John Stones is confident Manchester City will continue to perform at an elite level following a period of change, with the Premier League champions recruiting the likes of Erling Haaland and Kalvin Phillips amid the departures of several big names.
Meanwhile, Stones' City and England team-mate Phil Foden has hailed Pep Guardiola's style of management as the biggest factor in creating a harmonious atmosphere at the Etihad Stadium.
Having clinched a second consecutive Premier League title – their fourth in six seasons under Guardiola – with an exhilarating comeback victory over Aston Villa in May, City have used the transfer market to kick-start an evolution of their squad.
Haaland and Phillips represent City's two marquee signings during the off-season, while the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fernandinho have all sought pastures new.
While Stones told the club's website he was sorry to see some of their most storied players depart, he is confident City's new arrivals will keep Guardiola's team competitive.
"I'm always confident we can be successful," Stones said. "Whoever has come in, they have always been great from the start.
"We obviously spend that much time together and get to know people on a personal level first and then we go out on the training pitch and see what they can bring and the quality they have.
"Whoever has come in has stepped up. It's sad to see people go, whether it is retirement or wanting a new challenge and that's hard because we have so many good friends and good memories on the pitch, but we won’t forget those.
"But that’s football, there is always new people coming in and it is credit to the backroom staff and people involved in recruiting that the character fit of players that have come in do so well in the team."
Haaland's arrival should provide City with the focal point they missed at times last term – Kevin De Bruyne top-scored with 15 league goals for a side that shared the attacking burden during 2021-22.
Meanwhile, Phillips appears the ideal Fernandinho replacement in midfield after making more recoveries per 90 minutes (10.16) than any other outfield player to make a minimum of 15 Premier League appearances last season.
The intense competition for places at the Etihad was suggested as the reason for both Jesus and Sterling departing for domestic rivals in Arsenal and Chelsea respectively.
But Guardiola handed at least 900 minutes of Premier League football to 18 different players last campaign, a tally only bettered by four clubs, and Foden has hailed the tactician for his approach to squad management.
"He's really good at it, bringing everyone together," the creative midfielder said. "We have a big squad and everyone has to be ready to play.
"You see that all year round, everyone has to be ready to step up. Everyone sticking together in moments like those is so important and that's why we win a lot of trophies."
'It's a Ferrari, you just need the right driver' – ex-FIFA referee defends VAR amid Liverpool row
Former FIFA referee Duarte Gomes has leapt to the defence of VAR amid the furore surrounding Liverpool's Premier League defeat to Tottenham, calling the technology's introduction "the best thing to happen to football".
The use of VAR is a hot topic in the English top flight again after Luis Diaz was incorrectly denied a goal in Liverpool's 2-1 loss to in-form Spurs.
Darren England – the VAR official on duty at the time – misunderstood the on-field call to chalk the goal off for offside, inadvertently clearing an incorrect decision.
Liverpool have reacted furiously to the incident, which played a part in their first defeat of the season, with boss Jurgen Klopp suggesting the game should be replayed on Wednesday.
However, Gomes – a retired Portuguese referee who officiated in FIFA and UEFA competitions between 2002 and 2016 – says the ability of those using the technology is the issue, not the technology itself.
Speaking to Stats Perform at the Thinking Football Summit, Gomes admitted officials were still adapting to the technology but said it had already righted "thousands" of incorrect decisions.
"I don't have the slightest doubt that it's the best thing that's happened to football and to referees for decades," Gomes said.
"I know that we have a big, long way to run yet. It's not perfect, far from that. People who work with VAR are also learning and they are focused always on their careers as a referee on the pitch.
"The process of decision-making was completely different, and then you put them in a room with many screens and tell them to decide in a different way they have to adjust.
"As with everybody, there are some people who have more competence than others. We are now on that trail to try to be there.
"Nevertheless, in factual decisions, let's say, for example, offsides or with goal-line technology, I believe that around the world, thousands and thousands of goals have been saved or cancelled correctly after VAR.
