Fermin's 11th-inning single sends the Padres into the playoffs with 5-4 win over the Brewers
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Freddy Fermin singled in automatic runner Bryce Johnson with one out in the 11th inning and the San Diego Padres beat the three-time NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 Monday night to clinch their fourth playoff berth in six seasons.
Fermin, acquired from Kansas City at the trade deadline on July 31, drove the first pitch he saw from Grant Anderson to center field. He tossed his bat aside and then tossed his helmet as he approached first base, setting off a wild celebration in front of a sellout crowd of 42,371 at Petco Park.
The Padres pulled within 2 1/2 games of the idle Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West race and 2 1/2 games behind the idle Chicago Cubs in the race for the National League’s first of three wild card spots.
The Brewers (95-62) clinched their third straight division title on Sunday and are headed to the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons. They are trying to clinch the NL’s No. 1 seed.
Jose Iglesias bunted Johnson to third before Fermin delivered the winning hit.
Each team scored a run in the 10th. The Padres left the bases loaded in their half of the inning.
Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez singled in the tying run with two outs in the seventh and emphatically pumped his fists toward the dugout on his bobblehead night.
The Padres had fallen behind 3-1 in the second before Iglesias started the comeback with a leadoff homer in the fifth off ace Freddy Peralta.
Key moment
Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth had a hand in all three outs in the 11th. He started a rundown that erased automatic runner Andruw Monasterio at third base and then with the bases loaded fielded Jackson Chourio’s grounder to start a 4-3 double play.
Key stat
Arraez has driven in at least one run in four of the last five games with runners in scoring position.
Up next
Brewers LHP Bruce Zimmermann, selected Saturday from Triple-A Nashville, is expected to start against Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (5-7, 3.94).
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/fermins-11th-inning-single-sends-052057681.html
Walk-off lifts Padres to playoffs as Pivetta notches personal best
GettyImages
Walk-off lifts Padres to playoffs as Pivetta notches personal best
originally appeared on The Sporting News
In Monday night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta recorded five strikeouts, raising his season total to 190 — a career high for the nine-year veteran.
San Diego went on to beat Milwaukee 5-4 in extra innings. José Iglesias homered for the Padres, while Christian Yelich drove in two runs for the Brewers. Freddy Fermin delivered the walk-off hit that sealed the win and clinched a postseason berth for San Diego.
Pivetta has put together a career year with the Padres in 2025, posting 13 wins, a 2.87 ERA and 190 strikeouts in 181 2/3 innings. All are personal bests, as is his 5.3 WAR — more than double his previous high of 2.5.
The 32-year-old is under contract with San Diego through 2026. He also holds a player option covering 2027 and 2028 that would pay him $32 million if exercised.
San Diego has now won three straight. Though the Padres remain 2 1/2 games behind the Dodgers with five games left, the NL West title is not out of reach. After wrapping up two more against Milwaukee, the Padres will host the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game series to close the regular season.
If unable to overtake Los Angeles, San Diego is likely to claim the No. 5 seed and face the Chicago White Sox in the opening round at Wrigley Field.
As for Pivetta, he is slated to start the Padres’ final game of the season, though the club may rest him if the NL West title is out of reach.
Has modern football adopted the Allardyce playbook? We asked him
Does football in 2025 owe much to former Bolton manager Sam Allardyce? [Getty Images]
Five minutes are on the clock. The goalkeeper has the ball at his feet. Rather than pass it to a defender, he hits it long. The big striker gets a flick-on. A fellow forward chases it down to go through on goal.
It sounds like football from a bygone era.
But no – this is Manchester United versus Chelsea in the Premier League, 20 September 2025.
With modern coaches placing increased emphasis on set-pieces and ‘going long’, forgoing a possession-based game in favour of a more direct brand of football, it is beginning to feel like we have been here before.
Sam Allardyce guided Bolton Wanderers from the second tier to Europe, before managing a host of other clubs including Newcastle, Blackburn and West Ham, and he did it with a style of football that is becoming a regular sight in the Premier League again.
