Chelsea – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

CHELSEA’s hopes of winning the UEFA Women’s Champions League were dashed by holders Barcelona at Stamford Bridge in front of 39,000 people. Barca, who lost 1-0 at home to Emma Hayes’ side in the first leg, scored through Aitana Bonmati and Fridolina Rolfö to take the semi-final 2-1 on aggregate. Hayes was incensed about a red card for Kadeisha Buchanan and the penalty awarded to Barca that clinched victory, calling them “probably the worst decisions in UEFA Women’s Champions League history”. Barcelona, who have been in five of the last six finals, will play the winners of Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon in Bilbao at the end of May. Chelsea have been beaten in the competition with Barca three times in the past four campaigns.

With Liverpool’s title challenge rapidly unravelling and the body language of Jürgen Klopp and Mohammed Salah hinting at some discord in the camp, the wisdom of announcing the departure of the charismatic coach months before the end of the season has to be questioned. Liverpool have won just one league game in five, the latest setback being a 2-2 draw at West Ham. Much of the post-match discussion focused on the interaction between Salah and Klopp, who were clearly arguing as the player took the field as a substitute. Salah is in something of a bad patch and has scored just twice in eight games, both of which were penalties. Meanwhile, Liverpool have an agreement of a sort with Feyenoord to hire their manager, Arne Slot, as Klopp’s replacement. It was suggested that Slot may be helped when he takes over by the downturn in Liverpool’s form rather than a barn-storming end to the season as Klopp says farewell.

PSV Eindhoven have not quite won the Eredivisie, but their 8-0 victory at Heerenveen means it is all over bar the shouting. They have a 30-goal advantage in their goal difference versus Feyenoord and have scored 103 times in 31 games. PSV host Sparta Rotterdam on May 5, a game that will confirm their title victory. Feyenoord are at home to Zwolle later in the day.

Derby County are returning to the Championship after beating relegated Carlisle 2-0 at Pride Park. The Rams needed only a draw to secure the second promotion spot behind Portsmouth. Max Bird scored the first goal with a fifth minute swerving shot from outside the area and James Collins netted the second with a close range effort on the hour. Derby were relegated from the Championship two years ago while they were in administration. The 31,000 crowd gave club owner, David Clowes, who more or less saved Derby when he took over, a standing ovation.

The Croatian league is a two-horse race this season, with Rijeka putting great pressure on Dinamo Zagreb. One point separates the two teams, with Dinamo on top. Rijeka are a game in hand and play Lokomotiva today in Zagreb. The title rivals play on May 5 in Rijeka and later in the month meet in the two-legged Croatian Cup final. Rijeka were the last team other than Dinamo to win the Croatian League in 2017.

NO MATTER what industry or company, when the chief announces he or she is leaving in several months’ time, there is a loss of power, impetus and focus. The boss will not be the boss in the near future, so human nature changes the dynamic. Those that were close to the boss are nervous because their sponsor is leaving. Those that didn’t like the boss are relieved, even excited. For everyone, the uncertainty that comes with a change of management can be destructive.

From football’s perspective, revealing a coach is leaving at the end of the current season several months before it is due to happen is a rather foolish strategy. Firstly, if a coach announces he or she is moving on, it implies the mind may be elsewhere. Few will ever say it, but once a decision has been made, it is hard for anyone to commit in quite the same way. Likewise, for the players, the signal that an era is ending, that the party is breaking up, can affect the morale of the unit. The thing that will keep playing on the squad’s mind will be about the future – who will come in and what will they demand? Liverpool’s players are probably asking themselves this every day.

Some members of the squad may decide it is time to go. Nobody stays forever, so a new coach, representing the start of a new phase, could be the ideal time to seek a fresh challenge. Jürgen Klopp is a huge character, one that has impacted not just the football team but the whole of Liverpool and indeed, English football. But the timing of his announcement was not especially beneficial for the club or the team, because it had the potential to destabilise. From that point, every moment, every game, to some extent, has had the accompanying mantra of “let’s do it for Jürgen”. That may have added some pressure on the team. Today, after a week in which Liverpool’s Premier League and Europa League hopes have been compromised by severely damaging home defeats, Klopp’s team looks jaded and they don’t have much time to get back on track.

Similarly, Emma Hayes announced she is moving to the US to become the USWNT coach. Again, this was months before the event takes place and came at a stage of the season when Chelsea, were battling on all fronts. Her all-conquering side are out of the Women’s FA Cup, they lost the League Cup final and they are second in the WSL. Furthermore, they have a very tough UEFA Champions League semi-final against Barcelona to look forward to. They may win the WSL again and they will doubtless give the European champions a game, but have Chelsea been knocked out of sync by Hayes’ early news?

On the other hand, some clubs make a habit of letting everyone know their coach is leaving at the end of the season when the campaign is still in full flow. For example, Bayern Munich have done just that with regards to Thomas Tuchel.

Both Liverpool and Chelsea would have done well to delay their news release on Klopp and Hayes, but there may be other reasons why they were eager to get the information out. Both need replacements for very successful managers, so letting the world know that there is a lucrative job on offer may deter would-be candidates from applying elsewhere. Secondly, you have to assume these are going to be sought-after positions and the selection process may be arduous in a summer that includes EURO 2024 and the Olympics. Lastly, it may have been a case of releasing the news before a leak got to the media.

Nobody outside of the clubs will ever know if the anticipated loss of Klopp and Hayes has in fact affected the form of their teams and it’s a fair assumption that no-one will be prepared to admit it has influenced the outcome of matches. Given that clubs employ communications professionals to manage the flow of information, surely the timing would have been discussed?