Diego Simeone says "things come naturally" to Joao Felix after he starred in Atletico Madrid's season opener win over Getafe, though the Argentine admitted that Alvaro Morata's future is out of his hands.
The duo were the star performers for the Rojiblancos as they helped steer their side to a 3-0 win on Monday evening, with the former bagging all three assists and the latter netting a brace.
It marked an impressive return to the field in Atletico colours for both, with Felix having spent the end of last season sidelined through injury, and Morata spending the prior two campaigns on loan at Juventus.
Felix, in particular, delivered an assured performance that showcased his growth for Simeone, who said the Portuguese star's talent helps his game speak for itself.
"He looks more mature, stronger," he stated. "He showed last season until he had to leave due to injury. He is growing, [he] shows maturity, [he] sees more than the others.
"You don't have to force anything. Things come naturally and he has worked to get to this point. He has talent, he has a goal, and hopefully he can support everything he says here on the field."
Morata famously signed for Atletico following a loan move from Chelsea in 2020, only to promptly be loaned back out to former club Juventus for the subsequent two seasons.
The subject of his future remains up in the air beyond the end of the transfer window, and Simeone admitted he does not know what the next steps will be for the Spanish international, though he hopes for the star to remain.
"I am not the owner of the club, I am the coach," he added. "He is doing very well, working in an extraordinary way, and we hope that Morata will continue with us.
"I think that all footballers have to have confidence to do important things. He came with humility, desire to work, without demanding anything, striving to get to this shape and that is what we want to see."
Stoke sack Alex Neil after recent defeat left them 20th in Championship table
Stoke have sacked manager Alex Neil with the club sitting 20th in the Sky Bet Championship.
The Potters were beaten 1-0 at home by fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, which was a fourth-straight defeat in a six-match winless run.
Neil was appointed at the end of August 2022 after leaving Sunderland, but the former Norwich and Preston boss was unable to mount a sustained promotion challenge, with Stoke eventually finishing 16th last season.
Martin Canning has also left his position, with Paul Gallagher installed as caretaker manager ahead of the home game against Swansea on Tuesday night.
Alex Morris and former Potters defender Ryan Shawcross are also part of the interim backroom team.
Stoke chairman John Coates said on the club’s official website: “Alex is a man of absolute integrity who has given his all for Stoke City and we would like to thank him for his hard work during his time with the club.
“We are grateful for the building blocks he has helped put in place in bringing together a group of players in whom we have a huge amount of faith regarding their ability to turn things around this season and who can help us achieve longer-term success.
“However, with the way the results have been so far, we have made the difficult decision to seek a new direction for the team at this time.
“Nothing matters to me more than the success of our club and we are now working towards the appointment of Alex’s successor.”
Marco Silva hails ‘brilliant performance’ from Fulham in West Ham romp
Fulham boss Marco Silva hailed his side’s 5-0 thrashing of West Ham as even better than the display that had seen them beat Nottingham Forest by the same scoreline four days earlier.
The floodgates have certainly opened for the Whites in recent weeks, with David Moyes’ men the latest side to be put to the sword as five different scorers struck in a fine home win.
Raul Jimenez opened the scoring to take his personal tally to four in five games having previously not scored a Premier League goal since March 2022, when he was a Wolves player.
Willian and Tosin Adarabioyo goals then had the hosts coasting at the break before a fine effort from substitute Harry Wilson and late effort from Carlos Vinicius added the gloss.
Jimenez’s upturn in form has dovetailed nicely with Fulham’s as a whole – in their previous three outings heading into this London derby they had scored three to beat Wolves, three in a losing effort at Liverpool and five to down Forest in midweek.
Silva said he had “no doubts” that the overall performance of his side eclipsed Wednesday’s win, adding: “It was a brilliant performance from us. A great one at a very, very good level.
“We were the best team on the pitch, not just because we won 5-0 but also the way we performed from the first minute and the players understood the plan and executed it so well. The way we did it was almost a perfect afternoon for us.
“First of all of course, confidence builds confidence and the best example of this is Raul – since he scored the first goal against Villa.
“We are not really different now, we changed and adjusted some things but the faith in our players was always there.”
