
Coventry are managed by former United striker Mark Robins, scorer of a crucial winner as the Red Devils beat Nottingham Forest en…
Lionel Messi scored twice and laid on a goal for Luis Suarez as Inter Miami retained their three-point lead at the Eastern Conference summit with a 4-1 win over the New England Revolution.
A franchise-record crowd of 65,612 people witnessed a flying start from the Revs as they took the lead within just 37 seconds at Gillette Stadium. Carles Gil pounced on some sloppy play from Miami to tee up Tomas Chancalay, who lobbed Drake Callender for the opener.
However, Miami roared back with Messi leading from the front. They had a deserved equaliser just after the half-hour mark, Messi slotting home after latching onto Robert Taylor s throughball.
Messi had his second after 67 minutes, producing another composed finish after former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets spl…
Pep Guardiola has won his 10th major trophy with Manchester City after his side secured their fifth Premier League title in six seasons.
Here, the PA news agency looks at his triumphs.
2017-18: Premier League and League Cup double
After a trophyless first season, Guardiola got his hands on his first silverware at City with a 3-0 win over Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final. They went on to win the league title in style with a record 100 points.
2018-19: Domestic treble
City edged out Liverpool by 98 points to 97 in a thrilling title race. They again won the Carabao Cup by beating Chelsea on penalties and thrashed Watford 6-0 in the FA Cup final to become the first side to win the domestic treble.
2019-20: League Cup
City failed to mount a successful title…
Roy Keane says Cristiano Ronaldo will bring a winning mentality to Old Trafford but his arrival will not enable Manchester United to lift big trophies .
The Red Devils on Friday sensationally confirmed a deal has been agreed with Juventus to bring the Portugal captain back to the club where he became one of the best players in the world.
United will reportedly pay £12.8million (€15m) plus £6.9m (€8m) in add-ons for the prolific forward, who scored 118 goals in 292 appearances under Alex Ferguson before joining Real Madrid in 2009.
Three Premier League titles, a Champions League triumph and an FA Cup success were among the honours Ronaldo achieved during his six years with United.
The five-time Ballon d Or winner s former captain believes he wil…
Gianluca Scamacca has revealed Roberto Mancini was influential in his decision to leave Sassuolo for West Ham, with the Italy head coach believing a Premier League move was best for his development.
Scamacca, who had been linked with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the transfer window, signed a five-year contract with the option of an extra 12 months at the London Stadium on Tuesday.
West Ham have reportedly agreed to pay an initial £30.5million (€36m) for the towering centre-forward, who scored 16 Serie A goals for Sassuolo last term.
Among players to have scored 15 or more goals in a top-five European league in 2021-22, only three were younger than 23-year-old Scamacca, namely Erling Haaland (22 goals), Vinicius Junior (17) and Dusan Vlahovic (24…
Christophe Galtier insists he is not feeling any extra pressure to lead Paris Saint-Germain to a first Champions League title ahead of Tuesday s opening group stage match against Juventus.
Despite investing heavily since Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) completed their 2011 takeover of the club, PSG are yet to be crowned champions of Europe and have suffered several humiliating exits from the continent s premier competition.
Last season, Real Madrid produced the first of several extraordinary Champions League turnarounds at PSG s expense in the last 16, leading the Parisians star attackers to be jeered by their own supporters in subsequent matches.
Mauricio Pochettino s reign as coach, meanwhile, never appeared likely to recover from that elimination, but succes…
Atalanta 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen: Alonso´s unbeaten run ends as Lookman hat-trick settles Europa League
Ademola Lookman produced a performance for the ages as his hat-trick ended Bayer Leverkusen s 51-game unbeaten streak and saw Atalanta claim the Europa League with a 3-0 win in Dublin.
Xabi Alonso s Bundesliga title champions were eyeing an unlikely treble this season, but those plans came to a crashing halt as Atalanta secured their first-ever European silverware.
Lookman did the early damage with his first-half brace, the second of which was an eye-catching solo strike, as Gian Piero Gasperini s Serie A side seized unexpected control on Wednesday.
Comeback masters Leverkusen may have fancied a late fightback but Lookman s thumping 75th-minute finish completed his hat-trick and ensured Alonso s team suffered defeat for the first time this season, in what was the…