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Leeds boss Sam Allardyce says he wants the “police to do a lot more” to help protect footballers from abuse on social media. The Yorkshire club this week condemned the threats directed at Patrick Bamford and his family after the striker’s penalty miss in last week’s Premier League draw with Newcastle. Allardyce urged Bamford to respond by scoring the winner in Sunday’s game at West Ham and said: “He’s been OK, he’s obviously extremely upset about the situation. It’s something that’s left a very, very bad taste indeed. “I’d like the police to do a lot more, but it appears with social media they rule the world and can say and do what they want unfortunately, which is why the world’s in such a big mess, isn’t it? “But he’s handled it pretty well. I think the club gave him as much support as he needed, particularly security-wise. It wasn’t just about him, it was about his family. “The best way for him to respond is to go out on Sunday, play to his highest level and try and score. It would be great if he scored the winner. Hopefully it won’t affect his performance.”

Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui admitted that a lot has changed since the last time his side played against Everton. They host the relegation-threatened Toffees at Molineux, with Sean Dyche’s team lingering above the drop zone in 17th. Saturday’s clash is the reverse fixture of Lopetegui’s first game in charge of Wolves where they edged to victory on Boxing Day after substitute Rayan Ait-Nouri scored in stoppage time. The goal handed Wolves a vital win to lift them off the foot of the table and Lopetegui believes a lot has changed since then. “It seems a lot of years ago now, but it was only months,” he told a pre-match press conference. “It was my first match in the Premier League and it was important. Being honest, we didn’t deserve to win this match, but in the end, we got what was important for us, which was to believe more. “It was very difficult moment (at the start of his tenure) and we achieved three important points at that moment. It was a tough match and it’s going to be the same this Saturday, for sure. “It was difficult to imagine we would be in the situation we are in now when we last played Everton, but it was our aim. “We tried to achieve points and change things, knowing the difficulty and the quality of the level of the Premier League. “Fortunately, we manged to achieve our aim and we are happy for this. “But when you go and accept one new challenge, you are not thinking about the end of the challenge, you are only thinking of the next step, the next match and that’s the only way to build a new reality, and that’s what we tried to do.” Wolves are currently 13th in the table with two games to go, starting with Everton before finishing the season at the Emirates against Arsenal. They secured Premier League safety earlier in the month and Lopetegui knew the team would be safe when faced with their responses after defeats. “Maybe after each defeat and with the answer of the players in the next day after a defeat. For me, they were very key moments and very important moments,” he added. “To see them to come here into work [after a defeat] with big commitment and with a big belief, that was important. How we would manage and drive out of those bad moments were key for our achievement.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Sam Allardyce urges ‘police to do a lot more’ about social media abuse UEFA to investigate after AZ Alkmaar fans confront West Ham players’ families Hope Powell joins England backroom staff for men’s Under-20 World Cup

UEFA is expected to launch an investigation into the trouble that marred West Ham’s Europa Conference League semi-final victory at AZ Alkmaar. Pablo Fornals’ injury-time winner, that earned a 3-1 aggregate success and sent them to next month’s final in Prague, prompted a gang of black-shirted, hooded AZ ultras to attempt to storm into the area reserved for friends and family behind the dugout. Players including Michail Antonio, Said Benrahma, Aaron Cresswell and Flynn Downes climbed over the advertising hoardings in a bid to stop the trouble. The governing body’s disciplinary panel will wait for the relevant reports before deciding on any action, but the PA news agency understands that given the severity of the disorder, it could follow previous cases and an inspector may be appointed to investigate more thoroughly. Given the extensive video footage of the ugly scenes the Dutch club could face heavy sanctions. Hammers boss David Moyes, whose 87-year-old father David Snr was at the match, said: “I can’t explain what happened and why it happened. “I can only say the players were involved because it was the family section and most of their family and friends were in there. That was probably the reason for the reaction. “Was I worried? Yeah, my family were there and I had friends in that section. You’re hoping they would try and get themselves away from it. “I didn’t recognise it because I’d gone onto the pitch. Security wanted to take me inside, but I had to make sure my players weren’t involved.”

