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Arsenal are starting to look like a team with just one thing on their mind: Premier League glory.

Mikel Arteta's side have won their last four games by a staggering margin of 16-2.

What finishing problem?

Arsenal's Previous Four Games

Date

Competition

Opponent

Result

January 20th

Premier League

Crystal Palace

5-0 Win

January 30th

Premier League

Nottingham Forest

2-1 Win

February 3rd

Premier League

Liverpool

3-1 Win

February 12th

Premier League

West Ham United

6-0 Win

All Stats via Sky Sports

Their 6-0 win over West Ham United on Sunday was the pièce de résistance of their recent run, with every player on the pitch putting in a serious shift and helping the club record their biggest away win in Premier League history.

However, one man who started against the Hammers shouldn't start away at Burnley this afternoon, but it's not just down to his performance.

Jakub Kiwior's game vs West Ham in numbers

The player in question is Polish international Jakub Kiwior, who came into the lineup at left-back on the back of Oleksandr Zinchenko's recent injury.

The former Spezia man, who joined the club following a £20m transfer last January, played the full 90 minutes against the Irons and, despite a couple of shakey moments very early on, left fans impressed with a generally stable defensive display featuring a few nice passing moves.

The Standard's Simon Colling was reasonably impressed with the showing and gave the then-23-year-old a 6/10 on the day, describing his overall impression as 'solid.'

His numbers on the day reflect this assessment, as he registered an expected assists figure of 0.29, made five clearances, two tackles, one interception, and made one key pass.

Jakub Kiwior's game vs West Ham

Minutes

93

Expected Assists

0.29

Clearances

5

Interceptions

1

Tackles

2

Key Passes

1

Ground Duels (won)

7 (2)

Aerial Duels (won)

3 (1)

Dribbled Passed

2

All Stats via Sofascore

However, he was dribbled past twice, won just one of his three aerial duels and, even worse, won just two of his seven ground duels.

Ultimately, Colling's assessment that Kiwior was 'solid' is accurate, but with Zinchenko's return date still unknown and several challenging games to come, Arteta should look to bring in an all-round more reliable player in his place for the game today, Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Why Takehiro Tomiyasu must start against Burnley

So, the first thing to say is that Tomiyasu missed the game at the London Stadium through a minor injury of his own. Still, with it being widely reported that he should be fine for this game, and that his absence on Sunday was more of a precaution, it looks like he'll have a part to play later today – hopefully from the start.

The first argument for starting the Japanese international at left-back ahead of his Polish teammate is that he has far more experience playing as a full-back. In all, the 25-year-old has played 17 games as a left back for the Gunners and 46 as a right-back, whereas Kiwior has played just 11 times as a left-back and never on the opposite flank while in north London.

Takehiro Tomiyasu vs Jakub Kiwior at left-back (for Arsenal)

Player

Tomiyasu

Kiwior

Appearances

17

11

Starts

10

9

Wins

12

6

Games Against 'Big Six' Teams

5

2

Goals Conceded

15

12

Points Per Game

2.29

1.82

All Stats via Transfermarkt

The second argument is simply how the pair have fared in their games at left-back and who they have been up against. For example, the former Bologna star has played and won against Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City on the left – he even helped set up Gabriel Martinelli's winner against City.

In comparison, the "quality" Kiwior, as described by data analyst Ben Mattinson, has faced primarily weaker opposition, with his second-half cameo against Liverpool earlier this month as his only experience against a 'big six' side at left-back.

Furthermore, when the "superb" Tomiyasu, as talent scout Jacek Kulig described him, played the full 90 against the Anfield side at home last season, he managed to keep Mohamed Salah 'tucked away' according to Squawka's Ben Green, who gave the defender an 8/10 for his performance.

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Ultimately, Kiwior may feel a little hard done by if he loses his spot this afternoon. Yet, with Zinchenko's injury potentially keeping him out of the side for some time, Arteta will want to have a more reliable and defensively astute player ready for some of the mammoth games to come in the title run-in.

كشفت صحيفة “سبورت” الكتالونية أن نادي برشلونة لا يزال يبحث عن التعاقد مع جناح أيسر وسيحاول مرة أخرى بعد نهاية الموسم الحالي.

