Backfires

Lee Carsley faced his first hurdles as England's stand-in coach following an audacious lineup choice that went awry, leading to a 2-1 defeat against Greece in the Nations League on Thursday. Meanwhile, at just 24, Erling Haaland set a new milestone for Norway by becoming the top scorer with his brace in a commanding 3-0 victory over Slovakia. On the flip side, even without the iconic figures of Kylian Mbappé and the retired Antoine Griezmann, France comfortably overpowered Israel 4-1. Carsley, having steered England to…

Luis Enrique made a bold call when he excluded Ousmane Dembélé from PSG’s lineup for their season's most significant clash against Arsenal. And boy, did it go sideways on Tuesday night. Real bad. Despite being match-fit and performing well, Dembélé was sidelined by Enrique for perceived lack of dedication. The PSG boss believed he could win against a top-tier team without one of his star players. “If you don’t meet the team’s standards, you’re not ready,” Enrique explained pre-match. To fill Dembélé’s considerable…