"So yes, it's good for football. It's a Ferrari, you just have to have the right driver to be there.
"I've made many mistakes with the human eye; penalties, decisions, yellow or red cards, things that I missed. VAR could help me a lot. I would have been a better referee if I had it."
Gomes also believes, however, that technology cannot become all-invasive in football, emphasising the need to preserve the emotional nature of the sport.
"I'm a little concerned about AI in the future, of course also in refereeing matters. I believe it will have an important role," he added.
"Sitting here right now, I don't know if I will have a different way of thinking in 10 years. We are always adjusting, but I believe technology should always help until the point that humans decide.
"Human first, technology after, not the other way around because football is for people. It's played for people, with people, and refereed with people, and that's what gives the emotion.
"If you become very technological, it's very difficult to have an emotional sport and then it will lose many of its values, so yes, technology is always to help, not as a substitute for the referee."
Gomes also feels the rise of social media has had a major impact on the levels of abuse received by officials. In a high-profile incident from last season, Roma boss Jose Mourinho was given a four-match ban by UEFA for angrily confronting referee Anthony Taylor after his team lost the Europa League final.
"I believe it's getting worse because social media gives the right to everybody to criticise, especially the ones who didn't do it with a public voice before," he said.
"Football is a social phenomenon and it's unique because it can put you in a very emotional state, sometimes an irrational state, which is worse.
"You cannot ask people to be reasonable when they have their emotions so strongly attached to their teams and their competitions.
"Sometimes you have to let the balloon go down a little bit and then ask them for some tolerance again. Nobody wants to hear the explanation of law one or law two, [but] you have to do it slowly, you have to try and try."
UK and Ireland bid for Euro 2028 to be unopposed after Turkey withdraw interest
The UK and Ireland will host Euro 2028, subject to final approval from UEFA’s executive committee next week, after Turkey withdrew its interest.
The five-nation bid is now the only option on the table for the finals in five years’ time after Turkey pulled out of contention for the 2028 finals to focus on a joint bid with Italy for Euro 2032.
UEFA will formally announce the hosts for the two tournaments following a meeting of its executive committee in Switzerland next week.
Paul Warne feels win at Blackpool was best display of his Derby tenure
Paul Warne hailed a 3-1 victory at Blackpool as the best display of his year-long Derby tenure as Korey Smith, James Collins and Martyn Waghorn netted for the visitors.
The Rams have now won four of their five away games so far in League One, with only one victory coming at home.
“It’s the proudest I’ve been and probably the best performance since I’ve been here,” Warne said.
“I think away from home I would like 11 speedsters, that’s what I would like in my team. We don’t have 11 speedsters, we have two or three.
“So sometimes away from home you can play counter-attack, you don’t have to have the ball as much, but you have to be deadly when you have it and we have been.
“Our away form has been good. I think we’ve been pretty good at home but we just haven’t taken our chances but tonight we took harder chances than we’ve been creating at home and we’ve missed.”
After a goalless first half, Smith netted in the 54th minute to move Derby ahead, firing Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s cutback into the top of the net.
Collins put the Rams further in front on 71 minutes only for Blackpool to hit straight back as Kenny Dougall headed home.
The Seasiders were inches away from an equaliser when the in-form Jordan Rhodes headed against the bar from 10 yards out.
Substitute Tom Barkhuizen restored Derby’s momentum, first seeing an attempt cleared off the line before teeing up Waghorn for a simple finish to ensure the victory.
Blackpool manager Neil Critchley said: “I’m disappointed about the result but not too downbeat.
“I thought it was a really good game, two good teams on the pitch. Derby changed their system, gave us an enormous amount of respect in the way they set up and produced the perfect away performance by defending in numbers and playing us on the break. And they produced moments of real quality.
“We played some really good football, I enjoyed our performance in the second half. Goals change games, we started the second half well but they scored.
“We hit the crossbar at 2-1. If that goes in the game is different.
“They scored when we were on top in the second half. We could have defended that better, but our players have shown spirit.
“We’ll play worse than that and win this season.”
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