Manchester United are in the dawn of a new era with INEOS taking control of the sporting structure at Old Trafford and the new minority owners are already making their presence felt.
Erik ten Hag has been replaced by an exciting young coach in Ruben Amorim with Ruud van Nistelrooy taking charge in the interim period.
However, this came after the new board granted Ten Hag a one-year extension to his contract in the summer, even after registering United’s lowest ever Premier League finish.
Former coach Mike Phelan, who has seen his role chopped in recent years, albeit before INEOS’ arrival, has spoken out on the process which eventually led to the club making a change in the dug-out.
Speaking to Laurie Whitwell from The Athletic, Phelan believes INOES have fumbled their first major decision with regards to sacking Ten Hag and the drawn-out public saga that saw him be granted a stay of execution in the summer.
“The decision-making has probably left a lot to be desired. It’s a strange one that they go so far, look for new managers, then win the FA Cup (last season), back him to the hilt, bring in new staff, spend a lot on players, then change their minds. It’s quite confusing,” he said.
The 62-year-old continued to question the route INEOS are going down with regard to staff cuts at the club and wonders whether the right people are being left in situ.
“It’s a completely changed environment (at United) now. They’ve got rid of a lot of people — some good people.
It needs streamlining in the right areas but has it still got that unity it had when it was successful? There is more exposure now to open up those cracks,” he added.
Phelan admitted the “the proof of the pudding will come further down the line”, but with “a lot going on”, he clearly feels INEOS have a lot of work to do.
With Amorim taking charge of first fixture after the international break, United need to navigate two further home games before the new head coach officially starts his reign as the sixth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
Van Nisterlooy’s side face POAK in the Europa League on Thursday night before the visit of Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
“A situation like this is never easy for anyone but after all the good and in-depth discussions we had in the past weeks, we realised that the conditions to grow this project together were not met,” said Bottas following the confirmation of the team’s decision.
“These past years with the team have been an incredible journey, full of growth, challenges, and unforgettable moments. I’m grateful for the joint experiences as well as the trust and support I’ve felt every step of the way. Though it’s time to move on, I’ll always carry a piece of this team with me, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for us both.”
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Sauber COO and CTO Mattia Binotto added: “We extend our deepest gratitude to Valtteri for the past three years together. He has been the embodiment of professionalism, using his vast experience to support the team’s growth.
“Valtteri’s dedication and approach have been invaluable during a pivotal time in our history, and the memories of these years will stay with us for a long time. In considering our driver line-up for the coming seasons, Valtteri was unquestionably a key candidate. With his fighting spirit, he frequently pushed the car beyond its performance limits.
“However, a decision had to be made. After open and constructive discussions, we mutually concluded that final conditions could not be met so we agreed that it is time to part ways. Valtteri will always have an open door here in Hinwil.”
Rúben Amorim attempted to play down expectations at Manchester United, insisting he is not yet on the level of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, despite leading current club Sporting CP to a 4-1 victory over City in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Amorim, who will take over as Man United’s new manager on Nov. 11, endeared himself to fans of his new club by leading his soon-to-be former side to a stunning win in Lisbon.
Ahead of his final home game in charge of Sporting after more than four years, Amorim had quipped that United fans “will think that the new Sir Alex Ferguson has arrived” if he was able to lead Sporting to victory over City — one of the favorites for the European title.
While that might be too strong — after all, Ferguson is regarded as one of soccer’s greatest managers after his trophy-laden spell at Old Trafford from 1986-2013 — United supporters might be thinking they finally have a coach who can bring the good times back to a club that have lost their way since Ferguson’s departure more than a decade ago.
Someone who can take on — and beat — City’s esteemed manager Pep Guardiola, too.
“He’s so much better than me at the moment,” Amorim said, “but I believe a lot in my new club. We will start from a low level, and we will improve the team, the club.”
Especially if Amorim eventually brings Viktor Gyökeres with him to Manchester.
The Sweden striker led Sporting’s fightback from a goal down at Estadio Jose Alvalade by netting a hat trick — including two penalties — in a stunning result in the fourth round of league games in the revamped competition. That’s 23 goals in 17 games for Gyökeres this season.
Amorim has already said he wouldn’t look to sign Gyökeres in January but expects the striker to be heading to a bigger team at the end of the season.