“We got heavily criticised at the time,” Allardyce tells BBC Sport. “But we were ahead of the game and lots of people, particularly at the bigger clubs, or even the press, were not too complimentary.”
So just what does ‘Big Sam’ make of football in 2025 seemingly adopting the playbook he was enacting more than 20 years ago?
PSG boss Luis Enrique takes in the first half of their Champions League tie against Atalanta from a different angle [Getty Images]
Play #1: Take a high vantage point
When Paris St-Germain began their defence of the Champions League with a win against Atalanta last week, head coach Luis Enrique was absent from the touchline in the first half.
He was not suspended – he chose to watch the game from a seat high in the stands.
“I’ve been watching rugby coaches analyse matches from above for a long time,” said the Spaniard. “I’m always open to anything that can improve our performance.”
Rewind 25 years and Allardyce was one of a handful of coaches who preferred the stands to the touchline.
“You’ve got the bigger, better overview,” he says. “You’re not as emotionally attached.”
In contact with the bench by walkie-talkie, it was also the communication with his assistants, the sports scientist, the physio and the fitness coach that Allardyce saw the value in.
“Rather than just talking in the dressing room, anything I wanted to show the players I could actually show them directly.
“I did Bolton in the stand, Newcastle in the stand, Blackburn in the stand,” he explains.
So why did he stop doing it?
“When I went to West Ham [in 2011], the complaints were ‘what is the manager doing in the stand and not down on the bench shouting at the players?’
“It was not only the fans, but also the directors saying ‘why are you doing that?'”
Those external pressures over his seating arrangements weighed heavy.
“In the end, I gave it up. I went back to it occasionally, but never as much as I did at those three clubs.
“If you’re getting stick off your home fans for not being where they expect you to be, you’ve got to provide the right environment for them to see that you’re doing the right thing, even though I thought it wasn’t.
“It’s a great shame based on what people’s perceptions are.”
Play #2: Send it long to the big man
Kevin Davies, Mark Viduka, Andy Carroll and Christian Benteke – Allardyce liked a big man up top, and so did his system.
They were key in a tactic that favoured a direct brand of football, placing emphasis on the first pass going forwards.
Some notable transfers this summer have seen Manchester United sign Benjamin Sesko (6ft 5in), Newcastle secure Nick Woltemade (6ft 6in) and Everton bring in Thierno Barry (6ft 5in), while Erling Haaland (6ft 5in) continues to flourish at Manchester City since joining in 2022.
To get the best out of these players, the choreography of carefully woven passes from the back is appearing to become more unfashionable.
“It’s great to see forwards played as a frontman for a change,” says Allardyce.
“For the past three or four years they have been stood in the middle saying ‘when am I going to get a kick?’
“Frontmen will not be as bored as they have been for the past four years. That will be the case because the frontman loves being brought into the game to hold it up or run down the channel.”
So as Manchester United and Manchester City discard goalkeepers brought in as much for their ability with their feet as their hands, are we seeing the end to what Allardyce refers to as a ‘pandemic’ of playing out from the back?
“It’s changing again,” he says. “The damaging stats are that giving the ball away in your own half leads to a goal against you more often than the opposition building up from their own defence and scoring.
“So perhaps the trend is going back to being more sensible about using the skills that you’ve got within your team to their maximum. We don’t want centre-halves having more possession than anybody else in the team. You know what centre-halves are? Centre-halves are defenders!”
Play #3: Make the most of set-pieces
In 2015, Allardyce took over a Sunderland side sitting 19th in October with no wins in eight games, and guided them to Premier League safety.
Admittedly, having a striker like Jermain Defoe scoring 15 goals helped, but the Black Cats’ unlikely weapon was set-pieces.
“Corners and free-kicks are extremely important. Long throws must be used. If a player’s not comfortable, you don’t use it. But if they are, you do,” says Allardyce.
