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Sri Lanka’s quicks struggled for control on windy day in Wellington, where only 48 overs of play was possible

Madushka Balasuriya17-Mar-2023Stumps In rain-impacted Wellington, with heavy winds for company, New Zealand batted just 48 overs as bad light brought about an early close to an already truncated opening day. Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls were unbeaten on 26 and 18 at the close respectively, though it was when Devon Conway was at the crease during his 108-ball 78 that New Zealand had looked the most threatening.Sri Lanka’s seamers, whose eyes might have lit up at the opportunity to bowl first on a supremely green top after Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss, unfortunately had to cope with some of the windiest conditions ever seen at Basin Reserve.”Today was certainly the windiest I’ve played at the Basin. Certainly a lot of challenge for the bowlers, and we wanted to make the most of that and put pressure on them,” Conway said after the end of play. Put pressure New Zealand certainly did.While there was certainly extra bounce in the surface – Conway would describe it as “tennis-ball bounce” – the gusty winds meant the likes of Kasun Rajitha, Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara were unable to gain the same sort of lateral movement they had so effectively utilised in Christchurch, while maintaining good lengths were also proving difficult.Conway and his more watchful opening partner Tom Latham also proved adept at leaving the ball on length, meaning Sri Lanka’s seamers were forced to pitch it full if they wanted to force the batters into a stroke. It was here that Conway in particular flourished.In a stand worth 87, it was Kumara that took the brunt of Conway’s aggression, with eight of his 13 boundaries coming against the strapping quick. Anything too short or wide was pulled and cut with ease, while anything overpitched was driven just as efficiently.Kasun Rajitha picked up the first wicket when he sent back Tom Latham•Getty ImagesThe first wicket came only once Latham looked to break free, pulling one straight down deep square-leg’s throat off Rajitha.Conway, though, carried on in a similar vein, as Williamson took over the anchor role in a 31-run stand. With the seamers struggling to make a consistent impact, Sri Lanka were forced to turn to spin shortly before tea. And it was the continued use of Dhananjaya de Silva’s offbreaks that provided an unlikely breakthrough in the final session.De Silva’s flatter trajectory from around the wicket slowed down Conway’s scoring, the left-hander scoring just three runs off the 16 deliveries he faced from de Silva. Eventually that pressure told, with Conway charging de Silva and only managing to chip a low return catch.Sri Lanka might even have had three for the day had debutant Nishan Madushka – replacing Niroshan Dickwella with the gloves – held on to a thick edge off Nicholls. It was quick and low to his left – almost a mirror image of the chance Dickwella had grassed off Williamson in Christchurch – but one Madushka ought to have held on to. Madushka has been brought into the side mainly on the back of his batting ability, and the pressure will certainly be on going forward.Williamson and Nicholls played through the rest of the session on pure merit until bad light meant play was stopped 45 minutes prior to the scheduled close.

Sanju Samson got a chance at the top of the order but he was lbw for 1

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2024

India sprang a surprise at the start of their T20 World Cup warm-up game against Bangladesh in New York, sending Sanju Samson out to open the batting alongside captain Rohit Sharma.Samson’s stay was brief: he was lbw to Shoriful Islam for 1 in the second over of the match.Rohit, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli are the three regular openers in India’s 15-member squad. Kohli wasn’t available to play in the warm-up game, having only arrived in New York on the eve of the match. Samson is one of two wicketkeeper-batters in the squad alongside Rishabh Pant.Pant batted at No. 3, replacing Samson at the crease.India’s opening combination was a topic of debate in the lead-up to the tournament, with Rohit, as captain, expected to take one of the two opening slots.Kohli, who has spent most of his T20I career as a No. 3 batter, comes into the World Cup on the back of a hugely successful IPL at the top of the order, topping the run charts with 741 at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69, and showcasing an improved ability to access the boundary against spin in the middle overs – this had been an area of concern in recent seasons.Jaiswal, meanwhile, offers India a high-intent, left-hand option with the tactical advantage of preventing oppositions from bowling left-arm spin in the powerplay – a style of bowling both Rohit and Kohli have struggled to score quickly against in the past.Given that this is a warm-up match where both teams can use their entire squads – with a maximum of 11 allowed to bat and 11 fielding at any given time – not too much can be read into the choice of Samson as opener and Pant at No. 3. It’s possible that India may be looking to have a good look at both their keepers before deciding on whom to pick in their tournament-opener against Ireland on June 5.