“Viktor has to stay until the end of the season,” Amorim said, “and then his life maybe is going somewhere else.”
Sporting fans unfurled a huge banner ahead of kickoff bearing the message “Obrigado (thank you) Ruben Amorim,” five days after the 39-year-old coach signed to become the new United manager. His move to Old Trafford was delayed, allowing him to complete his commitments with Sporting, which included the match against City and concludes with a trip to Braga on Sunday.
His first game in charge will be against Ipswich Town after the international break and he will be up against Guardiola and City again in December. He knows the challenge will be a bigger one to that in Lisbon where he says he has enjoyed the “best phase of his life.”
“When I’m at the next club, the approach will have to be different. Not much is taken from here because we will have to play differently in the future,” he said.
“Both are historic clubs. It will certainly be a different game.”
He has already vowed not to read the newspapers once he arrives in England.
“I’m certainly not going to read anything for six months. I did the same at Sporting. I’m not going to read anything or have access to anything. It’s the only way to do my job.” he said.
Amorim was thrown in the air by Sporting’s players after the game and walked around the field with the team in a farewell to fans.
“Of course we will miss him a lot, we have done amazing things together,” Gyökeres said of Amorim, who has led Sporting to two Portuguese league titles in his four full seasons at the club.
“We have to look forward to the next challenge ahead of us, but first of all we have another game in Sunday.”
And on the future for Sporting, he said his replacement will inherit a strong foundation.
“The coach who comes will have a good legacy. Above all, there will be a structured club, which has won in recent years, and an intelligent audience that will realise that it will be necessary to give the next coach time to fine-tune some things.”
In ending City’s record 26-game unbeaten run in the Champions League, Sporting also consigned the Premier League champions to a third straight loss in all competitions — and that hasn’t happened since April 2018.
Erling Haaland missed a penalty in the 69th minute for City when the score was 3-1. City had taken the lead through Phil Foden in the fourth minute.
“It was written, because the first half was very tough on us,” Amorim said. “We were very lucky, but then the second half we scored twice in the first minutes and the environment, everything, helped us. lt was an amazing night.”
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
BOB ARUM was “stunned” by how fast more than 7,000 tickets were sold to Keyshawn Davis’ first hometown fight Friday night in Norfolk, Virginia.
The 25-year-old Davis, an Olympic silver medallist in 2021, was even somewhat surprised to learn how quickly fans committed to packing Scope Arena in downtown Norfolk, where late legend Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker fought 10 times during his heyday. The crowd for Davis’ 10-round main event against Argentina’s Gustavo Lemos will likely exceed 10,000, more than the announced attendance for Whitaker’s final fight at The Scope – 9,150 for his unanimous points victory over James “Buddy” McGirt in a WBC welterweight championship rematch that took place in October 1994.
Now that Davis has proven himself as a gate attraction, his 92-year-old promoter is more confident than ever that the talented lightweight is poised to become a lightweight champion who can captivate a broader audience than boxing’s hardcore fan base. Whitaker, the hometown hero Davis idolized as a child, held the IBF, WBA and WBC lightweight titles at times during a celebrated career in which he was considered one the sport’s most talented, accomplished performers, pound-for-pound.
“I told the kid this himself, if he continues developing the way he has, he will be the face of boxing,” Arum told Boxing News. “He reminds me a lot of ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, who was the face of boxing in his time.”
The talkative, media-savvy Davis is a polished promoter who respects what it means to follow in the enormous footsteps of a Hall-of-Famer like Whitaker, who was 55 when a car struck and killed him in July 2019 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Davis, the third-ranked 135-pound contender by the IBF, WBC and WBO, also appreciates that his older brother, junior welterweight Kelvin Davis (13-0, 7 KOs), and his younger brother, welterweight Keon Davis (pro debut), are scheduled to fight on his undercard Friday night.
“This event is bigger than us,” Davis stated during a press conference two months ago in Norfolk. “I want to reach as many people as I can with this event so that the people from this town know that you can make it from here. There are resources here. And we’re bringing resources here, like a gym that kids can go to. I want this event to reach many people. I want the Seven Cities to be on the map, so they can be like Atlanta, New York, or Chicago.”