Excluding penalties, no team scored more than Sunderland’s 14 goals from dead-ball situations that season. They avoided relegation by two points.
“In my time, the overall targets with our players would be trying to be greater than what the average stats in the Premier League were,” Allardyce explains.
“Defensively we had to be better than the rest of the bottom eight and scoring more, if not in open play but with set-pieces.”
So far this season, 27.7% of non-penalty goals in the Premier League have come from set-pieces, more than any campaign in the past 15 years.
With Arsenal the most potent Premier League side in this regard in the past two seasons, their set-piece coach Nicolas Jover was even celebrated with a fan-painted mural near Emirates Stadium.
Allardyce believes the Frenchman, and his fellow dead-ball trainers, are trendsetters.
“There’s more and more set-play coaches than ever before,” the 70-year-old continues.
“Arsenal have done very well on that. They’ve changed slightly this year because everybody’s had to spend a lot of time trying to stop them against that particular corner.”
How do you best utilise a corner though?
“The beauty is who puts the ball in the box. Arsenal’s players put the ball in the right areas nearly all of the time,” Allardyce explains.
“If you haven’t got that player, your set-pieces fail.”
Set-piece coaches like Arsenal’s Nicolas Jover are becoming increasingly influential [Getty Images]
Play #4: Have an element of surprise
Allardyce was never afraid of trying something new, and his advice is clear for any young coach hesitant about testing their own tactical innovation – be different.
“The continuing brainwashing of ‘you can only play in this way’, up until recently scared the living daylights out of coaches, particularly young coaches,” he says.
“Coaches are fearful of bringing in a great tool because of the criticism, not only from the fans, but maybe certain journalists.”
So could teams mixing things up, employing long throws or lumping the ball straight out from the kick-off – another tactic adapted from rugby – be the new normal?
“After a few weeks go by, everybody else all over the pitch knows what’s coming. So you start coaching towards it,” Allardyce says.
“The element of surprise is massive, particularly in the first 15 minutes. I’ve seen coaches jumping and dancing on the touchline when they haven’t worked out our system yet.
“We got many results on that sort of tactic, then reverted back to where we’d be most comfortable.
“I would go down this route. Find something on your own. Be the first to do it and see if it works. And if it does, you’ll surprise everybody.”
Corner chicken & Rory Delap 2.0 – what’s the future of football?Why Arsenal and Man City are bringing back long-ball footballWhy do West Ham keep conceding from corners?
Lightning 2, Hurricanes 1
The Carolina Hurricanes lost their first exhibition game on Monday night by a 2-1 score to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The home team had some good moments but could not score enough to overcome the Bolts, who took advantage of their opportunities in this game.
Cayden Primeau played the entire game in goal for Carolina and played well. He made 18 saves on 20 shots faced and made a couple of grade A saves.
After the game I asked him if he was assigned number 55 by the team or if he selected it himself.
He smiled when he replied that there was a listing of available numbers to choose from and he chose that one. For those who might not remember, that was the number his father wore when he played for Carolina.
Primeau mentioned that his grandfather is not doing very well right now, so he is wearing the number as a tribute of sorts for him as well.
The goalie was acquired by Carolina over the offseason from Montreal for a 7th round draft pick. He went 21-2-3 in the AHL last season and played a total of 55 games for the Canadiens over his career.
The Canes fell behind with just a fraction of a second left in the opening period when the Bolts had a player with a wide open chance after a turnover.
The visitors made it, 2-0 when they scored a powerplay goal in the second.
The Canes had several chances and outshot the Lightning, 30-20 but could not light the lamp until later in the third when Logan Stankoven tipped in a Kevin Labanc shot to put the home team on the board.
Earlier, Labanc made a silky sweet move to beat Tampa Bay goalie, Jonas Johansson, but the goal was disallowed after being challenged for offsides.
The forward is here on a tryout and I could see Brind’Amour liking him for his versatility and experience.