Ex-Manchester City star Terry Phelan has come up with an ingenious plan for how the Premier League giants could accept a £1 billion FFP fine.

• Verdict yet to be delivered in FFP case
• Punishments have been speculated on
• City continue to plead their innocence

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Those at the Etihad Stadium maintain that they have done nothing wrong when it comes to a Financial Fair Play case that sees at least 115 charges hanging over the blue half of Manchester. A definitive ruling is yet to be passed following an independent hearing.

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  A verdict will be delivered at some stage, with various punishments being speculated on. There has been talk of City being stung with points deductions, transfer embargoes or expulsion from the top-flight of English football.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Arguments have been offered against most of those sanctions, but a hefty fine could still be on the cards. Billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour will have no problem paying, and he may be given a chance to benefit those further down the EFL pyramid.

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• WHAT PHELAN SAID

  Phelan, speaking in association with , told GOAL when asked about what happens next for City and their chances of getting off scot-free: “How long is it going to take – 10 years, 15 years? Let’s enjoy them while we can. Let’s enjoy football.

  “I know what supporters are like – it happened to Everton, it happened to this club, why is it not happening to Manchester City? It’s not happening for a reason. What is the reason? I don’t know, it’s only the top men that know why it’s not happening.

  “Maybe they will get a £100 million fine, 300m, 400m. If they get a billion-pound fine and then distribute it amongst all the other clubs in the lower leagues, I’d be happy with that.”

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On a day where only 32.3 overs were possible, Bangladesh were 38 for 2 at stumps

Himanshu Agrawal08-Dec-2023

Glenn Phillips provided a lesson on how to bat on a sharp turner, counterattacking his way to 87 off just 72 balls on the third day of the second Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand. On a challenging pitch where almost every ball from the spinners was either turning square or keeping incredibly low, or both, Phillips had walked in at 46 for 5 on the first evening. His aggressive intent took New Zealand to 180, eight ahead of the hosts’ first-innings total of 172At stumps, Bangladesh were 38 for 2 in their second innings, 30 ahead of New Zealand. A late start and an early finish because of bad light meant only 32.3 overs were possible in the whole day.Gloomy conditions in Dhaka forced a late start, with play on Friday beginning two and a half hours later than scheduled. This was after rain had washed out the entire second day. With New Zealand on 55 for 5, and trailing by 117, overnight batters Phillips and Daryl Mitchell played contrasting roles to thwart Bangladesh, who predictably had left-arm spinner Taijul Islam and offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz bowling in tandem.While Phillips seemed to be on the offensive as early as the second over of the day, Mitchell remained content to block. Often standing deep in the crease, Phillips slashed hard at deliveries that were even slightly short and outside off, and swung across the line against the ones that were full and in the line of the stumps.In the second over of the day, he punched Mehidy for four to deep point, before slog-sweeping and driving him for further boundaries in the 16th. In between, he was beaten by Taijul twice while looking to push at deliveries that were turning away, even as the ball stayed low or skidded through.But the conditions mattered little for Phillips. And despite Bangladesh having multiple fielders on the leg-side boundary – deep-backward square leg and deep midwicket were in place most of the time – he continued attacking. His first six came in the 18th over when Mehidy bowled one full on the pads, and he slog-swept it over deep square leg.Mahmudul Hasan Joy fell in the first over of Bangladesh’s second innings•AFP via Getty Images