كانت الرغبة في برشلونة هي التعاقد مع نيكو ويليامز جناح أتلتيك بلباو ولكن الأخير رفض التفريط في لاعبه وفي النهاية قرر الاستمرار مع النادي الباسكي.

ورغم أن ويليامز ما زال هو الهدف الأول لنادي برشلونة إلا أن هناك خيارات أخرى أهمها ليروى ساني الذي ينتهي عقده مع بايرن ميونخ في 30 يونيو 2025.

اقرأ أيضًا.. فليك عن غضب ثنائي برشلونة: عليهم قبول قراري

ويراقب برشلونة بحسب التقرير موقف ساني الذي لم يجدد مع بايرن ميونخ، وترى الإدارة الرياضية أنه مناسب لمشروع المدرب هانز فليك بالمستقبل خاصة وأنه بالمجان.

تجديد ساني مع بايرن ميونخ غير مضمون خاصة مع ضم مايكل أوليس من كريستال بالاس، وأصبح الألماني بديلًا في تشكيل المدرب، فينسنت كومباني.

لكن اهتمام برشلونة سيكون أمامه عقبة لضم ساني وهو رغبة ليفربول أيضًا في التعاقد مع الألماني منذ فترة خاصة لتعويض رحيل، محمد صلاح، المنتظر إذا لم يجدد عقده.

حيث أن اسم ساني أحد المرشحين الأقوياء للتواجد في قلعة “أنفيلد” خاصة وأن لديه خبرة في الدوري الإنجليزي قبل الرحيل عن مانشستر سيتي في عام 2020.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Flamengo assinou a renovação de contrato de Otávio nesta quarta-feira. O jovem zagueiro estendeuo seu vínculo com o clube até dezembro de 2023 – o anterior expiraria emagosto de 2022. O zagueiro tem 18 anos e atua pela equipe sub-20 do Rubro-Negro, por onde já jogou nos profissionais, inclusive.

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Um fator cada vez mais importante para joias brasileiras é o da multa rescisória para clubes do exterior. A de Otávio pode ser considerada astronômica, estipulada em contrato em70 milhões de euros (aproximadamente R$ 470 milhões na cotação atual). A informação inicial foi publicada pelo jornal “O Dia”.

Campeão brasileiro pelas categorias sub-17 e sub-20 do Flamengo, Otávio também pode gabar-se de ter colaborado com o Octa do time principal, já que entrou em campo e foi titular contra o Palmeiras, pela 12ª rodada, quando o elenco então comandado por Domènec Torrent teve um surto de Covid-19.

+ Veja a tabela e o regulamento do Carioca 2021

Otávio chegou a ser relacionado para as primeiras rodadas do Carioca deste ano, quando o Fla foi representado por uma equipe alternativa, mas não foi utilizado por Maurício Souza. O promissor zagueiro está no time sub-20.

شبّه نجم نادي الزمالك السابق أحمد دويدار المنافسة بين القلعة البيضاء والأهلي بصراع طبقي، مؤكدًا أن فرحة جماهير الزمالك بفوزهم بالسوبر الإفريقي مبررة بالنظر إلى الظروف التي يمر بها النادي مقارنة بغريمه التقليدي.

وكان الزمالك قد نجح في التتويج بالسوبر الإفريقي الخامس في تاريخه بعد الفوز على الأهلي بركلات الترجيح، في المباراة التي جمعت الغريمين بالمملكة العربية السعودية، يوم 27 سبتمبر الماضي.

وقال أحمد دويدار لاعب الزمالك السابق، في تصريحات عبر قناة “mbc masr”: “الزمالك مثل الشاب الذي يجتهد ويتقاضى 5000 جنيه، يُعافر وظروفه سيئة، ومرة واحد تحدث الانفراجة وهي مكسب كبير على النادي الأهلي”.

وتابع: “هذا الشاب من حقه أن يفرح، لأنه يجتهد ويُعافر في ظل ظروف صعبة، أمام شاب آخر وهو النادي الأهلي، والده يأتي له بأفضل سيارة ويُعطيه أفضل راتب، الأول شاب مكافح كل يوم عنده تخبط، والثاني مستقر وظروفه جيدة، فعندما يفوز الأول على الثاني طبيعي أن تحدث فرحة كبيرة جدًا”.