Alexander Nikishin stood out in this game as he collected his first preseason point. He also led the team with 23:08 of ice time, had two blocked shots and three hits, and played in all situations. He looks very comfortable at the point of the powerplay. “Boom” also had a booming hit which brought the crowd to life.
The Canes will take Tuesday off before returning for another preseason game on Wednesday, this time against Florida.
https://www.canescountry.com/carolina-hurricanes-game-night/51514/lightning-2-hurricanes-1
On This Day (23rd Sept 1985): Sunderland prepare for some major arrivals
George Burley was going to be hot on the heels of another guest…
Prince Charles landed in the region, quite literally in fact having taken been invited onto the flight deck to take over the controls of his propeller powered Andover aircraft, but whilst his appearance in Sunderland garnered plenty of attention the fortunes of SAFC were still making their own headlines too in late September 1985.
The Prince of Wales was in town to visit a Community Venture in St Thomas Street that had been named after him. Met by the Mayor of Sunderland Ralph Baxter and welcomed by thousands of local residents that had lined the streets, Charles himself had originally initiated the centre four months earlier and had reportedly been very keen to make a swift return. Whilst the May visit had seen him joined by his wife though, on this occasion the Princess Diana remained on the plane, which had set off from Aberdeen that morning and was due to go straight to London once the prince had alighted and been picked up by car.
Although a shame for her Wearside fans, who had delighted in the fact Diana had chosen to wear and red and white dress when visiting in May, royal enthusiasts were thrilled still to get a glimpse of Charles, who spent an hour in the rain chatting to members of the public following a meeting with project representatives tasked with helping train 18-24 year olds so that they could serve in their community.
Unsurprisingly, the visit was the lead story of that evening’s ‘TOWN’ edition of the Echo. The back page however led with an article entitled ‘Burley Keen To Sign’ that outlined managing director Lawrie McMemeny’s attempts to sign former Scotland full back George Burley, with the Ipswich Town stalwart confirming that he was keen to see the proposed switch take place. Speaking ahead of what was expected to be a £50,000 transfer, the defender was quoted as saying “I need to make a fresh start and also have to look after my family.”
“I’m very interested in going to Sunderland. They came in for me after I turned down a deal with Southampton. “They are a big club and Lawrie McMenemy is a big man. “I’m very keen.”
Things were then wrapped up on the 25th of September, at the same time McMenemy was said to have approached Everton and made an enquiry for former Roker favourite Ian Atkins whilst also considering approaches for Howard Gayle, Clive Walker and David Corner. It was a hectic period for Sunderland certainly, as in the days prior to the Prince of Wales’s appearance the club had been as busy in a footballing sense as the town had been preparing for their Monday royal appointment.
The weekend just gone had been quite extraordinary, with the Lads finally securing a long awaited first win of the season at Shrewsbury Town. This was despite them falling behind to an early Colin Robinson goal, which was cancelled out by Nick Pickering just before half time, and whilst the opener had been given away cheaply the leveller that came via a goalmouth scramble was fully deserved. Better still, Sunderland resisted a sustained period of pressure after the break and hit back with a fantastic Pickering volley in the closing stages to take the points.
The victory had been most welcome and completed a double of sorts coming on the back of Alan Kennedy’s move to his hometown team a day earlier. The local press on the morning of the game had covered the story extensively, with Newcastle United furious that the ex-Liverpool man had, despite reaching a verbal agreement earlier in the week, decided against a return to St James’ Park at the last minute and plumped for Roker instead. The relationship between the two North East clubs was said to have soured due to the ‘snatch drama’, with Newcastle intimating that Sunderland’s approach had been in some way duplicitous. As for Kennedy himself, he stated that he had made several attempts to contact United boss Willie McFaul to explain his change of heart, and that he was still keen to speak to him and set the record straight.