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Unai Emery said he has plenty more to offer as Aston Villa boss after being nominated for the Premier League manager of the season award. Emery has overseen an impressive transformation at Villa Park since replacing Steven Gerrard in October last year, lifting them from fifth-bottom to the brink of European football next season. The 51-year-old Spaniard is on a six-man shortlist for the managerial award, alongside Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi, Newcastle’s Eddie Howe and Fulham boss Marco Silva. When asked about his nomination, Emery told a press conference: “We want to take some trophies or be respected for our work, but I’m trying to be focused every day on getting better and trying to improve. “Our way here has only just started and I’ve only been here for 10 per cent of the time I want to be here, trying to improve, trying to build a strong project and get our objectives. For now, I’m proud of everybody here.” Villa have won 14 and lost only six of his 26 top-flight games in charge and remain in contention for the final Europa League spot. Emery, a four-time Europa League winner as manager with Sevilla (three times) and Villarreal, and also a runner-up with Arsenal, is renowned for an intense approach to his work. He said: “I always try to enjoy my work, and I do enjoy it every day. I feel passion for my work. “When we are playing and facing big challenges every week, every month, every year, you have to be very focused and spend a lot of time on getting the best results possible. “When I can have two days off, I enjoy it and I’m trying to take my mind out of my work – not completely, but I enjoy doing different things. “When I am focused here, preparing the training sessions, preparing for matches, trying to complete our work, of course I am spending a lot of hours here.” Villa are level on points with seventh-placed Tottenham, who occupy the Europa Conference League berth, after last week’s 2-1 win against the Londoners and play at Champions League hopefuls Liverpool on Saturday. Emery said he was relishing the challenge at Anfield, adding: “They have very high-level players and a good bench to use in the second half, and they also have a very good coach in (Jurgen) Klopp. “The crowd there are supporting them a lot. That is what we are going to face. I want to play against them, preparing the match and taking our moments. “We want to be successful, more than them in 90 minutes. That is the difficulty we are going to face. We need to be clinical.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Luke Wood says playing for Lancashire ‘my pride and joy’ ahead of Blast opener Jordan Henderson knows Liverpool will miss James Milner and Roberto Firmino Barry Bannan dedicates Sheffield Wednesday’s stunning comeback to Darren Moore

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has acknowledged how much of a huge loss to the club the departures of James Milner and Roberto Firmino will be. The pair, whose signings in the summer of 2015 pre-date the arrival of current manager Jurgen Klopp by a few months, have played an integral role in their recent success. Both will depart when their contracts expire at the end of the season as Champions League and Premier League winners but Henderson believes their importance extends beyond just on the pitch. On Milner’s contribution, the England midfielder told the PA news agency: “A tremendous amount of value to the team. “I think the manager said it perfectly in that we wouldn’t have achieved anything without Millie. He is such a big character and such a big leader within the team. “It will definitely be strange not seeing him at Liverpool next season, he’s been incredible ever since he came to the club. “He helped me a lot and other players around him and is probably taken for granted a little bit as a player from the outside but from the inside he has got so much respect from all of the players and all of the staff and we wish him all the very best in whatever his next chapter looks like.” Firmino, who has returned to training this week after missing six matches with a muscle problem, is due a particularly emotional farewell in Liverpool’s final home match of the season against Aston Villa on Saturday. The much-loved Brazil international travelled with the squad for Monday’s win over Leicester and the away fans dedicated more than 10 minutes of the second half to singing about him. “He will be a huge miss also,” added Henderson, who was speaking at an NHS Big Tea event in Crewe in his role as an ambassador for NHS Charities Together. “The good energy he gives the team is always so positive, he’s always in a good mood and smiling but his quality on the pitch is unbelievable. “Thankfully he is back in training and hopefully he can be ready if not at the weekend then maybe the last game of the season. “But you have seen the reception he got on Monday from the fans and rightly so. I am sure that will be the case again on Saturday.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Luke Wood says playing for Lancashire ‘my pride and joy’ ahead of Blast opener Manager of the season contender Unai Emery ‘trying to improve every day’ Barry Bannan dedicates Sheffield Wednesday’s stunning comeback to Darren Moore