The 10-round bout between Davis (11-0, 7 KOs, 1 NC) and Lemos (29-1, 19 KOs) will be the main event of an eight-fight show ESPN+ will stream. Davis-Lemos undercard coverage is set to start at 11:20 p.m. GMT in the UK (6:20 p.m. ET in the United States).
Arne Slot has lavished Curtis Jones with praise following one of the assists of the season in Liverpool’s 4-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen.
Jones started on Tuesday night for the fifth time in the last seven games, being preferred to Dominik Szoboszlai, and he did his chances of retaining his place no harm.
The 23-year-old produced a sensational threaded pass to Luis Diaz, allowing the Colombian to open the scoring with a dinked finish.
It was an impressive all-round performance by Jones, who won four of his five duels – second-most of any Red – and speaking to reporters after the game, Slot hailed his midfielder’s growth and versatility.
“I think many of them [the players] have a lot of goals and assists. I still learn on a daily basis about every player, and Curtis is one of them,” Slot said.
“When I started off, the first game I played him as a six, which you didn’t see because it was behind closed doors [against Preston], but that wasn’t his best game – from us but from him as well.
“It’s one of his qualities that at this moment he can play in every position because he’s in a very good place at the moment. So comfortable on the ball, so you can trust him closer to your defence.
“But like we saw against Chelsea and I saw today as well, he is also able to penetrate inside the 18-yard box and give the last pass.
“He’s really made a step up after pre-season, and that’s why he gets his chances now because if players do well – and I have quite a lot of them at the moment – they will get their chances.”
Should Jones keep his place vs. Aston Villa?
Slot is fortunate to have four excellent midfield options at his disposal currently, with Wataru Endo also a good squad player and Harvey Elliott‘s injury return not far away.
In Jones, though, Liverpool have a player who seems to be growing as a footballer by the week, as his head coach alludes to.
He is combining quality in and out of possession, with his assist for Diaz a moment of genuine class that he used to produce so often during his youth team days.
Jones has taken time to win around the masses – there are some who will lazily never rate him, regardless of what he achieves on the pitch – but he now looks like a reliable top-level player.
Slot will likely decide between him and Szoboszlai for another big game against Aston Villa on Saturday night, but in this form, it’s hard to leave out the former.
Alexis Mac Allister has looked leggy since the last international break, so giving him a breather and starting Jones in a deep-lying role could be an option.
Either way, the young Scouser’s impact on a memorable night against Leverkusen means he should stay in the starting XI this weekend.
Consistency across the year formed the foundations to his title-winning effort, after he began the year with consecutive Feature Race wins in Sakhir and Melbourne to establish himself out in front as championship leader.
From that point on, he never lost that early lead, missing out on points only twice across the remaining 14 races en route to the title. He mathematically secured the 2023 crown ahead of the final two races at Monza.
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Rookie Bortoleto leads the way in Formula 2
It earned him immediate promotion to Formula 2 with Invicta Racing for 2024, and he currently heads up the field as championship leader going into the final two rounds of the F2 season.
With two race wins and five podiums in total across 2024, Bortoleto is now aiming to join the likes of Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri in winning back-to-back titles in F3/GP3 and F2 en route to Formula 1.
Bortoleto’s impressive F3 campaign attracted attention from the F1 paddock, and he was snapped up by McLaren ahead of 2024 to join the team’s Driver Development Programme. Throughout this year, the Brazilian has spent time at Woking and carried out simulator work with the team.
However, as rumours continued to swirl in the driver market around the vacant Sauber seat, Bortoleto emerged as a serious candidate at the Swiss outfit.
Manchester United take on PAOK Salonika FC tomorrow night in their fourth match in their Europa League campaign.
The Red Devils have drawn the opening three matches of the competition and are desperate to record their first win of the league stage, as they sit in 21st position in the table.
United have never played the Greek side before, in what will be an historic meeting between the two clubs.
With former players Facundo Pellistri playing for Panathinaikos and Anthony Martial for AEK Athens, United have more connections with Greek football than they usually do.
Here are three storylines to get fans buzzing for a crucial match and Ruud van Nistelrooy’s only European tie in charge as interim head coach.
Shola Shoretire return
The 20 year old joined the United academy in 2013 but eventually left this summer after the expiration of his contract.
Shoretire played five times for the senior side, making his debut off the bench in 2021 as a 17 year old against Newcastle United.