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وأضاف: “من حق جمهور الزمالك يفرح، لكن القادم مهم وكفى احتفالات، الزمالك اسم كبير لا ننتظر الحافز، لاعبون سابقون كانوا يستفزون الفريق، لكن أنت الزمالك اسمك كبير لا تنتظر أن يستفزك أحد أو يُحفزك”.

وأردف: “الزمالك توج بالسوبر الإفريقي واحتفلنا، لا بد أن نغلق هذه الصفحة، لأن البطولة القادمة السوبر المصري ستكون انتهاء عصر مارسيل كولر في هذه البطولة”.

واستكمل: “جمهور الزمالك يتحدث عن مواجهة الأهلي في السوبر المصري، وينسون أن الفريق سيواجه بيراميدز أولًا، وبيراميدز فريق قوي جدًا، المفترض أن اللاعبين والجماهير يكفون عن الاحتفالات ويُفكرون في التتويج بالسوبر المصري”.

واختتم: “كولر لو خسر بطولة السوبر المصري ستكون هذه بوادر رحيله عن الأهلي”.

Arsenal are well and truly back in the Premier League title race.

Mikel Arteta's side have won their last five games in a row and have dramatically improved their goal difference after blowing away West Ham United and Burnley.

While the entire team deserved credit, Martin Odegaard has perhaps stood out the most, with his three assists and one goal suggesting that he could well be back to the form he showed last season.

With how impressive the captain has been of late, Arteta would surely have to have two of him in the team, and as outlandish as that sounds, the Gunners once released a youngster from Hale End at 13 years old who is now similar to the mercurial Norwegian.

Eberechi Eze's journey to Crystal Palace

Yes, you read that right; the Gunners once had a young Eberechi Eze on their books, only he wasn't with the club for very long as he was released at just 13 years old.

The next few years were tough for the Greenwich-born gem as he was released by Fulham, Reading and Millwall before finally finding his footing in West London at Queens Park Rangers.

The dynamic midfielder would make his debut for the Hoops in an FA Cup Third Round tie against Blackburn Rovers in January 2017.

Still, it was not until the 2018/19 campaign that he truly established himself in the first team after spending the first half of the 2017/18 season on loan in League Two with Wycombe Wanderers before coming back to finish the year at Loftus Road.

In the following campaign, Eze would score four goals and provide four assists in 42 appearances for QPR before exploding in 2019/20 and scoring 14 goals and providing eight assists in 46 appearances.

Such a remarkable return from a young player understandably brought with it eyes from the Premier League, and after some negotiations, Crystal Palace signed Eze for £20m.

How Eberechi Eze compares to Martin Odegaard

Now, it's undoubtedly a big shout to compare a very talented midfielder with one who is captaining a team fighting for the league title, but it's one made primarily by the football database FBref.

The comparison is made by grouping positionally similar players in Europe's top five leagues and then ranking them based on how close they are to one another for several key metrics, and in this case, Odegaard is considered to be the seventh most similar player to Eze.

For example, the "silky" Palace gem, as described by former teammate Geoff Cameron, produces 0.55 expected goals and assists per 90 to the Norwegian's 0.48 while also producing 2.95 progressive passes per 90 to his 2.90.

Eze compared to Odegaard

Stat per 90

Eze

Odegaard

Goals + Assists

0.47

0.51

Progressive Carries

2.95

2.90

Expected Goals + Assists

0.55

0.48

Blocks

0.78

0.69

Touches Opposition's Penalty Area

4.50

4.38

All Stats via FBref for the 2023/24 Premier League Season

This obviously doesn't make them identical players, but there is an undeniable similarity in their underlying statistics, which suggests that they could play similar roles within a team.

So, it would certainly have been beneficial for the Gunners to keep a hold of the talented Englishman as not only has he produced 34 goal involvements in 113 appearances for the Eagles, but he could also act as the perfect backup to their captain.

Oh, and there is also the small fact that the CIES Football Observatory now values him at around €40m, which is about £34m, and that is likely a conservative estimate in today's game.

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Ultimately, football clubs can't predict the future, and maybe Eze, who scored ten Premier League goals last season, did not show enough potential when he was 13, but they may now regret letting him go as it appears as though they fumbled their own homegrown version of their current captain.

