Maurizio Sarri has said all along that Chelsea would not be title challengers this season. However, it's now become abundantly clear that a top-four finish is by no means a certainty either. The "strange mentality" that Sarri has repeatedly claimed pervades his playing staff has been exposed for all to see, first by Tottenham last Saturday week, and now by Wolves in Wednesday night's shock 2-1 loss at Molineux. The visitors dominated much of the game yet left with nothing. Whereas Chelsea should have ended the night celebrating Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who opened the scoring with his sixth goal in seven games, they were instead left wondering how the game had got away from Sarri may be considering one-on-one meetings again, just like he did after the loss against Spurs, after coming away unhappy with his team's reaction to conceding. "I think that we played very well for 55 minutes," Sarri told journalists. "After the first goa...
Barcelona - Former Spain and Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez has indicated he will retire from playing at the end of the season. Xavi has played for Qatari club Al Sadd since 2015 but is best known for his glittering career at Barca, where he won eight La Liga and four Champions League titles. "It's going to be my last year, in January I'll turn 39 and I think it's time to say goodbye," Xavi said in an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena Ser on Thursday night. Xavi was also instrumental in Spain's unprecedented period of success between 2008 and 2012, when La Roja won the World Cup and the European Championships twice. Regularly linked with a return to Barcelona as coach, Xavi has made no secret of his ambition to lead his former club in the future. He insists, however, he first wants to gain experience in Qatar. "The idea is to start here in Qatar to get experience, to prove myself, it's a new stage where I start from s...