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• Postecoglou reminiscent of Pochettino, says former Tottenham defender Dawson

  Ange Postecoglou is a coach in the same style as Mauricio Pochettino so says Michael Dawson, who is excited by the Australian's appointment at Tottenham.

  Tottenham's long search for a new coach took them to Celtic's door, and Postecoglou this week signed a four-year contract.

  That came on the back of the former Australia coach leading the Hoops to the treble in Scotland in 2022-23.

  And former Spurs defender Dawson thinks Postecoglou will end up being an ideal fit.

  Speaking to Stats Perform at an exclusive launch event for Club and Nike Members held at Alexandra Palace, Dawson said: "I think it's a really positive appointment with Ange Postecoglou.

  "What he did at Celtic, but not just there. I think what he did in Australia and then Japan, people were wondering, how would he actually settle in [at Celtic], how would his style of playing get implemented.

  "He's certainly done that Celtic. So now he has to come to our club and do the same. I do believe it's a lot harder because the Premier League, in my opinion, is the best league in the world.

  "But he's done in Scotland and now he'll want to come and come to England and do it again at a massive football club. I'm sure he's delighted to get the opportunity to work in the Premier League, and at Spurs and work with a group of young players that are in the building and try and improve them like he certainly did at Celtic."

  Indeed, Dawson believes the 57-year-old's approach will be similar to that of Pochettino, who led Spurs to multiple top four finishes and a Champions League final during his stint in charge.

  "Daniel [Levy's] gone out and made the manager clear that he wanted to play an attacking style of football," said Dawson.

  "I looked at 2014, when I was at the club when Pochettino came through the door. You try and implement your style of what you want with a group of players then try and get the best out of that players and the right personnel to play in the right formation.

  "[Postecoglou] plays with a 4-3-3 and with his fullbacks inverted, and they overload the midfield. Players will be on holiday and go away on international duty, but certainly when the first day of pre-season comes he'll be trying to get the message across."

  Spurs finished eighth and failed to qualify for a European competition, and Dawson knows they must be targeting much better.

  "I look at the Spurs team and the players that we've got at the top of the field with Harry Kane, one of the best strikers in the world," he added.

  "He's done it for many years and he will keep doing it. He's an absolute genius, world-class, Spurs' all-time goalscorer, England's all-time goalscorer and he will keep doing that because he's relentless. 

  "Son [Heung-min], [Dejan] Kulusevski, Richarlison; it's now about getting the best out of these players to try and get us back to where I believe we should be and that's in the Champions League.

  "There's no there's no hiding, it was a disappointing season. We looked at 12 months ago when we ended the last two games by beating Arsenal and finishing in the Champions League, it was great. This year we've come up short. The players know that and now you always get another chance."

• Expanded competitions threaten well-being of ‘pushed to limit’ players – report

  The expanded Champions League and Club World Cup pose a threat to the well-being of players who are already being “pushed to the limit” in the current calendar, according to a new report.

  The men’s Player Workload Monitoring (PWM) report for the 2022-23 season from world players’ union FIFPRO has projected that changes to both competitions from the 2024-25 season could lead to an 11 per cent increase in the number of matches top players are involved in.

  It looked at the example of Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota, whose 64 games for club and country in 2021-22 could rise to 72 in 2024-25.

  The new 36-team Champions League would involve a team playing up to 17 matches from the league phase through to the final – four more than the current 13.

  The new 32-team Club World Cup, due to be played every four years from the summer of 2025 onwards, could involve seven extra matches for the teams reaching the final.

  The tournament has the backing of the European Club Association, but the World Leagues Forum – currently chaired by Premier League chief executive Richard Masters – is opposed to the plans.

  The PWM report said: “The Club World Cup is expected to take place in June-July, which is just after the end of the long club season for the majority of participants.

  “This will undoubtedly further decrease the off-season rest period for many players and raise concerns about their ability to fully recover in time for the new season. In addition, high travel load will also be associated to the tournament.

  “The reforms of the two major tournaments will ultimately increase the number of games played by top players who could conceivably feature in both.

  “This poses a threat to the well-being of players who are already pushed to their limit with the current international match calendar.”

  The report found Manchester United and Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes played 74 per cent of his matches ‘back to back’ – without a gap of at least five days in between, including 20 consecutive back-to-back matches.

  Chelsea’s January recruit Enzo Fernandez played 70 per cent of his matches back to back.

  That was despite the midfielder having no off-season rest at all last summer, having played a first friendly for Benfica just eight days after competing in the Copa Libertadores for Argentinian club River Plate.

  He also only had a nine-day break between featuring in the World Cup final for Argentina and reporting back for club duty.

  The report also compared the workload of young players from the current generation to their predecessors.

  It found England midfielder Jude Bellingham has already played 14,445 minutes in his professional career before the age of 20, while Wayne Rooney had only played 10,989 minutes before his 20th birthday.

• Liverpool buy back their former Melwood training ground for women’s team to use

  Liverpool have bought back their former Melwood training ground for their women’s team to use.

  The men’s first team vacated the site in West Derby in the city in November 2020 for a new build at their existing academy base in Kirkby.

  Amid local protests, proposals were in place for the land to be turned into a modern, multi-generational housing complex by affordable housing group Torus but after the Robbie Fowler-Jamie Carragher academy moved in plans started to change, which has ultimately resulted in the club re-purchasing their former home.

  As part of the move, the crest of the LFC Women’s team, which has previously trained at Tranmere’s base on the Wirral, will move to the official club crest to closer align the two operations.

  “This is a truly historic moment for Liverpool Football Club and the continued desire of the LFC Women’s board to elevate and develop our women’s first team and category one professional game academy,” said Liverpool’s managing director Andy Hughes.

  “We also have an opportunity to further develop the use of the site to support the local community by using it as an additional base for LFC Foundation.

  “We are delighted that FEFA (Fowler Education and Football Academy) will continue to use the site for its college that provides sport and educational opportunities for young people.

  “We have always taken the views of the local community seriously and we look forward to re-engaging with them in the near future.”

  Torus will use the funds from the sale of Melwood to build much-needed homes across Merseyside.

  Developments also continue apace at Anfield where the 282-tonne roof of the old Anfield Road stand has been removed to make way for the completion of the new stand which is due to open for the start of next season and expand the ground’s capacity to 61,000.