Will Davis takes three crucial wickets, well supported by Gavin Griffiths’ 3 for 23

ECB Reporters Network04-Aug-2019

Gavin Griffiths is in the wickets•Getty Images

Leicestershire Foxes upset the form book when they toppled holders and in-form Worcestershire Rapids by 33 runs in a North Group encounter at Blackfinch New Road.The vaunted Rapids top order were blown away in pursuit of a target of 153 as the Foxes secured only their second win of the season.A mixture of poor batting, disciplined bowling and some sharp catching sealed victory for the Foxes and moved them off the bottom of the table as the home side were eventually dismissed for 119 in 19.2 overs.Will Davis picked up three crucial wickets in the top six and finished with 3 for 24. He was well supported by Gavin Griffiths, who took 3 for 23, and Callum Parkinson’s 2 for 21.It ended a run of three successive victories for the Rapids which had propelled them into second spot behind Lancashire.The Foxes were put in to bat on the wicket that had been used for the previous two Blast matches with Durham and Derbyshire.A stunning catch by Rapids captain Callum Ferguson brought the first breakthrough in Dillon Pennington’s second over as Mark Cosgrove lofted the paceman to mid on and Ferguson held onto a one-handed effort in full flight.Pennington then held onto a smart catch of his own, running back from short fine leg and over his shoulder to dispose of Harry Swindells off Wayne Parnell.Aaron Lilley looked in good touch and collected four boundaries from his first six deliveries as the Foxes reached 55 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay.Lilley holed out to deep mid-wicket off Ed Barnard and Harry Dearden was caught and bowled in Daryl Mitchell’s first over.Colin Ackermann and Lewis Hill took their time in rebuilding the Foxes’ innings via a partnership of 49 in seven overs. But Barnard returned to the attack to break the stand when Hill was caught at long on.The second half of the innings was clinically disposed of by Parnell and Pat Brown. Aadil Ali was bowled by Parnell, and then Callum Parkinson and Colin Ackermann were both caught by George Rhodes in Brown’s next over, the second a fine effort over his shoulder running back from cover. Parnell wrapped up the innings in clinical fashion in removing Dieter Klein and Will Davis cheaply.But Worcestershire’s big-hitting top four were blown away in the space of 12 runs. Martin Guptill reached 15, hitting Griffiths for one straight six, but in the same over he found the hands of deep mid wicket. In the next over, Riki Wessels attempted a sweep against Davis and was caught behind. Parnell miscued high into the air in the same over and presented another comfortable catch to keeper Hill.It became 39 for 4 when Callum Ferguson also perished in the mid wicket region off Parkinson. Ross Whiteley was pouched at deep backward square to give Davis a third scalp.Ben Cox and Barnard briefly threatened to haul the Rapids back into contention during a steady partnership of 31. But Cox was bowled for 30 attempting a paddle sweep against Ackermann and Barnard fell at deep mid wicket off Parkinson to all but end the match as a contest.

Manchester City are reportedly interested in signing a versatile world-renowned player who is admired by Erling Haaland, as they look to beat Real Madrid to his signature.

Man City transfer news

Pep Guardiola's side may be one of the strongest squads in Europe, if not the strongest, but it is always important to be planning new signings for the summer. A freshness could be needed at the Etihad, even if City once again win trophies this season, and a host of players have been linked with moves.

A primary transfer target could be West Ham and Brazil midfielder Lucas Paqueta, who was strongly backed to make the move to City last summer, only for the transfer to fall through after betting allegations emerged against him. It does look as though the Citizens are still interested in him, however, and he would surely jump at the opportunity to move to the reigning Premier League champions.

Troyes youngster Savio is set to join City in the summer, with the 19-year-old currently on loan at La Liga side Girona, scoring five goals and registering seven assists this season.

There are also important current players who need to be tied down to new deals, and a recent report has claimed that Ederson is someone they hope will sign an extension in the near future.

Man City want Achraf Hakimi

According to AS [via Sport Witness], Manchester City are lining up a move for Paris Saint-Germain right-back Achraf Hakimi, looking to beat Real Madrid to his services.

Manchester City are described as an "interested party" in the report, with the £239,000-a-week star seen as a potential replacement for Kyle Walker last summer, prior to the Englishman staying put at the Etihad instead.

City are considered a "rival" to Madrid when it comes to the race to sign Hakimi in the summer transfer window, with a move away from PSG looking on the cards.