At the other end, Mitchell took a good stride forward to get to the pitch of the ball to defend the full deliveries. Even when he stepped out, he only looked to nudge them away. In the 20th over, he attempted a reverse sweep off Mehidy and the ball popped up to short leg. The on-field umpire ruled it in the batter’s favour, and when Bangladesh reviewed it, replays showed the ball had hit Mitchell just below the left shoulder.In the next over, Mitchell also had a slice of luck when he leaned into a drive against Taijul, got an outside edge and the ball fell just short of the slip fielder. Bangladesh introduced Nayeem Hasan into the attack from the other end. Phillips launched his first ball over deep-backward square leg for six, but three deliveries later, Nayeem got Mitchell.With a mid-off in place, Mitchell stepped out to hit Nayeem over his head but didn’t get the required distance. Mehidy, halfway back at long-on, ran across to his left and dived sideways to complete the catch. Mitchell fell for 18, ending a sixth-wicket stand of 49 off 60 balls with Phillips.Nayeem also had Mitchell Santner nicking to slip in his second over, reducing New Zealand to 97 for 7. But Phillips kept going, with even umpire Rod Tucker not being spared. In the 26th over, he pulled one forcefully towards square leg where the ball hit Tucker just above his left knee. In the same over, he hit Nayeem for a six and a four. The boundary brought up his half-century, off just 38 balls.He and Kyle Jamieson added 55 off only 53 deliveries, of which Jamieson contributed 20. Phillips and Tim Southee then took New Zealand past Bangladesh’s total before the innings came to an end. The visitors’ last five wickets smashed 134 runs at a run rate of 5.25, the highest for 100 or more runs for the last five wickets where the first five fell within 50 runs (where data is available).Ajaz Patel then had Mahmudul Hasan Joy nicking to slip the third ball of Bangladesh’s second innings. Zakir Hasan and Najmul Hossain Shanto stroked a few boundaries after that, before Shanto chipped Southee to mid-off in what turned out to be the penultimate ball of the day.

أتم مجلس إدارة نادي الزمالك، برئاسة حسين لبيب، التعاقد رسميًا مع ثنائي جديد لتدعيم صفوف فريق كرة اليد الأول بالقلعة البيضاء خلال الموسم الجديد.

وتعاقد الزمالك مع الشقيقين محمد عدلان وعمر عدلان، لاعبي طلائع الجيش، لتدعيم صفوف الفريق الأول لكرة اليد بالنادي خلال الموسم الجديد.

طالع.. رسميًا | الزمالك يعلن رحيل لاعبه

ويُعد انضمام الثنائي إضافة قوية للفريق الأبيض، في إطار خطة الإدارة لتجديد الدماء ودعم الفريق بعناصر شابة وواعدة استعدادًا للاستحقاقات المقبلة.

وقاد هشام نصر، نائب رئيس الزمالك، ورامي نصوحي عضو مجلس الإدارة المفاوضات مع نادي طلائع الجيش والثنائي من أجل ضمهما حيث تلقيا عروضًا خلال الأيام الماضية.

يُذكر أن محمد عدلان من مواليد 2006، بينما وُلد عمر عدلان عام 2004، ويأمل الجهاز الفني في أن يشكّل اللاعبان إضافة قوية للفريق خلال المرحلة المقبلة.

يحاول ريو نجوموها النجم الشاب لنادي ليفربول التعلم أكثر من خلال تدريباته مع الفريق وتواجده بين اللاعبين الكبار هذا الصيف.

ويعد نجوموها جزءًا من قائمة ليفربول المكونة من 29 لاعبًا والمتواجدة حاليًا في هونج كونج لخوض أولى مباريات الفريق التحضيرية للموسم الجديد في آسيا.

اقرأ أيضًا.. حقيقة تقديم بايرن ميونخ عرضًا جديدًا لضم لويس دياز.. وموقف رودريجو مع ليفربول

وكان ليفربول قد حقق فوزًا وديًا ساحقًا على ستوك سيتي بخماسية نظيفة وسجل نجوموها هدفًا.

وفي تصريحاته للموقع الرسمي لنادي ليفربول كشف نجم الفريق الشاب عن قدوته في عالم كرة القدم: “محمد صلاح قدوتي وأنا أتعلم الكثير منه حقاً”.

وأضاف: “أشعر أن تجربة تدريبي مع الفريق لا توصف حقاً، التدريب مع أفضل فريق في العالم في سن مبكر جداً هو بمثابة حلم لكل طفل”.

وواصل: “إنه لأمر مذهل، التدريب هنا في هونج كونج، إنه مكان جميل والجلسات التدريبية مكثفة وصعبة، لكن كلاعب كرة قدم تحب التدريب واللعب في الملعب كل يوم، لذا كان الأمر رائعًا للغاية”.

وتابع: “التدريب مع أفضل فريق في العالم، اللاعبون الذين تتدرب معهم، تتعلم منهم وتختبر نفسك أمامهم، لقد كان أمرًا رائعًا”.

