Marc Guehi has hailed the impact made by England defensive colleague Harry Maguire both on and off the pitch.
Maguire has fallen out of favour at Manchester United and was goaded by Scotland fans after coming off the bench and scoring an own goal in England’s 3-1 win at Hampden Park last month.
Despite losing both the United captaincy and his place in Erik ten Hag’s side, the 30-year-old centre-back has retained the faith of international boss Gareth Southgate.
Maguire revealed ahead of the upcoming friendly clash with Australia that former England captain David Beckham had been in touch after the mockery north of the border.
Team-mates have also rallied around the former Leicester defender and Guehi – who Maguire replaced at half-time in Glasgow – was the latest to praise his contribution.
“He is a top professional, a great guy to have around the camp, one of the leaders,” he told BBC Radio 5Live.
“I think people forget things very quickly, but he was Manchester United captain, someone who has played for England at many, many top competitions and has helped the team and the nation to get where they are today.
“So, let’s not forget what he has done in a hurry because he is definitely a top player and an even better person for sure.”
Guehi has partnered Maguire at the heart of Southgate’s defence in two of the last three Euro 2024 qualifiers.
The 23-year-old Crystal Palace defender has worn the armband for England at youth level, but is still aiming to improve as a leader.
“I am very wary of my limitations of a leader I would say,” he said.
“I think I have a lot of qualities, but there is definitely a lot of things that I can get better at and definitely will get better at.
“Every day is a learning process, learning from the players around me, learning from coaches and try and improve those leadership qualities every day.
“You can’t always be perfect. I am definitely aware of that myself. I see them in myself every day, but they are definitely things I want to work at. I know I am getting better at them as long as I keep working on them each day.”
Asked what he felt he needed to work on, Guehi added: “Sometimes I can be frustrated, which is human nature and trying to work on that and trying not to show as much as possible, because I think when you are a leader people feed off that.
“If they see you are frustrated that can allow them to be frustrated. So, trying to stay as calm as possible in the toughest of situations, I would say that is definitely one of those.”
Serie A side Genoa confirm sacking of head coach Gilardino
Serie A side Genoa have confirmed the departure of their head coach Alberto Gilardino, with Patrick Vieira reportedly on his way in.
Gilardino, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, leaves the club with them sitting just one point above the relegation size with 10 points from 12 matches this season.
A former striker who played for clubs including Genoa, Parma, AC Milan and Fiorentina, Gilardino took charge of Genoa in 2022 and helped them earn promotion to the top division before a 11th-place finish during the 2023-24 season.
"The club thanks Gilardino for the goals achieved together over the years and wishes him the best for his career," Genoa said in a statement.
The 42-year-old saw his side salvage a late 1-1 draw against Cesc Fabregas' Como in their last match before the international break.
Genoa were also knocked out of the Coppa Italia in the second round following a defeat to Sampdoria on penalties in September.
Arsenal legend Vieira is set to replace him, according to multiple reports.
The former France midfielder has been out of work since leaving Strasbourg by mutual consent in July.
Doncic backs Mbappe to turn fortunes around at Real Madrid
NBA superstar Luka Doncic has backed Kylian Mbappe to "figure it out" after his underwhelming start to life at Real Madrid.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 16 games for Madrid in all competitions since joining as a free agent following the expiration of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
He has gone four matches without a goal – a run that includes losses to Barcelona and Milan – and has been left out of France's latest squad.
However, Dallas Mavericks guard Doncic – a Real Madrid supporter due to his previous ties with the sports club – can see Mbappe turning things around.
"Obviously [their season] could be better," Doncic told Managing Madrid after the Mavericks' win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
"But when you get a guy like Mbappe, it takes some time to get used to it. We'll figure it out."
Mbappe has scored six goals in 11 LaLiga appearances for Madrid but has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04.
The forward is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes for PSG in his last of seven seasons in Paris.
Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last time out in the league to return to winning ways but still trail leaders Barcelona by six points.
Asked about his connections with Madrid, former Los Blancos basketball player Doncic said: "I follow Real Madrid every time.
"I grew up there. They taught me everything, so it's a part of my life. You can call it a secondary home.
"I learned a lot of stuff there and, especially, they gave me a way to be here right now [in Dallas]. I always appreciate that 100%."
Madrid return to action after the international break with a trip to Leganes on Sunday.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
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