Achraf Hakimi's Ligue 1 stats this season

Total

Appearances

16

Starts

13

Goals

3

Assists

4

Key passes per game

1.6

Tackles per game

1.2

Pass completion rate

89.1%

The 25-year-old could be a wonderful signing by Guardiola if he manages to entice him to the club, with the Moroccan a perfect long-term replacement for Walker, who is now 33 years of age.

He has 30 goal involvements (13 goals and 17 assists) in 105 appearances for PSG, highlighting the attacking quality he provides from right-back, and Kylian Mbappe has called him the best "in the world" in his position in the past. He can also play in midfield, with his versatility an added weapon in his armoury.

There are arguably very few negatives against City signing Hakimi, apart from the fact that he will likely cost a huge amount of money – Haaland has also spoken of his admiration for him – saying when asked who are the best players he's played with in 2022:

"I think the best is Achraf Hakimi and Riyad Mahrez. They were both high level."

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The lure of Madrid could be great for the Morocco international, considering Mbappe is seemingly going there and they are building a stunning team around the likes of Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior, but working with Guardiola will also hopefully be a massive draw for him.

علق ديديه ديشامب، المدير الفني لمنتخب فرنسا الأول لكرة القدم، على زيارة كيليان مبابي المثيرة للجدل لملهى ليلي، خلال فترة التوقف الدولي الجاري.

لاعب ريال مدريد المنضم في الصيف الماضي من باريس سان جيرمان، عانى من إصابة مؤخرًا، وعاد قبل الموعد المحدد، ولكنه لم ينضم لقائمة منتخب بلده في دوري الأمم الأوروبية خلال معسكر أكتوبر الجاري.

طالع أيضًا | الكرة الذهبية وراء تمرد مبابي على منتخب فرنسا.. وقرار سيعجب ريال مدريد

ديشامب اعترف بأن مبابي شارك مع ريال مدريد ضد ليل وفياريال وهو يعاني من إصابة ولم يكن جاهزًا 100%.

غياب مبابي أثار الجدل الذي تزايد بعدما شوهد في ستوكهولم عاصمة السويد، أثناء ذهابه لملهى، في الوقت الذي كان يحتاجه المنتخب الفرنسي.

ديشامب في تصريحاته لوسائل الإعلام قال: “أنا لا أتابع أخبار اللاعبين غير المتواجدين هنا. كيليان الآن يكمل برنامجه مع ريال مدريد وليس معنا، يمكنكم سؤال ريال مدريد”.

وأضاف: “لا أعرف حالة مبابي حاليًا وما هو برنامجه، يتعين علي إدارة الحاضرين في المعسكر، لقد أرسل كيليان لي رسالة بعد المباراة الماضية”.

واختتم: “بالنسبة لي إذا كان مبابي في راحة من برنامجه في ريال مدريد، فهو حر في فعل ما يريد، أي لاعب في أيام الراحة يمكنه فعل ما يريد”.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Ceará está em mais uma final da Copa do Nordeste. O Vozão derrotou o Vitória por 2 a 0 – com gols de Vina e Messias – na tarde deste sábado, em jogo na Arena Castelão.

Com um primeiro tempo superior – onde anotou os dois gols – os comandados por Guto Ferreira confirmaram o favoritismo e agora aguardam o adversário da decisão – Fortaleza ou Bahia.

Primeiro tempo:

O início do jogo foi dominado pelo Vitória – que chegou ao menos em duas oportunidades com perigo ao gol do Ceará, mas a grande chance veio aos 4 minutos. Em ótima troca de passes, Soares acionou David pela esquerda, que invadiu a área e obrigou Richard a fazer uma excelente defesa.

A resposta dos donos da casa demorou, mas chegou aos 17 minutos e com juros e correção monetária. Em bom contra-ataque, a bola sobrou na entrada da área do Vitória. Na tentativa de cortar, Raul Prata acertou a própria trave. Na volta, Vina cabeceou livre para abrir o placar e contou com o apoio do VAR para comemorar o gol – a decisão do campo foi de impedimento do camisa 29 cearense.