He was unable to get many chances in the first team and decided to sign for the Greek side in the summer, where he has played in eight matches and scored one goal.
He has had to make do with limited action in the Europa League so far, only playing seven minutes off the bench but he might expect to get more action at his former side and where he made his professional debut.
If he is to play any minute of the match tonight, he will likely receive a strong welcome from the Old Trafford crowd.
United’s wonderful home record against Greek opposition
As is to be expected, United have a very strong record against sides from Greece, especially at home.
According to The BBC, “Manchester United have won all six of their home games against Greek sides by an aggregate score of 20-1.”
In addition, the Red Devils have scored three or more goals in their last five UEFA competition matches at home against Greek teams, so will be hoping for a morale boosting victory tonight.
Previous results have included a 3-0 win over Olympiacos FC in 2014, when a Robin van Persie hat trick overcame a 2-0 defeat in Greece in the last-16 of the Champions League during the David Moyes season.
United also beat Panathinaikos at home 5-0 in 2003.
PAOK have lost five of their last six away matches in the UEFA Europa League competition proper, as they sit 30th in the league standings with one point from three matches.
United aiming to break poor European streak
The match against PAOK tomorrow night starts a run of objectively easier European fixtures after away days in Porto and Istanbul, and United certainly need it after their latest run in Europe.
They are without a win in over a year since unconvincingly beating FC Copenhagen 1-0 at Old Trafford last October, with only a last-gasp penalty save from Andre Onana preserving the three points.
“Manchester United are winless in six major European matches, drawing four and losing two, their worst run since 1980 to 1983. They have never previously gone seven without a win.”
In other words, should the Red Devils fail to win tomorrow night, they will not only make qualification an uphill task but they will also go down as the worst United team in European history.
Michael C. Wright, ESPN Staff WriterNov 5, 2024, 04:07 PM ET
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Joined ESPN in 2010
Previously covered Bears for ESPN.com
Played college football at West Texas A&M
San Antonio Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson provided a statement before addressing the media Monday at Intuit Dome that highlighted Gregg Popovich’s “impact on our organization” on the heels of what the team announced would be an indefinite absence after suffering a health issue Saturday at the Frost Bank Center.
“He’ll be OK, and we can’t wait to have him back,” Johnson said.
But the Spurs enter uncharted waters, as Popovich’s absences against the Minnesota Timberwolves and LA Clippers match the most consecutive games (two) he has missed during the regular season. San Antonio faces the Houston Rockets on Wednesday and Popovich won’t be with the team.
When the coach sits out against Houston, it would tie his most consecutive absences in the regular season or the playoffs.
Johnson, 39, will remain coach of the Spurs as Popovich continues to recover, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania, but as the team works behind the scenes to assess the health of its coach, the future remains unclear, with no other contingency plan in place.
Here’s the latest on an evolving situation in San Antonio:
What’s the update on Gregg Popovich’s status?
The team isn’t providing official updates, including any timeline on his return, out of respect for the coach and his privacy. The extent of the coach’s health issue isn’t fully known, but sources told ESPN that Popovich is at home and resting.
Johnson spoke to Popovich on Sunday and said, “he’s in good spirits.”
“Obviously, the circumstances are unique,” Johnson said of his conversation with Popovich. “But as much continuity and familiarity we can have I think is what we’re looking for. That’s what we know Pop would want. He said he wants us to do it. We have talked and nothing changes.”
Popovich hasn’t talked to any of San Antonio’s players, according to point guard Chris Paul.
“I haven’t, and don’t think any of the guys on the team have,” Paul said. “Obviously, we wanted to. We’re trying to give him space, and trying to make sure we can control what we can control.”
What have the Spurs done in the past when Pop was sick or otherwise absent?
The Spurs have always utilized assistant coaches as fill-ins whenever Popovich missed games. In the past, the assistant drawing that responsibility was usually the one who had scouted the upcoming opponent coming into the matchup.
Phoenix Suns coach Mike Budenholzer, Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon, former Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown and former Spurs big man Tim Duncan have all filled in for Popovich during their time as Spurs assistants.
But this time, it’s different, as sources have told Charania that the organization immediately turned to Johnson to take over for Popovich. Johnson has replaced Popovich in the past, leading San Antonio in March of 2023 to a 110-99 victory over the Indiana Pacers when the coach fell ill.