The situation was reminiscent of Eric Gates’ arrival six weeks earlier. He too had been due to sign for Newcastle only to scrap that plan and come to Sunderland instead, so with two big name arrivals being pinched from under the noses of their greatest rivals’, supporters were getting a bit of a spring in their step. Burley’s imminent move also meant that both full back positions had been strengthened, and added to the victory at Gay Meadow, there was cause for optimism. There had been a healthy number of traveling fans in Shropshire anyway and their return journey was all the sweeter, despite the heavy rain endured, but even with their presence on the terraces the attendance was well below the figures the team were used to prior to relegation out of the top flight at the end of the previous relegation.
Although the 3,919 spectators recorded was about average for Shrewsbury, the figure still represented the lowest league crowd Sunderland had appeared in front of since a game played against Oldham Athletic during World War I. The 1st of February 1915 had witnessed another away win for the Lads, whilst this latest success didn’t just bolstered the fans, but McMenemy himself. His first win appeared to suggest his work in the transfer market was going to bear fruit, with debutant Bob Bolder looking particularly good having sealed an initial loan deal just ahead of the Football League’s 17:00 deadline the day before the match, and his move would in time become permanent.
The Sunderland supremo claimed that it was when talking to Bolder’s parent club Liverpool and he was casually informed that Kennedy would not be moving to Newcastle that he decided to pounce for the man in the middle of the latest Wear Tyne saga. Whatever the exact details though, it was obvious that he still had more activity in mind. When confirming the Bolder arrangements on the 20th of September, the Echo touched on an emerging link with Cambridge United’s Andy Sinton too, and as a side note, featured McMenemy’s explanation that Gordon Chisholm’s Hibernian link up, rubberstamped that day, had been for a nominal amount purely as a goodwill gesture in recognition of his fine service, and not because anybody had been trying to push him out of the door.
Unfortunately, the rebuild proved unsatisfactory for most of those concerned. Some of the new faces did well for themselves but in general terms McMenemy’s policy of bringing in older heads was disastrous, as was pretty much every other aspect of his reign too. A lot of water has passed under the Wearmouth Bridge in the 40 years that have passed however, with Burley for instance going on to become a respected manager himself. And as for Prince Charles, he too has taken on a different role since his own Sunderland sojourn…
San Diego Padres clinch MLB playoff spot, still have NL West title hopes
The San Diego Padres became the fifth National League team to secure a spot in the 2025 Major League Baseball playoffs after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-4, in 11 innings on Monday, Sept. 22.
If you look up the word ‘dawg,’ you’ll be redirected to this video of Freddy. pic.twitter.com/3i7qERtj7f
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) September 23, 2025
The Padres sit 2½ games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, who were idle on Monday but open a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Tuesday, Sept. 23. The Dodgers’ magic number to win the division over the Padres is 3.
The Padres won two of three games against the Dodgers in a late-August series in San Diego, taking a brief lead in the division. However, the Padres were unable to take advantage of the moment. While the Dodgers came out of that series and went a middling 4-6 from Aug. 25 through Sept. 5, the Padres had a run of eight losses over 10 games. San Diego has trailed Los Angeles by as few as one game and as many as four ever since.
By securing their spot in the postseason, the Padres now have reached the playoffs in four of the past six seasons. San Diego had five total playoff appearances in the 51 seasons prior to 2020, including two World Series appearances in 1984 and 1998.
Teams that have clinched 2025 MLB playoff spots
National League
Chicago Cubs: NL wild card (magic number to clinch NL No. 4 seed is 4 against San Diego Padres)
Los Angeles Dodgers: At least NL wild card
Milwaukee Brewers: NL Central division (magic number to clinch NL No. 1 seed is 3 against Philadelphia Phillies)
Philadelphia Phillies: NL East division (magic number to clinch NL No. 2 seed is 2 against Los Angeles Dodgers)
San Diego Padres: At least NL wild card
American League
Toronto Blue Jays: At least AL wild card
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: San Diego Padres clinch MLB playoff berth with win over Brewers
Longhorns Daily News: Steve Sarkisian believes Texas football got its groove back
As he does every week during the college football season, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian addressed Longhorn nation and media members alike. Stitched into his message was the simple fact that, as he believes, Texas football is finally finding its football this season. Better yet, the Longhorns may even have their groove back.
