England boss Thomas Tuchel defended the inclusion of Ivan Toney in his latest squad and Liverpool’s Arne Slot called on the club’s fans to support Trent Alexander-Arnold at their Premier League trophy presentation.
Arsenal Women boss Renee Slegers said her side was not just making up the numbers in their Champions League final against heavy favourites Barcelona.
And Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou hinted at a third season in charge during the club’s Europa League trophy parade.
Toney deserves England place – Tuchel
Tuchel says Toney deserves his place in the England squad after surprisingly recalling the Saudi Arabia-based striker.
After kicking off his reign with World Cup qualification wins against Albania and Latvia, the head coach is preparing for June’s Group K game against Andorra and City Ground friendly at home to Senegal.
Tuchel plumped for a 26-man selection for his second camp in charge, with Toney, 29, called up for the first time since leaving Brentford for Al-Ahli after helping England reach the Euro 2024 final.
“Ivan deserves to be with us, I think,” Tuchel said. “I’m convinced because he scored over 20 goals for Al-Ahli this season. He’s won a major title with the Asian Champions League, had a big involvement in the team with goals and assists and a huge contribution.”
Slot urges fans to support TAA
Liverpool head coach Slot has called on fans to put their grievances over Alexander-Arnold’s departure to one side for the Premier League champions’ coronation.
Former captain Alan Hansen will hand over the trophy to current skipper Virgil van Dijk after Sunday’s final match of the season against FA Cup winners Crystal Palace.
It will be 35 years and 24 days since Hansen himself lifted what was then the Division One trophy in front of a full Kop, and the first time fans will have seen it in person since then as the 2020 ceremony took place in an empty stadium because of Covid regulations.
Slot said: “Everyone in the stadium deserves to be there: the fans, the staff but also the players. And one of my players is Trent, so he definitely deserves to be there as well because he has been part of an incredibly successful season and incredibly successful few years at this club.”
Slegers: Arsenal here to win
Slegers insisted underdogs Arsenal “are here to win” and called for bravery from her side ahead of their Women’s Champions League final against holders Barcelona in Lisbon on Saturday.
Barca have lifted the trophy on three out of the last four occasions, while there has not been an English winner since the Gunners did it themselves to seal a quadruple in the 2006-07 season.
Just 90 minutes now stand between the Women’s Super League runners-up and what that competition’s serial winners Chelsea – Champions League runners-up to the Spanish giants in 2021 – have yet to achieve.
Slegers said: “We want to show courage. We respect Barcelona as a team. They’re a really, really good football team, so we’re very humble for the occasion, but also we are here to win and we have to find ways to win.”
Postecoglou teases third season at Spurs bus parade
Postecoglou teased a potential third season at Tottenham as thousands of fans serenaded him and the club’s Europa League heroes at a euphoric open-top bus parade.
Two days after Brennan Johnson’s 42nd-minute winner in Bilbao fired Spurs to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United, the players to end a 17-year trophy drought were back in north London.
A white double-decker bus with ‘Europa League winners’ written across the front started in Edmonton Green at 5.30pm before it moved down the High Road to chants of ‘glory, glory Tottenham Hotspur’ from supporters young and old.
Postecoglou hailed his players and told fans: “They did it all for you, because you deserve it. This club deserves it. And I’ll tell you something, I’ll leave you with this – all the best television series, season three is better than season two. Thank you.”
What’s on today?
Underdogs Arsenal hope to cause an upset in the Women’s Champions League final against holders Barcelona in Lisbon.
Celtic will bid to complete another treble and a third straight Scottish Cup final win when they take on Aberdeen at Hampden Park and Sheffield United go head-to-head with Sunderland for Premier League promotion in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final.