Johnson also stood in for Popovich in 2021 when he attended Tim Duncan’s Hall of Fame induction.
“This has happened a few times,” Johnson said. “My role is different. I’ve coached summer league before. I’ve been behind the bench. I’ve been in the G League. All those things help the organization. This is just another opportunity in a different role to hopefully help the team win.”
Who is Mitch Johnson, the Spurs’ current interim coach?
Johnson, 37, joined the staff as an assistant with the Austin Spurs in 2016, quickly establishing himself as a rising star in the coaching ranks. Many around the NBA said he was poised to become a head coach coming into the season, and was impressive in interviews for head-coaching positions with other teams, sources said.
Johnson is the son of former two-time NBA All-Star John Johnson, and first spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the franchise’s G League affiliate in Austin, helping it win a G League title in 2018 before joining Popovich’s staff in 2019.
He played college basketball at Stanford, where he averaged 5.3 points and 4.1 assists as the Cardinal advanced to the NCAA tournament twice during his tenure. Johnson also played briefly in the G League for Tulsa.
What other assistants are on the Spurs’ bench?
Brown spent nine years as an assistant under Popovich in San Antonio before leaving in 2013 to become head coach of the 76ers. Brown coached for seven seasons in Philadelphia, but returned to San Antonio in 2022 as an assistant. Matt Nielsen serves as the other assistant on the bench.
Brown, 63, is focused on his role as a player development coach. The club originally hired him in 2002, when the Spurs first brought future Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili to San Antonio from Europe, and immediately paired him with Ginobili to aid in his development.
Sources have said that in recent years Johnson and Nielsen have handled much of San Antonio’s film study as Popovich has gradually delegated those responsibilities to assistants.
Like Johnson, Nielsen worked with San Antonio’s G League affiliate before joining Popovich’s staff, serving as head coach of the Austin Spurs during the 2020-21 season, after working the previous season as an assistant there. Nielsen originally began his coaching career in San Antonio as a player development assistant during the 2014-15 season and spent time as an assistant with the club’s Summer League team from 2014-19.
Nielsen worked as the head coach of San Antonio’s Summer League team going into Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season.
ESPN’s Shams Charania and Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.
Manchester City’s shock 4-1 defeat away to Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday left them in a “dark place”, captain Bernardo Silva said.
A hat-trick from Swedish striker Victor Gyukiris saw Sporting come back from a goal down to stun Pep Guardiola’s 2022-23 European champions who have now lost three games in a row in all competitions for the first time since 2018.
“At the beginning of the second half, we gave them a lot of opportunities to be present and score goals,” the Portuguese midfielder said. “It’s disappointing, because we’re in a bit of a dark place at the moment, and everything seems to be going in the wrong direction even when we’re playing well.
“Definitely, we need to look inward and check what we are not doing well and start improving very quickly. Otherwise it will be difficult to come back from these losses.”
While injury-plagued City are certainly not in a crisis, the English champions have had an unimpressive week.
First, they were knocked out of the League Cup by Tottenham Hotspur, then their 32-match unbeaten run in the Premier League was ended by Bournemouth at the weekend.
When Phil Foden gave them an early lead in Lisbon on Tuesday, they looked to be back in the game again, but in some tricky finishing touches they may have been out of sight.
But the way they lost control of the game after Gyukiris equalized near the end of the first half was completely unexpected.
They fell behind straight after half-time and then conceded two needless penalties, both of which were converted by Gjokeres, with Erling Haaland having a penalty rebound off the crossbar.
“It’s football and, as I said, it’s difficult to find reasons for what’s happening to us now,” Bernardo Silva said. “I don’t remember in seven and a half seasons this team losing three games in a row. Everything seems to be going in the wrong direction now.
“It is clear that we need to perform better. Our injured players need to come back because we need them. And that is not good enough at the moment.”
City, who were without the likes of Rodri, Jack Grealish, Ruben Dias and John Stones and handed a first start to 19-year-old defender Jahami Simpson Bossy, are away to Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend in the Premier League.
MINNEAPOLIS — Justin Jefferson stepped to the microphones last week and delivered a revelation that nearly slipped through unnoticed. During his weekly news conference with local reporters, the Minnesota Vikings’ receiver casually divulged that coach Kevin O’Connell had “kind of dialed it down for us” on offense as the team prepared for its Week 9 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts.
