Domestic football returned and we had another busy week of football action. Napoli keep up their amazing run in Italy, Bournemouth’s Premier League debut season is starting to get tough, while Leeds need a new manager. Again. To help with understanding you can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below.[print_link] | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the UglyThis week’s football review – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Napoli, Bournemouth and Leeds
Good
Serie A club Napoli moved into fourth place in the Italian top division after defeating former leaders Fiorentina at the weekend. The Naples club, under new manager Maurizio Sarri, have now defeated Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina in their last three matches and have moved up to fourth place in the table. Title winners? We didn’t think so in our pre-season preview but who knows now!
Bad
Bournemouth have not enjoyed their debut Premier League season as much as they had hoped and it seems to be turning sour for the Cherries. The injury list for the south coast side appears to be getting longer with no less than 6 first-team players out – many of them long term. They were soundly thrashed 1-5 by Manchester City at the weekend and things are looking bad for Eddie Howe’s men.
Ugly
English Championship side Leeds United have appointed Steve Evans as their new manager – their sixth since April 2014 – as chairman Massimo Cellino tries to find a winning formula. The new manager feels that the former powerhouse of the English game, who currently lie in 18th place in the second tier of English football, can return to the top division but with the manager’s position at Elland Road clearly a precarious one I wonder how long it is until manager number seven is in place there?
Vocabulary
Title winners? Can the team win the league?
to be turning sour: Not going so well
the Cherries: The nickname of Bournemouth
6 first-team players out: 6 players are unavailable to play (out of action)
soundly thrashed: Badly beaten
Eddie Howe’s men: The manager of Bournemouth is Eddie Howe so this phrase refers to the team
to find a winning formula: Searching for the best way to win
the second tier: The division below the Premier League
precarious: Unstable