The return of previously injured players plays a role in Texas’ track back to the very top of the weekly polls, Sarkisian said.
“I think we’re going to see a wave of players coming back, getting healthy,” Sarkisian said, according to the Austin American-Statesman. “We’ve created the depth that we’ve needed, and now it’s about whose role is what. We’ve got a four-game sample size to look at that, (so) this next the next week and a half is going to be important for us to really evaluate guys’ roles and build the right group that’s going to travel to (Florida) for a tough ball game.”
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT THE LONGHORNS
Austin American-Statesman: Texas football coach Steve Sarkisian says confidence back up as Longhorns enter bye week
Austin American-Statesman: Texas Football: Film shows more aggressive defense vs Sam Houston
Austin American-Statesman: What’s the report card for Texas football after win over Sam Houston?
Austin American-Statesman: Texas Football: What a pair of headphones taught us about Arch Manning
Austin American-Statesman: Texas 55, Sam Houston 0: Our staff takeaways from No. 8 Longhorns’ win
Inside Texas: Video Reheat: Something feels off about Texas’ season rhythm
Inside Texas: What Texas’ beatdown of Sam Houston State really means
Inside Texas: ITYT Press Conference Reaction: Sark on RB Room Growth, McDonald’s Emergence, Bye Week Goals
ICYMI IN BURNT ORANGE NATION
Game time set for No. 10 Texas at Florida
Annual SEC opponents revealed for Texas football
Inside the Numbers: Arch Manning may have his swagger back
Arch Manning calls taunting of Sam Houston defender ‘a little immature’
No. 8 Texas 55, Sam Houston State 0: Five observations and Sunday chat
No. 8 Texas 55, Sam Houston State 0: Three things we learned
RECRUITING ROUNDUP
Austin American-Statesman: Mike White, Texas softball get pledge from 2027 pitcher Brooklynn Hagerty
247Sports: Willis five-star ATH Jermaine Bishop is locked in with the Longhorns amidst special senior season
247Sports: Elite PG Deron Rippey Jr.’s father breaks down Texas official visit
247Sports: 2027 Top247 TE Zac Fares takes in visit to Texas
247Sports: Following the future: How Texas football commits performed over the weekend
247Sports: Willis head coach Trent Miller on Jermaine Bishop: ‘We are so thankful he wears the purple and white’
247Sports: 2027 Texas QB target Kavian Bryant recaps first gameday visit to Austin
Inside Texas: Four-star Texas RB commit Derrek Cooper recaps official visit to Austin
Inside Texas: Inside Scoop: No. 1 QB Kavian Bryant, 2026 commits return to Austin, notes from Brayden Tyson and 2027 prospects
Inside Texas: Jalen Brewster sets October 4 commitment date, breaks down top schools
SEC SHOWDOWN
Associated Press: Texas, Oklahoma would meet again in mock CFP first round based on AP Top 25 rankings
Austin American-Statesman: Golden: Why Arch Manning needed to shred Sam Houston before SEC play
247Sports: Sources: Texas RBs Quintrevion Wisner and CJ Baxter on target to return from injuries at Florida on Oct. 4
Inside Texas: Oklahoma deliberately cheated to beat Auburn. What should be done about it?