Sem muita criação de ambos os times, a melhor jogada resultou em mais um gol. Em ótima jogada ensaiada, Vina cobrou uma falta e Messias – que estava fora da área e invadiu a mesma no momento da cobrança – cabeceou com estilo no ângulo direito de Ronaldo, aos 40 minutos, para fazer 2 a 0 para o Ceará.

Segundo tempo:

Precisando de gols, o Vitória teve a primeira chance de perigo da etapa complementar aos 4 minutos. Em boa jogada pela direita, Soares invadiu a área do Ceará e cruzou para o meio, mas Klaus cortou antes que a bola chegasse em Samuel.

Sem tempo para perder, o Vitória foi ao ataque e levou perigo de novo aos 9 minutos. Em jogada pela direita, Soares cortou para dentro e chutou para mais uma boa defesa do goleiro Richard.

Com muitas dificuldades para criar, o Vitória só levou perigo novamente ao gol do Ceará aos 38 minutos. Em cobrança de falta pelo lado esquerdo, Eduardo chutou direto e obrigou Richard a fazer mais uma boa intervenção.

Priorizando a marcação e sem pressa no segundo tempo, o Ceará teve sua chance de aumentar o placar na etapa complementar aos 40 minutos. Em confusão dentro da área entre o goleiro Ronaldo e o lateral Pedrinho, a bola sobrou na entrada da área para Fernando Sobral, que chutou, mas sem perigo ao gol do Leão.

Já nos acréscimos, saiu o capítulo mais polêmico da partida. Em disputa de bola pelo lado direito, o lateral do Ceará, Gabriel Dias, se envolveu em uma confusão com Wesley e foi expulso com auxílio do VAR em lance que deixou o defensor do Vozão inconformado ao ponto de precisar ser contido pelos companheiros de time.

Decisão:

Com a vaga garantida na final, o Ceará vai assistir de camarote a definição de seu adversário na decisão, já que Fortaleza e Bahia se enfrentam ainda neste sábado (24) – também na Arena Castelão – pela segunda vaga.

FICHA TÉCNICA

CEARÁ 2 X 0 VITÓRIA
Local: Arena Castelão, Fortaleza (CE)
Data-Horário: 24/04/2021 – 16h (de Brasília)
Árbitro: Zandick Gondim Alves Junior (RN)
Auxiliares: Vinicius Melo de Lima (RN) e Francisco de Assis da Hora (RN)
VAR: Wagner Reway (PB)
Cartões amarelos: Gabriel Dias (CEA); Vico, João Pedro (VIT)
Cartão vermelho: Gabriel Dias (CEA)
Gols: Vina (17’/1ºT), Messias (40’/1ºT)

Ceará: Richard; Gabriel Dias, Messias, Luiz Otávio (Klaus, aos 0’/2ºT) e Bruno Pacheco; Charles (Fernando Sobral, aos 24’/2ºT), Pedro Naressi, Vina (Marlon, aos 34’/2ºT) e Lima; Mendoza (Saulo Mineiro, aos 24’/2ºT) e Felipe Vizeu (Jael, aos 34’/2ºT). Técnico: Guto Ferreira.

Vitória: Ronaldo; Raul Prata, João Victor, Wallace Reis e Pedrinho; João Pedro, Cedric (Eduardo, aos 25’/1ºT) e Vico (Wesley Pionteck, aos 0’/2ºT); David (Caique Souza, aos 19’/2ºT), Soares e Samuel (Ygor Catatau, aos 19’/2ºT). Técnico: Flavio Tanajura

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Justin Langer concedes batsmen haven’t produced as tourists head for Derby with questions aplenty