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Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan dedicated his side’s incredible play-off win over Peterborough to boss Darren Moore. Wednesday beat Posh on penalties on a breathtaking night at Hillsborough, recovering from a 4-0 first-leg deficit to draw 5-5 on aggregate after extra-time before their spot-kick success. In the wake of Friday’s 4-0 loss at London Road, Moore was the subject of a racist social media post from a Wednesday fan which the club described as “repulsive”. The supporter was banned for life by the Owls and, after Thursday night’s Sky Bet League One semi-final drama, Bannan paid tribute to his manager who he praised for not only handling the incident, but for making his players believe they could turn their situation around. “What he’s done in the last week has been unbelievable, to turn around the mindset of the players, he had a massive job to do to try,” he told Sky Sports. “I’m so proud of him, the way that he’s handled this week after the racism he’s received as well – that shouldn’t be anywhere near the football, never mind a manager who’s won 96 points as well. That one’s for him.” Bannan’s words to the camera were also echoed in a candid dressing-room video shared by the club in which, after Moore praised the players, Bannan stepped forward to thank the manager on behalf of the club. Speaking on Thursday after the incredible 120 minutes of action, Moore called it the best night of his managerial career. “For me, it’s my best moment in terms of management,” said Moore, whose side will face either Barnsley or Bolton in the final at Wembley on May 29. “To witness it and for it to come here, I couldn’t have wished for it to be at a better place, under the lights here at Hillsborough. “Tonight will be special, but as I keep saying to them, we have got another game to go. We enjoy tonight and then focus on the Wembley game now. “We had a rallying call to get the fans to come out and be in full voice and they were tonight. When the boys were cramping up tonight, the fans kept them going. The boys showed great character.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On This Day in 2012 – Chelsea beat Bayern Munich to claim first Champions League David Moyes concerned for family after trouble mars West Ham victory Eddie Howe says Newcastle win ‘huge’ but warns still work to do in top-four hunt

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Erik ten Hag isn’t quite Erik ten tens. But in a season when Bruno Fernandes has started 54 of United’s 58 games and when, as the de facto captain, he has become even more pivotal, the Manchester United manager has shown an experimental streak, seeking to reinvent others as No. 10s and using the Portuguese in a variety of other roles. If one conclusion may merely echo an opinion at the start of the season – that Fernandes is by far and away United’s best option in the position – Ten Hag’s other gambits have offered intrigue. 1. The Ajax No. 10 Given Donny van de Beek’s excellence for Ten Hag’s Ajax, it was easy to assume his United career could be revived by the appointment of an old ally. Even before the Dutchman’s season was curtailed, however, he had been a bit-part figure. He only made two league starts: one ineffectually in defeat at Aston Villa when Fernandes was suspended and the other against Bournemouth when he suffered a knee injury. The instructive element is that Fernandes operated off the right wing then; it has been a recurring theme. 2. The winger as a No. 10 Jadon Sancho’s outings have tended to come on the flanks but, particularly when he returned to contention in February, Ten Hag showed a willingness to use him in a central area. When Sancho scored against Leicester, with a goal Fernandes set up, it was notable the Portuguese provided the ball from the right for the Englishman in the middle: there was a seeming role reversal then, with Fernandes playing as a winger. Then Ten Hag argued United’s ability to play higher up the pitch would help Sancho; certainly using him in the middle capitalises on his ability between the lines whereas, for a winger, he can lack raw pace. Sancho also operated as No. 10 against Nottingham Forest, Barcelona and Southampton, though Casemiro’s early red card forced a change of plan then. If a striker is signed in the summer and Marcus Rashford can spend all of next season on the left or Alejandro Garnacho kicks on, perhaps Sancho’s future may have to lie more in the middle. 