Good Bull Hunting: Aggies move up slightly in rankings after bye week
Rock M Nation: Analyzing Eli Drinkwitz’s South Carolina presser
Red Cup Rebellion: The 4-2-5 Report: Ole Miss stifles Tulane to start 4-0
Rocky Top Talk: Tennessee holds firm at 15 in the AP and Coaches Polls after win over UAB
Anchor Of Gold: Vanderbilt moves up to 18th in AP Poll
Roll ‘Bama Roll: ‘Permanent’ SEC schedule is leaked, and Alabama draws the right teams for the right reasons
A Sea Of Blue: Kentucky basketball gives fans a feast of highlights from first day of practice
WHAT WE’RE READING
SB Nation: The Bengals without Joe Burrow are like watching someone vomit at Disney World
SB Nation: Justin Herbert’s superstar throws are giving Chargers a reason to believe
SB Nation: Bruce Pearl retires abruptly from Auburn, and he’s not running for U.S. Senate
NEWS ACROSS LONGHORN NATION AND BEYOND
Texas football is seemingly stuck in neutral in the opinions of the sport’s weekly rankings committees.
Enzo Maresca set for crucial meeting with medical staff to determine future of key man
Enzo Maresca set for crucial meeting with medical staff to determine future of key man
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is now set to sit down for a meeting with the medical staff to determine the fitness of one star.
The Blues have become heavily reliant on Cole Palmer to be the main source of creativity and goals in this team and even though they have signed new players to help him out more this season, in previous seasons he has kind of become the one man band in that sense and it has very much been Cole Palmer FC at times.
EXCLUSIVE! Chelsea thinking about selling new signing who’s not even arrived yet in favour of another new arrival!!
So he is a hugely important player to this team and to Maresca, and without him, there would be major concerns.
But the reality is, Chelsea could be without Cole Palmer for an amount of time coming up because he is struggling with a reoccurring injury that will not seem to go away.
Palmer limped off after 20 minutes against Manchester United in their defeat their on Saturday night, speaking fresh concern about his injury.
Maresca spoke at Chelsea’s pre-match press conference for the Lincoln game tonight and it looks like some embargoed quotes have now come out on Palmer.
A meeting to be had
Cole Palmer goes off injured against Manchester United.(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Maresca has revealed that a meeting will be held to discuss the best course of action as the club manage their star player’s fitness.
“We need to protect Cole, for sure,” Maresca said. “Not only Cole, in my personal view, because of the Club World Cup and because we never stop.
“We need to manage and protect different players. For sure, Cole is one of them. Another one is Moi [Moises Caicedo].
“Joao Pedro, also. Since he joined us, he’s playing every game. The solution with Cole, I don’t know.”
Maresca added: “Now we have a meeting with the medical staff and we decide the best solution for him. But it’s also a kind of injury that is not like black and white.
“It’s not an injury that some day you can be better. It’s not that you are playing and tomorrow you disappear.
“Sometimes you can be better, sometimes you can be worse. That’s why we need to manage day by day.”
Maresca also questioned his lack of defenders
Maresca also lamented that injuries mean he will likely have to play Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana or Trevoh Chalobah in tonigt’s game.
“I would love to rest both of them because they deserve to rest,” Maresca said of Chalobah and Tosin.
“The problem is that we also have Wes Fofana playing after a long time. So if we rest Tosin, if we rest Trev, and if we rest Wes, probably I need to play some part of the game!
“We don’t have defenders, so some of them need to play.
Quotes via The Evening Standard.
Grading The Game: Apple Cup
A showstopping performance by the offense on Saturday propelled the Huskies to a 59-24 victory over the Cougs. Let’s get to the grades!
Passing Offense: 9/10
Quarterback: 8.5/10
Offensive Line: 7/10
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: 10/10
Quarterback Demond Williams posted his highest PFF offense grade of the young season, a 91.5, as he carved up the WSU defense with deep shots down the field and blisteringly fast open field running to the tune of 298 passing yards, 88 rushing yards and 5 total touchdowns. His ability to evade sacks and get the ball away to the open man has become one of my favorite hallmarks of his game, but it also highlights the one glaring downside that I can see. He rarely slides, instead preferring to take the hit and get extra yards by falling forward. One hopes that as he gets older, he’ll learn that instinct and get down instead of taking the hit. He is still young after all! On the flip side, the line, while protecting Demond fairly well when he dropped back, did give up 3 sacks in pass pro, dropping their grade down to a 7.