Daniel Brettig in Leeds26-Aug-2019

Headingley rises as one to applaud Ben Stokes•Getty Images

After the grief, comes the post-mortem. Australia’s contrivance to lose the Headingley Test and an Ashes-sealing series lead was the source of enormous pain for the tourists, not least the coach Justin Langer. He had watched, as impassively as he could, from the sidelines as months if not years of carefully laid plans were torn up by a combination of Ben Stokes and Australian folly.”We’re all feeling it. My gosh,” Langer said. “You have no idea how much that hurts, losing today. You have no idea. So we’re feeling it but leaders – whether you’re the captain, coach or senior player – you have to get up. You’ve got to – we’ll be disappointed for a day or night. We probably won’t talk much for a day or a night or so. Then when we get back into it tomorrow, we’ll review it like we do every game. We’ll review it together and make sure we get it better next time.”So in the minutes, hours and days to come before the fourth Test of the series at Old Trafford, Langer will look not only at the collective loss of composure that allowed Stokes to take control, but also the performances or lack thereof that allowed England to be chasing 359 in the first place. Chief among these is the fact that Australia’s batting returns in this series have not been those worthy of a team securing a 2-0 Ashes series lead.ALSO READ: Farrell: Do you remember how it started?Only Steven Smith and his substitute Marnus Labuschagne are scoring their runs at an average of better than 40. Only Travis Head, barely, has joined them in averaging better than 30. David Warner, Headingley first innings aside, has struggled mightily; Usman Khawaja has fared little better; Matthew Wade made near enough to all his runs in one dig, the second-innings century at Edgbaston; Tim Paine’s captaincy is facing pressure on the basis of his decision-making at the end of the Headingley Test, compounding questions already writ large across his batting.”There’s actually going to be some big questions,” Langer said. “One thing I do know is we’re not batting well enough at the moment. I said at the start of the series that the team that bats best will win the Ashes. We’re certainly not at our best with our batting at the moment. We’ve got some real questions to ask for the practice game then the fourth Test match.”I think there’s a number of guys who will be looking to play well. Not just Uzzy. Uzzy’s played a lot of cricket, he averages over 40 in Test Match cricket. He got a Test hundred seven innings ago I reckon. We know he’s a very good player and he, like the rest of them, will be working hard to be ready for the fourth Test.”We can’t fit them all in. That’s one issue we’ve got. We’ve also got to work out after a long summer, we’re going to have to rest some players. Just to give them a mental freshen-up more than anything. The other thing, we’ve got two back-to-back Test matches to win or lose the Ashes. And we’ve talked from day one that we’re going to have to give guys chance to freshen up – they’ve been here for Australia A or the World Cup. And sometimes the mental break is as important as anything.”The major permutation will be how to make room for Smith’s return from concussion while retaining Labuschagne. A possible solution will be to move Khawaja up to open with Warner, placing Labuschagne at No. 3 and Smith at No. 4 ahead of Head and Wade. But that would force the dropping of Marcus Harris after only one match, since he himself was recalled at the expense of Cameron Bancroft, who had demonstrated more than enough technical flaws for England to exploit in the first two Tests.At the same time, Langer and the rest of the support staff need to lend a supportive ear to players who will be having nightmares about Leeds for a long time to come. “It was an unbelievable game of cricket,” Langer said. “Everyone remembers the ’81 Botham game. I hate to say it, but for the game of cricket, that was an unbelievable game. Ben Stokes, that was extraordinary. We are obviously very, very disappointed up in the change rooms. But we have to shake ourselves up and get ready for the next one.”We had our chances, we had three or four. He played like a man with nothing to lose, and you’ll never see a better innings than that. At lunch we knew it was game on. I thought the first hour today was as good Test match bowling as you will ever see. Then when the new ball came, which probably surprised a few people, we maybe tried a little bit too hard, bowled a little bit too short. Then we pulled it back after lunch, and they had lost 5-30 at one point. But we just couldn’t finish it off, and we’ll have to get better at that.”There is, at least, some consolation in the fact that the bowling unit is functioning well, the Stokes episode apart. Josh Hazlewood might easily have taken the match award for an Australian victory, with nine wickets across a succession of high-quality spells. Pat Cummins’ fitness is holding up, so too James Pattinson’s, while Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc wait in the wings. For the marathon of a five-Test series, Australia should have the cattle to go the distance, provided they do not let their minds cloud over into negativity.”We’ve been on the right side of a lot of wins too. We haven’t been on the right side of winning overseas for a while now,” Langer said. “That’s why games like this are so important for us. What can we take from it – we fought so hard. We bowled them out for 67. It was brilliant. We bowled fantastically well yesterday – as good a Test match bowling as you’ll ever see. We’ll win a lot more games than we lose if we bat well – and with the bowling depth we got. Unfortunately it didn’t happen today.”We’ve got 10 days, we’ve got a game in Derbyshire to play, we have plenty to play for. It’s 1-1 in this series, we have been so close, I mean one more wicket and we are 2-0 up and feeling pretty good about ourselves. But that’s sport. We’ll pick ourselves up.”