Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell not in Chelsea’s Premier League plans; Landon Donovan starts with Wave win

Hey there! We may not have much action during the week, but there are still plenty of matches – and transfers – to keep up with as we wait for a new set of fixtures this weekend. I’m Pardeep Cattry with the latest version.

📺 Foot correction

Always US/East

Wednesday August 21
🇪🇺 UCL Qualifiers: Young Boys vs. Galatasaray, 3pm ➡️ Biggest+
🇺🇸🇲🇽 Leagues Cup: Columbus Crew vs. Philadelphia Union, 7:30 PM ➡️ Apple TV+
🇺🇸 USL Championship: Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. Detroit City, 7:30 PM ➡️ Biggest+CBS Sports Golazo Network
🌍 Concacaf W Champions Cup: Club America vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 9pm ➡️ CBS Sports Network

Thursday August 22
🌍Concacaf W Champions Cup: Tigres vs. Monterrey, 9pm ➡️ Biggest+

⚽ The forward line

🔵The Chelsea transfer saga continues

Chelsea secured a pair of long-awaited deals on Wednesday, sending Conor Gallagher to Atletico Madrid and signing Joao Felix a year into his short loan spell at the club, but are still stuck with plenty of selection issues at transfer deadline. day approaches.

While Gallagher’s transfer comes after months of speculation that Chelsea would have to take him off the books to comply with Premier League profit and sustainability rules, Felix’s addition to the squad still keeps the squad at 44 players – a lot more than the 25 allowed. a Premier League team. Their bloated squad continues to sow confusion about what the Blues are actually up to on the pitch, and, as Nico Cantor notes: potentially an unworkable situation for new manager Enzo Maresca.

• Cantor: “You can’t have so many people in your team because it’s too many. A lot of people might not feel comfortable in this situation, so if I’m Maresca, it would behoove him to go to someone and say: “Look.” These are my 32 or 28 guys that I’m going to use this season. Everyone else, I’m sorry, but go train with the reserves because you can’t have too many voices in the dressing room.”

The oversized squad is certainly not ideal for Maresca, who took just 28 players on Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the US and admitted on Wednesday that he is only working with 21 players, not the 40-plus players under contract. The reduced squad means Maresca has had to rule out a handful of high-profile players, most notably Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell. The manager struck a dovish tone on Sunday when discussing Sterling’s future with Chelsea, but suggested on Wednesday that these players may not be part of his plans this season.

• Maresca: “I don’t work with 42 players. More than 15 players train separately and not with the team. I spoke to Raheem before the City game, I said he will struggle to get minutes with us. With Chilly I said he a A nice guy, but because of his position he will struggle. I’m not saying Raheem is not a good player, but I prefer different types of wingers That’s why I haven’t seen Raheem [after the match when he asked for clarification through his representatives]. When I sit with Raheem, I’ll tell him the exact same things I told him. Everything was clear.”

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🔗 Link play in midfield

🌊 Landon Donovan got off to a winning start with San Diego Wave

Landon Donovan began his interim stint as head coach of the NWSL’s San Diego Wave with a 2-0 victory at Panama’s Santa Fe Stadium on Tuesday, the day the group stage of the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup began. Maria Sanchez opened the scoring after just two minutes with a dominant performance, while Kristen McNabb rounded things off with a goal in the 64th minute. The win is the Wave’s first in their last three games and only their second since early May. They cycle through two coaches along the way before landing on Donovan to end the season.

The Wave’s hiring of the U.S. Men’s National Team legend came as a surprise to many when it was announced late last week, contributing to some extent to the chaos the team has experienced this season. Last year’s NWSL Shield winners currently sit 10th in the league and have just three regular season wins, forcing them to fire head coach Casey Stoney in June. Donovan is the team’s second interim coach after Paul Buckle led the team for a short period, and the ex-USMNT player aims to provide a sense of stability despite the constant changes the Wave players have experienced this year – and despite the current temporary status of his role.

Donovan told media on Monday that he took on the role after Wave president Jill Ellis asked him if he knew any candidates for the position, choosing to throw his own hat in the ring because he missed the coaching. The San Diego native suggested he wasn’t using the role with the Wave as a stepping stone to anything, admitting he turned down four MLS jobs after managing now-defunct USL Championship team San Diego Loyal from 2020 to 2022 .Donovan was also open about staying with the Wave for as long as they want him, even beyond this season.