While he was able to celebrate 10 goals across the last two games, Silva was also delighted his side kept two clean sheets as Fulham moved into the top half of the table.
“I think it is crucial,” he added.
“Apart from the goals it has been the best feeling, it was crucial this afternoon and I told them at half-time when we were winning 3-0 that the main goal was to keep playing in our way, score the fourth if you can but the clean sheet has to be the challenge for the second half.
“It is really important to create this mentality, try to win games but also try to be as solid as you can…I’m really pleased for it and it was one of the best feelings we got.”
West Ham boss David Moyes bemoaned the short turnaround between Thursday night’s comeback win at Tottenham and their trip to Craven Cottage.
“I think just the carry over from the game,” he said when asked why he felt his side had fallen to a heavy loss.
“We used up too much energy in midweek and we weren’t able to get ourselves back, another Thursday fixture. No excuse for the result.
“(It is) disappointing but we have had two difficult away games this week, three points from those two games is not a bad return.”
The Hammers have had to get used to Thursday Europa League games followed by Sunday Premier League kick-offs this season but Moyes believes having a squad carrying a few injuries has not helped.
“We haven’t normally had to try and play all the same players, we could have easily had a game on Wednesday but we didn’t – it was Thursday.
“(Lucas) Paqueta has been carrying an injury, there is an illness in the camp so we have had to deal with that as well.”
5 things we learned from a rain-soaked weekend of Premiership action
There were some big storylines on a rain-soaked weekend of cinch Premiership action.
Celtic’s lead at the top was cut to five points following defeat at Kilmarnock, 24 hours after Rangers beat Dundee 3-1.
St Mirren and Aberdeen also recorded significant wins to get back on track, while Hibernian moved up to fourth in the table.
Here, the PA news agency looks at five things we learned from the weekend’s action.
Brendan Rodgers’ Rugby Park strife continuesRodgers suffered his first league defeat of his second spell in charge when Killie came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to Matty Kennedy’s late strike. The Celtic manager suffered his first domestic cup defeat in Scotland at the same venue in August. In two spells at Parkhead, Rodgers has now suffered 10 domestic defeats and four of them have come at Rugby Park.
Rangers’ absentee list growsIbrox boss Philippe Clement does not have his selection worries to seek ahead of a big week which includes a Europa League decider against Real Betis and the Viaplay Cup final against Aberdeen. Midfielders Nico Raskin, Ryan Jack and Tom Lawrence and striker Danilo missed the victory over Dundee and midfielder Jose Cifuentes will be suspended for the Hampden clash after being sent off for a challenge on Dundee goalscorer Amadou Bakayoko, although Clement is considering an appeal.
Late shows saving Stuart KettlewellThe Motherwell manager might have been facing serious questions over his future had Mika Biereth not headed a stoppage-time equaliser against St Johnstone. It was a 13th game without a win but the Steelmen were well worth the draw and Kettlewell will surely live to fight another day. It is increasingly clear how important the late goals are though – six of Motherwell’s 15 points have come from 90th-minute goals and a further two points from an 85th-minute goal.
Livingston are in freefallDavid Martindale’s side suffered a seventh-consecutive loss when Martin Boyle hit the only goal for Hibernian. The run is a long way short of Livingston’s 13-game losing streak on their way to relegation from the top flight in 2006 but they have now slipped five points adrift. St Johnstone survived the past two seasons after eight and then six-game losing runs and Martindale retains belief his side can similarly bounce back.
VAR’s scope again comes into questionDundee manager Tony Docherty felt the video assistants should not have advised a penalty review and presented referee Kevin Clancy with only a partial picture of a shirt pull on Rangers striker Abdallah Sima. Docherty said: “The image presented to Kevin Clancy favours the penalty being given but the reality is, there is bustling in the box, Sima has hold of Aaron Donnelly’s shirt and Kevin Clancy deemed that to be OK. It’s difficult because we are re-refereeing games. Kevin Clancy’s positioning is good and it’s not a clear and obvious error. My problem with it is the image he gets shown. If I see that image I’d give a penalty-kick but you need to take it into context.” Rangers took the lead from the spot and have now been awarded eight penalties in their last nine Premiership games, several of them for shirt pulls which have been highlighted by VAR officials.
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