Toney 'progressing' in injury recovery, 'desperate' to start vs Luton (2024)

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• Avram and Joel Glazer to attend Man Utd vs Coventry
• Guardiola criticises FA Cup scheduling despite Chelsea win
• Udogie out for the season
• Wilder questions Sheff Utd mentality after 5-1 home loss against Brentford
• Klopp: Alexander-Arnold, Jota returns give Liverpool a 'chance' in title race

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• FA Cup replays – transformative, memorable, and soon a thing of the past
• Many champions have ‘choked’ – the true test is can you recover in time
• Who Man Utd should target to replace Ten Hag – according to the data

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Ivan Toney is "progressing" in his recovery from a hip injury with Thomas Frank "desperate" for him to start against Luton Town tomorrow.

England international Toney missed the 2-0 win over Sheffield United last weekend but is working hard to be fit for Saturday's trip to Kenilworth Road.

"Everyone from the last squad should be available. Ivan is progressing and the best news is Christian Norgaard (back injury) is available for selection. Let’s see if I select him, I probably will."

Pressed on whether Toney will start," he said: "He’s desperate, I’m desperate. Let’s see tomorrow. The (fans) know how much I like Ivan and how important he is for us."

Frank also just confirmed that defender Kristoffer Ajer is "fit and available" after missing the win over Sheffield United with a calf strain.

Brentford sit 15th in the Premier League table, seven points clear of tomorrow's opponents who occupy the final relegation place.

Erik ten Hag says Alejandro Garnacho has apologised after liking social media posts criticising the Manchester United manager’s decision to substitute him in the draw at Bournemouth last weekend.

The Argentine winger was removed at half-time of the 2-2 Premier League draw on Saturday evening and shortly after the end of the game liked a number of tweets questioning the decision.

He swiftly unliked the posts with United later confirming the matter had been dealt with internally.

Ten Hag has revealed the 19-year-old has apologised for his actions as he seeks to draw a line under the episode.

"Alejandro is a young player and has to learn a lot," he said during his press conference ahead of the FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City on Sunday.

"He apologised for it and after that we move on."

The Football Association (FA) has defended its decision to scrap FA Cup replays and insisted an increase in games being broadcast in the early rounds will help offset any loss of revenue for lower-league clubs.

It was announced on Thursday replays from the first round proper were being scrapped from the 2024-25 season in a six-year agreement to restructure the competition.

The decision was called “frustrating and disappointing” by the English Football League (EFL) chief executive Trevor Birch, while a number of EFL clubs were also critical of the move due to the financial incentives replays offer.

An FA statement on Friday read: "Removing Emirates FA Cup replays was discussed in the early meetings and all parties accepted that they could not continue. The discussions then focused on how to make all of our competitions stronger, despite having fewer dates available and wanting to maintain player welfare.

"The changes to the Emirates FA Cup achieve this by returning it to a weekend competition on every round, and ensuring that we have exclusive broadcast slots in an increasingly congested calendar.

"To clarify, we have also increased the number of Emirates FA Cup matches that will be broadcast in the early rounds, which will lead to additional guaranteed broadcast revenue for EFL and National League teams. Additionally, we review the prize money annually for the competition, together with representatives from the EFL and PL and will do the same for the 2024-25 season."

More below

Former Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick has died aged 84.

A lifelong Arsenal supporter, Keswick joined the club’s board in 2005 before succeeding Peter Hill-Wood as chairman in June 2013.

He went on to serve in the role for seven seasons, a successful period on the pitch that included FA Cup wins in 2017 and 2020 and regular qualification for and participation in the Champions League.

Arsenal said Keswick "very much lived the values of Arsenal Football Club" during his 15 years at the club and was "a clear-thinking, popular and influential presence in the boardroom".

Something clicked during the most recent international break – not just on the pitch, but with the public too.

It helped that Germany gave two excellent performances against France and the Netherlands, two historic rivals and European powers, but also that the shape of those games were so representative of Nagelsmann’s style of play.