• Donovan: “What we agreed to is until the end of the season, and we’ll go from there. We’ll just evaluate how everything went, and we’ll go from there. The good thing about Jill is that we’re just us.” We are very honest with each other, and we both understand the challenges of leadership and how difficult it is. So instead of beating around the bush, we’re just honest. If that’s not the case, one side doesn’t want it, and the other side: no problem.’ There are no hard feelings, and we’ll move on, but let’s put our whole heart into it and go for it, and then we’ll figure out where we go from here.”

Despite the downward turn the Wave season has taken, Donovan said the team remains ambitious in terms of winning trophies and has placed great importance on both the Concacaf W Champions Cup and the NWSL regular season, which resumes this weekend after a break for the Olympics. While the Wave are among the favorites to advance from their group in the Champions Cup, there is still some work to be done in the NWSL. They are currently three points clear of a play-off spot with ten games remaining, but will need to find form quickly in a highly competitive league to keep their play-off run alive.

🔗 Top stories

🇦🇷 Messi injury: Lionel Messi will miss Argentina’s World Cup qualifier in September as he continues to recover from the ankle injury that has kept him on the sidelines since the Copa America final.

🤝 Last transfer period: Here is the latest about Ilkay Gündoganmoving closer to a return to Manchester City after a year at Barcelona, ​​plus a look at what Premier League teams and USMNT players need to do as the deadline quickly approaches.

🆕 Pochettino to USMNT: As Mauricio Pochettino moves closer to the USMNT head coach position, here’s a look at it how the player pool could change and what fans can learn about him during his time at Paris Saint-Germain.

🇺🇸 Americans abroad: With the European football season approaching, here’s a look at the USMNT players to watch and how they fared after last weekend’s games, including Burnley’s Connecticut-born standout Luca Koleosho.

���� Latest Premier League: The opening weekend may have had few surprises, but there are still a handful of questions to be asked after the first round of matches in the Premier League.

🇮🇹 Series A Shipping: Juventus youngster Kenan Yildiz was one of the highlights of the opening weekend of Serie A Parma’s Alessandro Circati makes his competitive debut And play against AC Milan ahead of Saturday’s game, which will air live on CBS.

⚽ Weah scores in opener: USMNT’s Tim Weah started the season in good form, scoring his first goal of the season in Juventus’ 3-0 win over Como on Monday.

💰The Back Line

💵 Best bets

• UEFA Champions League Qualifying: Young Boys vs. Galatasaray, Wednesday, 3 p.m
  💰 THE CHOICE: Mauro Icardi scores (+115) — Galatasaray are heavy favorites in the first leg of this UEFA Champions League qualifier, which bodes well for them before they host the second leg next week. Any lead will be beneficial, so expect Galatasary to rely on talisman Mauro Icardi after his 32 goals in the 2023/24 season.
• Leagues Cup: Columbus Crew vs. Philadelphia Union, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m

💰 THE CHOICE: Columbus Crew wins 2-1 (+650) Although both teams have impressed on their way to the semi-finals of the Leagues Cup, the odds are in favor of the Columbus Crew to advance to the final. Expect a competitive match as the stakes are high, but one in which the reigning MLS Cup champions emerge as winners as head coach Wilfried Nancy looks to add another trophy to the cabinet.

Don’t miss this for more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news CBSSports.com’s betting homepage.

📺 What’s on CBS Sports Golazo Network

☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10am): Hosts Susannah Collins, Charlie Davies, Nico Cantor and Alexis Guerreros help fans get their day started on the network’s flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest football storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast formso you never miss an episode again.

3️⃣ Attacking third (Monday, Thursday): The leading ladies football podcast And social brand is now a live studio show. The NWSL season is back and our coverage of the women’s game is stronger than ever. Our analysts will analyze the USWNT, NWSL and European domestic seasons throughout the year. And don’t miss it Wednesday livestreams on YouTube at 11 a.m. ET.

⚽ Call it what you want (Monday evenings): A weekly podcast featuring Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies and friends cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States. You can also watch the show live on YouTube every Monday at 11 a.m. ET.

🥅 Scoreline (Daily): Scoreline is the latest place for fans to keep up to date with all the biggest news and results impacting global football, match highlights from the best football leagues and all the unmissable goals from the day’s action, which starts on Thursday and airs for seven days a week.

📺 How to watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free 24/7 channel solely focused on providing unparalleled coverage of all the top football leagues worldwide. You can stream for free on the CBS Sports App, Pluto TV And Biggest+.