3. The No. 10 who sometimes doesn’t play as a No. 10 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fielded Fernandes almost exclusively as a No. 10. Ralf Rangnick famously, if unsuccessfully, used him as a false nine in a Manchester derby and occasionally tried him off the left, but largely put the Portuguese in his preferred position. It was, nevertheless, a time of diminishing returns from Fernandes, previously hugely productive. Statistically, Fernandes has been less effective as a scorer under Ten Hag, with a mere six league goals, but he has excelled otherwise, fashioning the joint most big chances in the division and ranking top for shot-creating actions; largely as a No. 10, but also in a variety of different ways. Fernandes has exerted an impact when coming off the right, sometimes permitting Ten Hag to field three central midfielders; there are points when he has played more as a No. 8, particularly when Christian Eriksen was injured. Most remarkably, his passing range was used as a quarterback when Casemiro was suspended, especially in victory against Everton. The problem for Ten Hag, perhaps, has been that he ideally needed two Rashfords – one as a left winger, one a centre forward – and two Fernandeses, one as a No. 10 and the other in a deeper or wider role, so he has been compromising. But Ten Hag has appreciated having a risk-taker as a No. 10, a player prepared to lose the ball in a bid to make something happen. If Fernandes has proved more versatile than expected, he has nonetheless remained United’s preeminent fantasista. 4. The defensive midfielder as a No. 10 It didn’t work. Ten Hag rearranged his midfield at Newcastle, putting Scott McTominay at the tip of it, partly to use his energy and tackling prowess to halt Bruno Guimaraes. United produced one of their worst performances of the season. But McTominay believes he is an attacking midfielder and there was greater evidence of the general concept working, albeit with the Scot as a No. 8, when he burst forward to score against Everton, while Fernandes played at the base of the midfield. He has been sidelined since then but the use of McTominay against Newcastle has the feel of a one-off. 5. The loanee as a No. 10 Marcel Sabitzer was hastily borrowed from Bayern Munich when Christian Eriksen was injured. His United career nevertheless peaked, albeit eventually in vain, in Fernandes’ position. A seven-minute, excellent brace against Sevilla seemed to position United to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League. The Austrian was altogether less effective in the return fixture, when Fernandes was suspended. Sabitzer does have a background as a scorer when he has got licence to attack – he struck 16 times for Leipzig in 2019-20 – and, against Sevilla, he showed ability to run in behind defences. 6. The strangest No. 10 in Manchester United’s history Few get to start as a No. 10 at the Nou Camp and Anfield in the same season. Fewer still do so in a United shirt, and the logical assumption is that they must be a celebrated talent. Instead, and rather oddly, a status often reserved for the most inventive player in the squad has been granted to Wout Weghorst. A non-scoring striker has largely been a non-creative creator, sometimes offering a nuisance value with the pressing Ten Hag values – to the extent he once praised his fellow Dutchman for his “backwards pressing” – and, all arms and legs, bringing a disruptive element. But if Weghorst’s lack of goals – and, given his height, lack of aerial ability – have attracted attention, it is also notable he has a lone assist in the Premier League. While Weghorst did a decent job against Barcelona, the sight of him as 10 felt an indictment. 7. The No. 10 who hasn’t played as a No. 10 For much of his career, Christian Eriksen has seemed a quintessential No. 10, even if, for much of his time at Tottenham, he was drifting infield to create from a starting role on the right. He adopted a deeper role for Inter Milan and, after a deceptive debut as a false nine in defeat to Brighton, has established himself as Casemiro’s regular partner. Sometimes Eriksen has played more as a No. 8 in what can be a lopsided triangle in midfield. But Eriksen’s diminishing goal return – just one in the Premier League – and shot numbers, compared to his Spurs days, are signs he has been reinvented. He is the former No. 10, now more of a central midfielder. Read More Manchester United’s Charlie Savage wants to make his own name in the game Man United eye Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel amid David de Gea contract talks Bruno Fernandes warns Alejandro Garnacho he cannot relax at Manchester United Christian Eriksen pleased to see Man Utd deal with extra pressure against Wolves ‘Huge talent’ Alejandro Garnacho backed to play key role in Man Utd’s run-in Ten Hag finally within sight of matching a past United great... no, not that one