Brighton captain Lewis Dunk revealed he emerged from the “carnage” of Roberto De Zerbi’s first fortnight in charge to earn back his place among an England squad he now feels has the belief to win trophies.
The centre-back is hoping to pick up just his second senior England cap, five years after he made his debut in a 3-0 friendly win over the United States.
Dunk has fully deserved a recall after fine form at club-level saw Seagulls head coach De Zerbi describe the 31-year-old as one of the top five defenders in Europe.
Having represented Brighton from their time in the third tier all the way up to captaining the team to a sixth-place Premier League finish and qualification to the Europa League last year, Dunk has seen plenty in his time at his hometown club.
But he admits the change in approach brought about by De Zerbi’s appointment to replace Chelsea-bound Graham Potter last year was a challenge – albeit one that was ultimately rewarding for club and skipper alike.
“Football-wise, since the new manager at Brighton has come in I see football in a completely different way, I picture it in a different way and that is the biggest thing,” he said.
“Football is not what I thought it was. Just how we play now. The idea of what I did before, I thought it made sense. But when you learn something completely different, you believe in it and this makes sense. You think ‘why didn’t I know this?’ and ‘why didn’t I do this before?’ That is just what it is.
“If I am being honest, honest answer the first couple of weeks were horrendous… I wouldn’t say horrendous, they were baffling.
“He (De Zerbi) knows that, we have spoken about it and he knew that at the time, coming in, not speaking English, speaking through a translator.
“Training changed dramatically, we work on a lot of different stuff now and the first couple of weeks were a really hard transition, especially I think we were fourth in the league when Graham left and we were flying with him, and it was a strange time for him to go and then Roberto came in and (it was) carnage for two weeks.”
De Zerbi prefers a methodical, planned approach which requires all of his players – especially defenders – to be comfortable in possession of the ball.
“It’s rehearsed – don’t worry about that,” Dunk added when asked if such tactics – which have led to famous wins over Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal – are risky.
“We rehearse it every day. That is our training. I couldn’t play his position, but now know every position on the pitch and where they should be. The time they should move and what angles they should give. So yes, we see it every day and it makes life simpler.”
Dunk earned his England recall in June, but injury forced him to pull out of the squad to face Malta and North Macedonia in Euro 2024 qualifiers.
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Manager Gareth Southgate has kept faith in Dunk, however, and he is back again at the first time of asking.
“I’m completely different person and a different player,” he said.
“I’m five years older, five years wiser and I’ve learnt a lot football-wise and life-wise in those five years, like you do.
“I’m a different person now and come here with a different confidence that I probably didn’t come with before.”
Asked what was the biggest difference he noticed between the last time he trained alongside Southgate and his players at St George’s Park to now, Dunk added: “We had a meeting the other day and he’s talking about winning the Euros and the whole squad is thinking about winning the Euros.
“So I would say that’s the big change in mentality. It’s not ‘how far can we get in a tournament’. It’s winning a tournament.
“So that is probably the biggest change I’ve seen coming back. It’s ‘we will win this tournament. We want to win this tournament’. That’s what we’re going there to do and being around these top players. I can see why he is saying that and why England can win.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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