The receivers stood out above the rest for me, even though no tight ends were targeted. It seemed like Denzel Boston was the pass offense, hauling in 6 catches for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns on 7 targets, for an 84.3 receiving PFF grade. Omari Evans also made his debut with a bang, hauling in a 51 yarder for a touchdown on his only target of the game. Audric Harris and Raiden Vines-Bright also hauled in their only targets for 7 and 5 yards respectively. Jonah Coleman and Adam Mohammad both proved to be vital outlets in the pass game, with Jonah taking mostly screen passes and short passes out to the flat a long way, finishing with 6 catches, 104 receiving yards and a touchdown. Mohammad caught the one pass thrown his way and rumbled for 16 yards and a first down. There wasn’t too much that I could point to in terms of blemishes in the pass game, so the wide receivers get a perfect score from me!
Rushing Offense: 7.5/10
Running Backs: 7/10
Offensive Line: 6.5/10
From the opening kick, it seemed fairly obvious that the Coug defense was keying in on Jonah Coleman, and they bottled him up in that department, limiting him to 59 yards on 12 carries. He however did have 2 touchdowns so that negates a fairly disappointing total yardage number. He finished with a season low 71.2 PFF Rushing grade. Most of the Huskies’ yards came courtesy of both improvised and called QB runs by Demond Williams, who was the team’s leading rusher. When those runs were called, as well as in short yardage, the line did its job, blocking well and asserting their dominance up front. Carver Willis and John Mills were the high points along the line, according to PFF, posting grades of 74.5 and 70.7 in run blocking, respectively. A solid performance with at least 1 highlight worthy moment, but not one that was so special as to be eye popping!
Pass Defense: 4/10
Defensive Backs: 3.5/10
Pass Rush: 5/10
Here is where it’s going to get rough. With the injury to Tacario Davis keeping him sidelined at least for this game, it looked like the Cougs saw an opportunity to pick on what would’ve been Davis’ side of the field. Leroy Bryant was substituted in his place, and gave up 7 receptions on 7 targets for 123 yards and a touchdown, for a brutal 38.4 PFF grade. Deven Bryant was also targeted in the short passing game, giving up 5 receptions on 7 targets. It seemed as though Zevi Eckhaus was taking whatever he wanted in the middle of the field and that’s something that I don’t know that one player will be able to fix. The pass rush was better, tallying 3 sacks, but most of those were in garbage time. On the bright side, Zach Durfee was credited with 11 pressures and a QB hit, and Alex McLaughlin was the high point man for the defense, with a 90.8 PFF grade and a 92.2 Coverage rating. I guess 2 picks and a pick 6 will do that!
Rush Defense: 7/10
The Cougs finished with 28 total rushing yards on 27 attempts. The defense stayed within themselves and flew to the ball, even if it took 2 or 3 guys to bring down the Cougs sometimes. Kirby Vorhees was the Cougs’ leading rusher with 13 yards on 5 carries. Still though, it felt like the tackling wasn’t as crisp as it should be at this point in the year and if we keep needing 2 or 3 guys to bring runners down, that’s an issue that’ll rear its head when we least expect it to!
Special Teams: 10/10
Ethan Moczulski didn’t allow a kick return, Luke Dunne hasn’t punted since August, and oh yeah, Grady Gross kicked a career long 51 yarder, and made all of his extra points! That gets a perfect score from me!
Coaching: 8/10
The Huskies again scored on every possession and it felt as though the game was never in doubt for most of the way. Still, the 5 penalties for 50 yards and the defensive coverage issues persist and will have to be cleaned up if we are to go far in conference play. However, I have no complaints with the offensive play calling, especially when you score on every possession!
https://www.uwdawgpound.com/washington-football/69764/grading-the-game-apple-cup-uw-football
All aTwitter: 23-Sep-25 – Trey Amos vs Raiders: 18 cover snaps, 1 target, 1 PBU, 0 receptions, 0 yards
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