They are paying the consequences of the lack of leaders, players with good technique and confidence in the youngsters. In Italy, Lamine Yamal and Musiala would probably play in Serie B to gain experience. And that can't be.
Coburn's acrobatic close-range attempt crossed the line in the 58th minute, leveling the score after Middlesbrough had taken the lead with a header from Dael Fry.
The ongoing discussions regarding future structural changes to the game, such as the introduction of new tournaments (eg. Fifa Club World Cup), further intensify this challenge. These changes have the potential to significantly reduce the downtime available to elite players, affecting their recovery and overall well-being.
West Bromwich Albion's recent wins against Hull City and Bristol City have provided a glimmer of hope, but the team remains firmly in the relegation battle as they face tough fixtures ahead.
At the beginning of the season, I always do goal-setting. I do that not with just the team but with the whole football club - the chefs, everyone. Make them all a part of it. We called it 'Project 73' and we told no one outside the building. It was kept quiet.
Being outside the game for a few years now, I have noticed a real trend of doubt and even negativity about any British managerial appointments by a top-flight club in this country. With Liam, who I have known since he was a young player watching my training sessions at Bristol City more than 25 years ago, everything from his experience to his dress sense has been questioned, but his start to life at Chelsea has been exceptional with five wins in seven games.
Matt Bloomfield is back in the second tier to try to make amends for his relegation with Luton by saving an Oxford United side who have spent too much of the season looking downwards. It took the U's over two weeks to name Bloomfield as Gary Rowett's successor, and his appointment has raised a few eyebrows after leaving the Hatters 11th in League One, with his replacement Jack Wilshire lifting them into play-off contention.
In Saturday's game against Millwall Cleworth became the leading appearance-maker of Phil Parkinson's reign, surpassing Paul Mullin's 172 games under the English boss. Cleworth, still only 23, is Wrexham's final on-field survivor of the National League days, though Davis Keillor-Dunn and Ryan Barnett, who has played 12 times in the league this season, have recently returned. Since his debut while a 17-year-old academy player in the Scottish Challenge Cup in 2019, the Chester-born defender has made 175 appearances in red.
Christmas is long gone and the scramble of the transfer window is about to come to an end so it feels like we really are now at the business end of the season with teams' goals, be they promotion, survival or building for next year, programmed for the run-in. In the Championship Middlesbrough might have quite fancied facing Norwich a month ago but the Canaries are a different proposition these days, while Portsmouth against West Brom has 'relegation scrap' written all over it.
Watford appointing a new head coach is not really new news. Watford having a third head coach in the same season is not really new news either, but Watford appointing Ed Still is definitely news. Having watched his brother Will succeed on the continent but then fail with Southampton in the Championship this season, it has not deterred the older sibling from stepping into the chaotic world of Vicarage Road.
