There was, admittedly, very little footballing action on Wednesday. Qatar shocked Switzerland 1-0 in an international friendly and the U-17 Women’s World Cup continued in Uruguay (the U.S. beat nine-woman Cameroon 3-0), but that was about it.
Oh, and there were a couple of matches in Ascenso MX, Mexico’s second division — namely one involving Diego Cam.
According to Univision, Gerardo “Tata” Martino is set to become Mexico’s manager on a four-year, $8.8 million contract directly following Atlanta United’s playoff run.
Frank Lampard spent 13 spectacularly productive seasons as a midfielder for Chelsea. He returned to Stamford Bridge as coach of Derby County and watched as his team suffered a heartening 3-2 defeat in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. The Chelsea vs Derby County highlights absolutely lived up to the hype with one of the wildest League Cup matches we’ve seen since the 7-5 thriller between Arsenal and Reading in 2012.
Atlanta United has announced that after cooperative negotiations between the club and manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino concerning a contract extension beyond the 2018 season, the 55-year-old Argentine coach has elected to decline the offer and move on following the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs.
After finishing 15th out of 22 sides during the 2017 MLS season, no one expected miracles from first-year coach Brad Friedel in 2018, despite his standing as arguably the finest playing export in U.S. soccer history. And so it’s proven for the 47-year-old, whose side will likely finish the season in 16th place this time around.
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp and Huddersfield manager David Wagner go way back, having played together at Mainz in the early 90s and coached together at Borussia Dortmund. Wagner was Klopp’s best man at his wedding (though he didn't do a great job at it).
Now as opposing coaches in the Premier League, they’re maintaining their friendship — to an extent.
We should be used to this by now, but for some reason it still comes as a surprise.
Another big match involving Jose Mourinho became all about the Portuguese manager, despite an enthralling Chelsea-Manchester United match in the first 96 minutes on Saturday at Stamford Bridge.