Intricate, vertical, and ambitious football, played at speed and with purpose; Germany haven’t been doing that for a while.

There is a future to this.

Full analysis below

Julian Nagelsmann is set to stay on as the head coach of the Germany national team after agreeing to a contract extension.

The 36-year-old replaced Hansi Flick in September 2023, signing a short-term deal up until after the European Championships this summer.

Nagelsmann has won three of his six matches in charge of the side, overseeing victories over France and the Netherlands in March, and will now stay on beyond the summer on a long-term deal.

He said: "This is a decision of the heart. It is a great honor to be able to train the national team and work with the best players in the country. With successful, passionate performances we have the chance to inspire an entire country.

"The two wins against France and the Netherlands in March really touched me. We want to play a successful home European Championship together and I'm really looking forward to it together with my coaching team Challenge of a World Cup."

Germany face Scotland in the tournament opener on June 14 before meetings with Hungary and Switzerland in Group A.

They are next in action against Ukraine and Greece in June in a pair of pre-tournament warm-ups.

West Ham United’s Michail Antonio has criticised the officials who took charge of his side’s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter-final of the Europa League on Thursday.

The Premier League club were knocked out of the competition after falling to a 3-1 defeat over the two legs.

Antonio, 34, scored in the 13th minute of the game at London Stadium but bemoaned several decisions made by referee Jose Maria Sanchez alongside his linesmen.

“It doesn’t feel like you’re playing against 11 men, it feels like you’re playing against 14 including the two linos,” the West Ham striker said.

“It’s just one of those things where you have to keep pushing, make decisions go your way and remain professional.”

West Ham are next in action against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday.

Once a week for an hour, The Athletic’s subscribers can ask David Ornstein for his views on anything from the world of football.

We have pulled together some of my favourite questions and my answers to them from the latest Q&A below.

Want to ask me a question? He’ll be back next Thursday for another session.

West Ham United manager David Moyes dismissed a question over his future following his side's Europa League quarter-final exit to Bayer Leverkusen.

The 60-year-old's contract expires at the end of the season and his position was the subject of fan protests at the beginning of the year.

Following Thursday evening's 1-1 draw with Leverkusen which resulted in a 3-1 aggregate defeat to the Bundesliga champions, a reporter began asking Moyes: "If this is the end of your tenure at the end of the season, how do you reflect on —"

The reporter was then interrupted by Moyes and the West Ham press officer.

"Sorry, I didn't get that question," Moyes said. "We have just played in a third quarter-final."

The reporter then reframed the question, asking the West Ham manager to reflect on his side's three seasons in Europe, having reaching the Europa League semi-finals in 2022 before winning the Conference League in 2023.

"Better question," Moyes replied. "We have been in three quarter-finals, won two and were narrowly close tonight. The supporters have been treated to big nights against Alkmaar and Sevilla.

"Leverkusen are a Champions League team and play that way. We have three fabulous years and we are hoping we can make it four."

Besiktas are the latest club to show an interest in Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders.

The Turkish club are searching for a new head coach after sacking Fernando Santos earlier this month, and they rate the Dutchman highly.

Lijnders will leave Liverpool after a decade of service next month when the curtain comes down on Jurgen Klopp’s reign.

More details below

Chelsea defender Levi Colwill is losing his bid to return from a toe injury in time to face Manchester City in the FA Cup semi final this weekend.

Colwill has missed Chelsea’s last six matches with the problem. The issue, which was eventually diagnosed as a metatarsophalangeal joint ligament injury, was first sustained against Crystal Palace in February but got worse following the 2-2 draw with Brentford a month later.

The England international, who had to wear a protective boot as part of his rehabilitation, started light training a few weeks ago and targeted making the showpiece occasion against Pep Guardiola’s side at Wembley Stadium.

But while the 21-year-old is making progress, it looks like the game is going to come too early for the centre-back to make the matchday squad. The Premier League games at Arsenal and Aston Villa next week are now being seen as more likely to make a comeback.