واختتم: “الصبر مفتاح النجاح، لا أريد التسرع في أي شيء، أنا شاب، فقط واصل العمل الجاد وابذل قصارى جهدك وأظهر للمدرب ما أستطيع فعله حقاً وأؤثر على الفريق”.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has made a change to the offside rule paying heed to a Swedish third-tier side's persistence

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Swedish club persistence led to adjustmentOffside rule footnote correctedClub elated to bring more clarity to the ruleFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

In 2023, Torns IF found a loophole in the footnote of the offside rule and took the matter to IFAB. The Swedish side pursued the matter for two years until finally the IFAB clarified the footnote and removed the loophole. The technical director of IFAB, David Elleray, thanked Torns for pursuing this matter and bringing the loophole under the spotlight.

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According to the footnote of the offside rule, the first point of contact of the 'play' or 'touch' of the ball should be used to determine offside. This meant that if a player were to stay in a position, control the ball firmly between his feet, wait for a forward to make a run, and then make a 'delayed' scoop pass to him, it would not have counted as offside. This is because the first contact was when the player initially controlled the ball. The error was outright visible, which prompted the Swedish team to bring the matter in front of IFAB. The board first dismissed the case, but after constant persuasion they gave in and chose to remove the loophole by clarifying the footnote.

DID YOU KNOW?

Torns' social media account made a video of the loophole and uploaded it to their YouTube handle back in 2023. The video went viral soon, which initially prompted IFAB to look into the case. Although finding the loophole "amusing," the board went on to change the wording after Torns' relentless convincing.

After IFAB's changes to the rule, Torns' player Tim Nielsen said: "IFAB required some convincing, but we got there in the end."

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gettyWHAT NEXT FOR IFAB?

Nielsen was elated to have played a part in bringing a change to the rule stating the board needed convincing but he highlighted that such a change wouldn't have been possible without the increased clarity brought to matches by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). However, VAR has often been cited to cause delay in decision-making for on-field referees as well. The injury to Taiwo Awoniyi of Nottingham Forest is one such incident, and the IFAB will aim to make VAR more efficient in the years to come.

The game was reduced to 44 overs per side owing to a two-hour rain delay and India fell short by 40 runs

S Sudarshanan16-Jul-2023The theme of low-scoring matches from the T20I series spilled over to the opening ODI in Mirpur in Bangladesh’s first ever win over India in the fifty-over format. While it was the Bangladesh spinners that troubled India in the T20Is, a fiery Marufa Akter proved to be too hot to handle in the first ODI as India were bowled out for 113 and lost by 40 runs.Marufa struck twice with the new ball and twice in successive deliveries in the middle overs as she finished with four wickets in her first ODI in Bangladesh. She stunned India with high pace as well as movement to break the back of the chase and register her best figures in international cricket. Legspinner Rabeya Khan then chipped in with three middle-order wickets to puncture the chase.This was after Amanjot Kaur, on ODI debut, picked up a four-wicket haul to restrict Bangladesh to 152 under overcast conditions.Chasing a revised target of 154, thanks to the rain during Bangladesh’s innings, India began on a positive note with Smriti Mandhana striking Marufa for crisp fours through midwicket in back-to-back overs. But soon, the fast bowler got one back, getting Mandhana caught behind, thanks to a full-stretch diving take by wicketkeeper Nigar Sultana. Priya Punia, playing her first ODI since March 2021, took 27 balls for her ten before flicking one off Marufa to mid-on, where Murshida Khatun ran in and took a diving catch.While Marufa was cranking up the pace from one end, Nigar kept on rotating the spinners from the other to keep the pressure on India. Left-arm spinner Nahida Akter trapped Harmanpreet Kaur lbw a ball after she was carved through backward point for four to have India at 37 for 3 after ten overs. Soon, Rabeya struck twice – first by bowling Yastika Bhatia and then by getting Jemimah Rodrigues. The slowness of the surface came into play when Rodrigues was a touch early into the pull and skied a catch to mid-on.Deepti Sharma, along with Amanjot, then raised the hopes for India. On Amanjot’s T20I debut – where she was the Player of the Match – the pair had stitched what eventually turned out to be a match-winning partnership. On Sunday, the duo looked fairly at easy and rotated strike to keep the scorecard ticking. They took 71 balls for their 30-run alliance with Amanjot using the sweep and flick to good effect in countering the low bounce.But Nigar brought back Marufa, who duly delivered. Amanjot looked to slice a full ball and was ruled out caught behind – a decision she was not happy about and had a chat with the on-field umpire while walking back. From 91 for 5, India were reduced to 91 for 8 with Marufa first toppling Sneh Rana with an indipping full ball before Deepti pulled a shortish ball from Rabeya to midwicket.Bangladesh only tightened the screws thereon to dismiss Pooja Vastrakar, who got a contentious caught-behind decision, and B Anusha to signal the celebration that could go on all evening in Mirpur.Earlier, wet outfield owing to early morning rain delayed toss by 20 minutes and the start of play by ten. A horrendous mix-up following a slow start saw the returning Sharmin Akter run-out for an 18-ball duck. Amanjot then dismissed Murshida in the next over before Fargana Hoque and Nigar led the resurrection on either side of a long rain delay. The pair added 49 for the third wicket but 52 of the 74 balls in the partnership were dot balls, which allowed the Indian bowlers to dictate terms. While Nigar and Fargana managed to regularly find the boundary before the rain break, that was not the case upon resumption.As a result, Fargana fell caught behind in an attempt to force the pace against Amanjot’s length ball. Soon Ritu Moni mistimed a pull off Devika Vaidya’s legspin to fall to a superb catch at midwicket from Rodrigues. But Nigar kept the scorecard moving before she missed a flick to be trapped lbw. Amanjot completed her four-for when Rabeya chipped one to covers.A 26-run stand between Fahima Khatun and Sultana Khatun pushed Bangladesh towards 150 with Shorna Akter absent hurt on her ODI debut. A grand total of 19 wides also aided the cause as Bangladesh’s 152 eventually proved enough on a slow-burner.Shorna misses outOne bad news for Bangladesh, however, was that Shorna Akter missed the entirety of her ODI debut after she suffered from stomach pain on Sunday. Shorna was taken to the hospital before she could bat, and missed the entire second innings as she was kept under observation in the hospital.”She suddenly felt pain in her abdomen,” Touhid Mahmud, BCB’s in-charge of the women’s wing department, said. “She was immediately taken to the hospital. The doctor there initially thought that the pain was due to appendicitis, but she was cleared of it. If she feels better, she will be available for the second match.”After their 40-run win, Bangladesh captain Nigar said that they missed Shorna in their batting but hoped for her swift return. “It was a sudden issue. She is under observation. She was unlucky. We are also unlucky not to get her. If she feels better, we might get her in the next match,” Nigar said.