The Vikings’ offense hadn’t exactly struggled this season — it entered the game ranked ninth in scoring (24 points per game) and 11th in yards per play (5.7) — but it had gotten bogged down in recent weeks, ranking 23rd in efficiency and 31st in offensive penalties since the start of Week 5. Overall, the Vikings ranked last in plays run per game (56.7) and had the sixth-longest longest time elapsed per play (41.8 seconds) in the league.
It’s an NFL cliché to suggest a team succeeded by simplifying its scheme. That’s not really what the Vikings did in producing their best all-around offensive game — largely via a second-half surge — in their 21-13 victory Sunday night. More accurately, O’Connell curated his menu of plays and concepts to facilitate a quicker and more efficient pace.
In the process, the Vikings set season highs in plays (71), first downs (29), total yards (415) and time of possession (36:54). They had one offensive penalty (a hold against new left tackle Cam Robinson) and had the shortest amount of time elapsed per play (40.3 seconds) this season. It was enough to overcome two interceptions and a lost fumble, which the Colts returned for their only touchdown, by quarterback Sam Darnold.
“I felt like we played a really clean game as an offense besides my turnovers, which was good,” Darnold said. “We were really good with no self-inflicted [mistakes], all those things. Penalty-wise, pre-snap, I felt like we were getting in and out of the huddle. Tempo was really good all day. So we were really efficient as an offense that way. Just got to take care the football.”
Two of Darnold’s turnovers and two missed field goals conspired to keep the Vikings scoreless in the first half. He found his rhythm in the second half, however, by leaning into his downfield arm and nearly doubling the depth of his average target. In total, Darnold threw three touchdown passes after halftime for the first time in his career and finished with a season-high 290 yards on 28-of-34.
Although it wasn’t obvious to casual observers, Darnold surely benefitted from some frank internal discussions about the amount of responsibility he had been shouldering in what can be a complex offense with long playcalls and multiple pre-snap decisions.
Speaking Monday, O’Connell said he cut back some of his “exotic” formations while also working to get the play in to Darnold earlier in the play clock than in previous weeks. In addition, the Vikings modestly reduced the frequency of pre-snap motion from 67.1% of their snaps in the first eight weeks to 54.2% against the Colts, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Finally, to help foster a more efficient huddle, Vikings coaches shortened the play clock during practice to impose greater urgency on getting to the line of scrimmage.
“Sam has done so many really high-level good things, especially throwing the football for us,” O’Connell said last week. “We’ve all got to remember sometimes that it is his first year starting [in Minnesota], and we tried to prepare him as best we could, and there’s still going to be some times in games where the urgency of just playing a lot of football comes into play. I think he’s done a really good job improving on that as he goes through a process of preparation.
“But there’s some other times where part of the bigger picture, the orchestrating of our offense, [is], ‘Can we make it a little easier on him? Can we make it easier on the guys around him to have clarity?'”
O’Connell has earned a reputation as one of the NFL’s best play designers, and anyone watching in person or via All-22 video can see receivers breaking open on nearly every play. O’Connell often refers to an ideal of having an “answer” within the concept for any approach a defense might take.
That can be a lot for a quarterback to shoulder, however, and it’s worth remembering that former starter Kirk Cousins talked openly about his own slow consumption of the scheme when O’Connell arrived in 2022.
Jefferson seemed to be reflecting a similar challenge for Darnold last week. In words that were more pointed than they sounded in Jefferson’s soft-spoken phrasing, he said: “It doesn’t have to be something that we draw up the best play that you’ve ever had.” Sometimes, Jefferson added, the best solution is simply allowing players to “go out there and play.”
O’Connell and his coaching staff appeared to be in agreement.
“I just think coaching in general, as much as we try to hold the pen, as much as we try to give our players an advantage for their benefit, it’s just a constant evaluation and reflection of the value received off of the things we do,” O’Connell said. “It could be great on one play, and then it could cause some things to be either hard to execute … or putting a little bit more on Sam’s plate and [say], ‘Hey, do we need to do that?’
“Well, it’d be great to do it, but let’s be smart about this and treat each individual phase as, ‘How do we build the best game plan to have success this week?'”
