List of All Articles with Tag 'll'

Francis Lawrence was attracted to direct 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' by the villain origin story for Coriolanus Snow.

Elsewhere, near the Black Sea port of Odesa, there were reports of at least two missile attacks.

It all comes down to this: Malmo v Elfsborg, separated by three points, meeting in the last game of the season with the Allsvenskan title on the line. It has been dubbed “the final” by Swedish media. Malmo will deploy more security guards than at any game in the club’s history. Elfsborg’s fans will be “caged” in one corner of the Stadion Malmo, in an effort to stop celebrations or fury spilling on to the pitch. Malmo shouldn’t even be alive in this race. Henrik Rydstrom’s free-flowing team lost 4-2 at third-place Hacken last weekend and thought they were done. But somehow Elfsborg only mustered a draw at home to relegation-threatened Degerfors, scoring a 95th-minute equaliser but failing to add their Aguero moment at the death. The pressure got to both teams, and so it goes to the wire. Malmo and Elfsborg are wildly contrasting clubs. While Elfsborg hail from a small town, Malmo is Sweden’s third city, the literal and metaphorical birthplace of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and its football team is the most successful in the country’s history with 22 league titles. Their style of play is unique in Swedish football, and eight or nine players can often be found filling the same side of the pitch to progress the ball upfield, or to quickly win it back in hunting packs. They play with a positional freedom that looks off the cuff, but contains patterns of passing and movement drilled on the training pitch by the innovative Rydstrom. Rydstrom is an unusual character in football, with a masters degree in literary studies and a past writing music reviews in magazines. He is known for his strong socialist principles and his outspoken comments have drawn criticism from right-wing politicians. The manager has been described in the Swedish media as “methodical, process-driven and sophisticated” in his approach, and his methods extend to giving players tactical homework. The coach demands utter dominance of the ball – Malmo’s average possession this season is 64.8 per cent, a long way clear of the rest and higher even than Manchester City in the Premier League (63.2). But he is no disciple of Pep Guardiola. Rydstrom’s style has been likened to the fluid Brazilian football of Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz, who recently led his team to the Copa Libertadores and whose “anti-positional” tactics – dubbed Dinizismo – are in stark contrast to Guardiola’s more rigid structure so popular in Europe. Elfsborg are a more typical Swedish team, defensively stable, with the most clean sheets this season. They don’t sit deep, but possession is not of high importance to head coach Jimmy Thelin, whose team are dogged and difficult to play against. Elfsborg have committed more fouls than any other side in the league. But there are no prizes for aesthetics, as the Swedish daily newspaper Expressen stressed this week. “Style plays a role only if it culminates in glory,” writes Noah Bachner. “Defeats can be erased from memory if ultimately they don’t affect the final table. But only one thing counts. You can drag up statistics on short passes, shots taken, how many Swedish Krona per point and every expected goal. You can moan about Elfsborg’s way of playing … But only the trophy matters.” Elfsborg are based in a town called Boras, not far from Gothenburg (the name Elfsborg refers to the region). They have won six Swedish titles in their 120-year history, the most recent in 2012, and their home ground is nicknamed ‘Elfsborg Fortress’ – a riff on an actual fortification off the coast of Gothenburg – in appreciation of what a notoriously hard place Boras is to go and win. What plays in Elfsborg’s favour is that Malmo have consistently been found wanting in the biggest moments under Rydstrom. “If you want to take charge of the title race, which Malmo had and lost several times, you have to take points from the teams you’re fighting against,” writes Bachner. He has a point: Malmo have not won any of their five games this season against key rivals Djurgarden, Hacken or Elfsborg, who thrashed Malmo at the Fortress in May. Malmo had 73 per cent possession, took 19 shots and scored no goals. Elfsborg committed 26 fouls and scored three. Rydstrom’s reputation as more than just a coach who paints pretty pictures depends on this result. “My conviction is that Rydstrom is right for Malmo, regardless of how it goes on Sunday,” adds Bachner. “But I am equally convinced that nothing is going to stop him from being branded as something other than a winner [should Malmo lose]. Another missed opportunity, after slipping again like last Sunday, will take time to scrub away.” But this time it is Malmo with home advantage. Elfsborg do not have a Fortress to defend. They are the visitors, and they must travel 150 miles south into the lion’s den to claim the prize that narrowly eluded them last weekend. For Elfsborg, a point will do. Malmo must win. It all comes down to this. Read More Pochettino learnt lessons from infamous ‘Battle of the Bridge’ to mature as manager Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Chelsea will be fighting for titles sooner rather than later – Pep Guardiola Pochettino learnt lessons from infamous ‘Battle of the Bridge’ to mature as manager Jeremy Doku’s brilliance shows Man City’s edge and Chelsea’s key problem Chelsea will be fighting for titles sooner rather than later – Pep Guardiola

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Pep Guardiola expects Chelsea to be back challenging for the title in the near future. Chelsea last won the Premier League during Guardiola’s first season at Manchester City in 2016-17. Since then it is City who have dominated the competition, taking the crown in five of the past six campaigns. Chelsea did edge out City in the 2021 Champions League final but there has been plenty of turbulence at the London club since, and they currently sit 10th in the table. Guardiola, who takes his side to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, said: “Chelsea remain one of the more important teams in England. “It’s true that in the Premier League they were not close to winning it in these last seasons but they’re still one of the strongest teams, there’s no doubts about that. “I see that in the last games they are alive, they have good spirit, they are aggressive, they have a good pattern. The quality is there. “It’s one of the toughest games that we have during the season. Sooner or later Chelsea will be there fighting for the titles, and I guess sooner than later.” Chelsea have had a rocky start to the campaign under new manager Mauricio Pochettino but Guardiola has no doubt they will come on strong. He said: “It’s normal. They are getting better. Every manager needs his time – it’s a new club, new players but they’ll be a top contender because the quality in all departments is there.” Two of Chelsea’s better performers this season have been the former City pair of Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling. City academy product Palmer, 21, switched clubs in August having grown frustrated at a lack of opportunities at the Etihad Stadium. Guardiola said: “The reason why was that he wanted game time. Now he has it, so congratulations. “He’s a guy who came from the academy and if he is having success it’s good for him and we wish him the best. I’m really pleased for him.” Sterling won four Premier League titles and the FA Cup at City and Guardiola recognises him as a dangerman this weekend. Guardiola said: “He’s playing really good, he’s back in his best moments, best performance, (from) what I’ve seen lately. “He always creates incredible dangers for the opponents.” Read More From Covid to the Copper Box: Maia Lumsden relishes her ‘unbelievable’ return On this day in 2015: Stuart Lancaster resigns as England head coach Mauricio Pochettino: Easier for new players at Man City than ‘evolving’ Chelsea Don’t worry about it – Ange Postecoglou brushes off series of Spurs setbacks Harry Maguire ‘showing he can do the job’ – Erik ten Hag ‘I heard what I heard’ – Tom Curry stands by racism claim against Bongi Mbonambi

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will secure the necessary funding to build the defense capabilities required

A concrete skeleton looming over Hamburg’s harbor was supposed to be the crown jewel of a historic revitalization

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A further 30,000 people left areas in northern Gaza for the south on Friday while only 30 more

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will cast a wary eye on protests expected in central London on Saturday