Simon Harmer claimed the 14th ten-wicket match haul of his career as he helped Essex to a nine-wicket victory that catapulted them into second place in the Division One table.The South African off-spinner had played a key part in dismissing Warwickshire for 158 in the first innings with his 32nd five-wicket haul for the county, and he added No.33 second time around. He bowled unchanged from the River End throughout the 94 overs of Warwickshire’s second innings for match figures of 10 for 230. He now has 36 wickets this season.However, it was not all plain sailing for Harmer and his team-mates. That Essex did not have the win wrapped up much earlier was down to two lower-order half-century stands, both involving Yorkshire loanee Dom Bess (63).He shared 82 runs from 75 balls with Dan Mousley (61) for the seventh wicket, and 64 runs for the ninth with Jake Lintott, whose T20-esque hitting garnered him a career-best 78.The three of them helped take Warwickshire past and then beyond the total needed to make Essex bat for a second time. The Bears were eventually all out for 381, leaving Essex requiring 83 from a minimum of 122 overs.In the end they needed just 15 of them as Sir Alastair Cook (23 not out) and Tom Westley (12 not out) saw them over the line under leaden Chelmsford skies, reaching the target with four byes. However, en route they lost the aggressive Feroze Khushi who hit two sixes and five fours in a 46-ball 40 before chipping up to bat-pad off the ubiquitous Bess.The back-to-back home wins provided ample amends for Essex’s only defeat in the LV= Insurance County Championship this season in the corresponding fixture at Edgbaston last month.With 299 the target to make Essex bat again, Rob Yates and Will Rhodes, the not-out overnight pair, looked as if they were going to dig in until Christmas. They knocked off 31 in the first 55 minutes of the third day.However, the early tension in the home camp was eased when Jamie Porter brought one in from outside off-stump to Rhodes and Will Buttleman took the catch down legside. Rhodes batted for 118 balls for his 46.Five overs later, Yates became Harmer’s 400th first-class wicket for Essex when the left-hander leaned forward tentatively and fell to another catch behind.Warwickshire sent in Ed Barnard to break up the left-handed sequence at the top of the order. He did not last long, dollying a leading edge off Doug Bracewell to mid-off.Jacob Bethell had looked composed, driving the majority of his seven fours through the covers, but he departed to a bat-pad catch off Matt Critchley for 36. Three balls on, the leg-spinner who has gained a reputation this season as a ‘golden arm’, also accounted for Michael Burgess, caught by a diving Cook at slip.The 21-year-old Mousley reached his fourth Championship fifty of the season during a Harmer over from which he plundered 18 runs.However, as so often, Harmer had his revenge when Mousley charged down the wicket in an attempt to land a fourth maximum and was stumped by several country miles. His disgust with himself was plain to see.Hassan Ali cracked Critchley for a six but his was a short stay as he picked out Khushi at deep midwicket to give Harmer his fourth wicket of the innings.Eight-down, Warwickshire were then still 30 runs away from returning Essex to the crease, but Bess reached a well-deserved fifty just before that breakthrough point was reached in the 83rd over. He departed in an eventful over from Porter in which he hooked a six, was dealt a painful blow in the solar plexus and nicked behind.Lintott’s maiden first-class fifty came at a run-a-ball and had Essex struggling to defend the boundary, His free-wheeling innings of 14 fours and two sixes was ended when Khushi held on in the deep to provide Harmer with another match-ball for his burgeoning collection.