Real Madrid requested for their La Liga clash against Real Sociedad to be moved due to their participation in the Champions League semi-final.

The match against Sociedad was originally due to take place on Saturday, April 27, but the game will now be played one day earlier.

La Liga say these types of requests regarding the fixture schedules are common among clubs, and they always try to accommodate these as long as they are reasoned, compatible with competitions and contractual commitments.

Madrid progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League after defeating Manchester City on penalties following a 4-4 aggregate scoreline.

The first leg matches of the Champions League semi-finals will be played on April 30 and May 1, while the second leg matches will be the following week on May 7 and 8.

Xabi Alonso says Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten run is “a consequence of a good job” after they progressed to the Europa League semi-finals with a 3-1 aggregate victory over West Ham United.

The result means Leverkusen have now gone 44 matches unbeaten in all competitions and are still on course for winning a treble, having won the German league title and also progressed to the final of DFB-Pokal.

Speaking to TNT Sports, head coach Alonso said: “We were expecting that (a physical game) West Ham have really good players, good energy, credit to them. They were totally different to how they were in Leverkusen.

“Not to show a soft mentality in a tough moment is very important because if you want to progress in Europe and reach semi-finals and hopefully a little bit further, you need to deal with difficult moments as well because it is not always possible to control the 90 minutes.

“They were standing in those tough moments and going through them, it was the key for not conceding the second or third goal.

“I am happy to go through. In the Europa League you always have tough moments. The records (unbeaten run) are a consequence of a good job.”

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was shown a second yellow card in his side’s penalty shootout win against Lille in the Conference League quarter-final but was not sent off for the offence.

The 31-year-old received a warning from Slovakian referee Ivan Kruzliak before being shown a second yellow card.

A rule, however, allowed him to stay on the pitch for the remainder of the shootout, where he once again emerged as the hero.

The Athletic explains why Martinez was allowed to stay on the pitch and win the contest for his side...

Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool will "need everyone now for the last push in the league" following their exit in the Europa League quarter-final to Atalanta.

Atalanta advanced to the Europa League semi-finals despite a 1-0 loss to Liverpool, securing a 3-1 aggregate victory and edging closer to their first-ever European final.

Although Liverpool started strongly with a seventh-minute penalty goal from Mohammed Salah, Atalanta held firm to secure their spot in the next round.

Van Dijk said to TNT Sports: "We won tonight and we kept a clean sheet, so there are so many more positives we can take. Yes, it is a bad feeling to be out so we have to get back up.

"We have been through difficult moments all together, so showing maturity and togetherness is the key to this. And professionalism to be ready for Sunday as that will also be a tough game. We all have a responsibility to be ready for it physically and mentally.

"We need everyone now for the last push in the league. Hopefully our fans will be there because we need them now more than ever because anything is still possible."

Liverpool travel to face Fulham on Sunday in the Premier League.

Jurgen Klopp says he is feeling "mixed emotions" following Liverpool's exit from the Europa League to Atalanta.

Although Liverpool started strongly with a seventh-minute penalty goal from Mohammed Salah, Atalanta held firm to secure their spot in the next round, securing a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Klopp said to TNT Sports: "It is mixed emotions. We are out but I am happy with the game. We would have wished that we could have gone to Dublin but that hasn't happened.

"We now have one competition left and we will throw ourselves into that completely."

Liverpool and West Ham United are both out of the Europa League after aggregate defeats to Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen.

Mohamed Salah had scored from the penalty spot early in the second leg to give his side belief, but it wasn't enough to mount a comeback for Jurgen Klopp's men on the night.

Michail Antonio, meanwhile, gave West Ham the lead on the night after firing his header into the net in the 13th minute following an assist from Jarrod Bowen. Jeremie Frimpong, however, scored late on to ensure the game finished 1-1.

Both Liverpool and West Ham lost 3-1 on aggregate across two legs.

Hello everybody and welcome to The Athletic's latest news blog.

Follow here for all the reaction from last night as we also look ahead to this weekend's fixtures. Stay tuned!