sport sphere central

 Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group face a familiar dilemma. As the reigning Premier League champions continue to suffer an alarming decline, and fan discontent rises, FSG must decide what to do about head coach Arne Slot.      Slot has lost the faith of many supporters, with former Liverpool and England midfielder Danny Murphy telling BBC Sport it is a conundrum he feels will end with the Dutchman's departure within months. The owners have been here before. It was in 2015 that Brendan Rodgers - without the credit in the bank Slot accumulated with last season's title triumph - suffered the same fate among Liverpool's fanbase as they ended the season with a humiliating 6-1 loss at Stoke City to finish sixth, 25 points behind champions Chelsea. FSG, led by principal owner John W Henry and chairman Tom Werner, had to decide whether to stick or twist with the manager who almost brought the title back to Anfield in 2014, eventually keeping faith with Rodgers but with ...

 VAR has been a constant talking point ever since the Premier League introduced the divisive technology at the start of the 2019-20 season. While numerous tweaks have been made over the years in an attempt to ensure more correct decisions are made, the process is sped up and so on, VAR continues to frustrate the vast majority of football supporters. A survey by the Football Supporters’ Association in March found that three-quarters of fans of Premier League clubs are against the use of VAR. A whopping 90% disagreed that the technology has improved the matchday experience, while 91% claim VAR has harmed the spontaneity of goal celebrations. Furthermore, a staggering 94% of the 8,000 fans served disagreed that VAR makes watching football on TV more enjoyable. "The results show that most fans want VAR removed," Thomas Concannon, the FSA's Premier League network manager, told BBC Sport. "We've all lived with VAR for so long now that we've seen the negative impact...

An English football club has released a statement as a hit-and-run has left one of their players "fighting for his life." The car is also said to have also hit two other members of their team, including the manager. The incident took place in the Nottinghamshire town of Arnold on Saturday morning (May 9). Players from local team Woodthorpe Park Rangers FC had been out celebrating the end of the season the night before the crash. The driver of the car has since been charged with five counts of attempted murder. Police have also releasted a statement on the matter. Woodthorpe Park Rangers Statement Woodthorpe Park Rangers, who compete in the Nottinghamshire Senior League, posted an update which read: “3 members of our team including the manager was struck by a car in Arnold town centre, this has left one of our players fighting for his life in hospital.” They explained that two more memebers of the team, including the manager, are now 'recovering well with small injuries,...

Yeah," Slot said. "Not this season, by the way. This season, they will have their opinion, and they will not change. But if we can have the summer that we are planning to have, then I'm 100 per cent convinced that we will be a different team next season than we are now. "Different in terms of results, different in how things look. But it's not always that simple, because sometimes you know what you have to do, but it's not always possible to also get exactly what you want. But for us, for me, it's really clear what we are lacking this season. "And we are trying, because one of the things we are lacking is players who are fit. But the players that we have available now, I think, again, like last week, showed in the second half that they want to give everything and try to push. "But it was not enough last week, and it wasn't enough this week to find that goal, which we maybe deserved if you looked at where the game was played. "Because fo...

 Liverpool picked up all three points against fierce rivals Everton in a dramatic Merseyside derby on Sunday afternoon. After the Premier League clash, Arne Slot singled out one of his players in the dressing room. The Reds took the lead through Mohamed Salah in the 29th minute, just minutes after Iliman Ndiaye's goal was ruled out for offside. Everton fought back in the second half and restored parity through Beto. It looked as if the match would end in a 1-1 draw, but Liverpool managed to snatch the victory in the final moments of stoppage-time when Virgil van Dijk headed home from a corner. Arne Slot Singles Out Liverpool Ace Arne Slot There were cameras in Liverpool's dressing room after the match, and it showed Slot singling out one of his players for praise. Liverpool suffered a huge blow in the second half when Giorgi Mamardashvili, who started in goal with Alisson Becker sidelined, suffered an injury. The Georgian goalkeeper was left in serious Slot was full of praise f...

  Guardiola conceded Man City had "not much" chance but refused to rule out a dramatic fightback in the second leg next week. "It is a bad result, we cannot deny it," Guardiola said. "The first goal was not well defended and after that the quality they had with Valverde and the other players, it was a difficult result. "But obviously 3-0 is better than 4-0. We have six days. We will recover, go to West Ham, then with our people we will try." Asked what chance City had, Guardiola added: "Now, not much but I'm not a guy to say we're not going to try. "Now it is most difficult (moment) to live but our mindset is we will look (at) what to do better, try to be more active in the final third and we will try."Match report as Federico Valverde's stunning hat-trick led rampant Real Madrid to 3-0 victory over Manchester City; Pep Guardiola's side's Champions League hopes are hanging by a thread ahead of next week's second ...