Sheffield United slipped up on Monday night when Leeds United came to town with the Whites running out as 3-1 victors in the Championship.

But, the ball is firmly in the Blades’ court next match with a trip to Queens Park Rangers giving them a perfect opportunity to bounce back, with third-placed Burnley not playing this coming Saturday owing to the FA Cup.

Chris Wilder will know that even if his team do move up to the Premier League once more, a number of his top talents could still be poached, with that gutting reality happening to the Blades under Paul Heckingbottom before the cursed 2023/24 season got underway as Sander Berge departed.

Sander Berge's time at Sheffield United

This news would have been a bitter pill to swallow, considering Berge had become a real fan’s favourite in South Yorkshire after a £22m move from KRC Genk.

In total, the Norwegian notched up 109 appearances at Bramall Lane across four campaigns, with his most impactful season coming right at the death in terms of goals and assists.

Berge helped himself to a stunning six goals and five assists across 37 league games to steer his side to automatic promotion glory, taking his overall tally to 15 strikes and 12 assists, before a move to Turf Moor then materialised.

But, it was his well-rounded game from the middle of the park that would have really caught the eye of the devoted Bramall Lane masses, with 4.3 duels won per second-tier clash that season when the Nordic ace had to roll his sleeves up and put in some gritty displays.

The ex-United number 8 has since solidified himself as a Premier League calibre star at Fulham, with a current midfield talent in Wilder’s ranks hopeful he can make an impression on the top-flight soon as the 57-year-old’s very own Berge.

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Chris Wilder's new version of Sander Berge

Coincidentally, United now have another star taking the Championship by storm having also been purchased from Belgium.

That man was Vinicius Souza who left Lommel S.K. behind in the summer of 2023 for a fresh challenge in England.

Wolverhampton Wanderers were reportedly interested at one stage too, but the South Yorkshire side would win their desired Brazilian who has slotted in perfectly to Championship football this campaign so far.

The 25-year-old might not possess the same flair in terms of providing goals or assists when comparing his overall game to Berge’s, but Souza didn’t look out of his depth completely during United’s bottom-of-the-table top-flight finish.

He won a sizeable 6.1 duels during his debut Premier League season, more than making up for just one goal finding the back of the net.

The £30k-per-week ace still hasn’t come alive with his output in the division below, but he continues to be a brute centrally, with Wilder going as far to say that Souza is a “leader” for his side with his constant full-blooded displays.

Looking at the table above, it’s clear Souza prides himself on being dogged and determined with his duels won bumped up to seven in the second tier, but he is also capable of being a classy operator on the ball.

That was seen in United’s devastating 3-1 loss to Leeds – despite the final score being a kick in the teeth – with 32 accurate passes alongside three successful dribbles to try and make something happen from the middle.

Wilder will just hope Souza’s efforts can help his team climb back up to the Premier League like Berge managed, but there will be a concern this tale plays out like the Scandinavian’s did with the South American rumoured to be worth around £30m last summer.

Sheffield United's "super signing" is now looking like Brewster 2.0

Sheffield United fans will feel slightly let down by this buy once lauded as outstanding.

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By
Kelan Sarson

Feb 25, 2025