Skinny: Coming off a torn ACL, Quaintance played just four games before being shut down. Anyone who was looking to see how he'd bounce back never really got a real good look. As a freshman at Arizona State in 2024-25, Quaintance, who was just 17-years-old at the time, flashed tantalizing potential defensively. He devours opposing players with his length, timing and athleticism. He's incredibly raw, but I think he's going to be a phenomenal defender, at worst, at the next level.
For me, preparation for any game always started two hours after the one I had just managed. My drive home to the south coast on a Saturday night after a game could take three hours or more, and much of that would be spent on the phone while I had precious quiet time. When I was at Stoke City, my chairman Peter Coates would always speak to me then if we lost. If we'd won, he never bothered, knowing I wouldn't need comforting.
How many games have we played this season? Probably around 30. I think about 28 of my pre-match meetings I could just throw in the bin, Slot said. I think only once or twice the team did what they did the 20 weeks before. Arsenal was one of them. But Barnsley always plays a 4-3-3 and today decided to go with five, which I can completely understand, which I would have done
Arsenal are on the verge of finalising a major addition to their football operations department, with Maurizio Micheli agreeing to join the club's recruitment team under new sporting director Andrea Berta. The move marks another significant step in Arsenal's strategic overhaul behind the scenes, as the North London club continues to modernise its scouting and recruitment infrastructure. According to Fabrizio Romano, Micheli has already reached an agreement with Arsenal and will officially take up his new role in the coming days
The Orioles have promoted Brendan Fournie to an assistant general manager position, MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko reports. Fournie has been with the O's for just under four years, working as the team's senior director of baseball strategy and operations. His new portfolio, as per Kubatko, will have Fournie "oversee baseball economics, advanced scouting and salary arbitration, and also provide roster and transaction support."
On Friday, the Nationals hired Justin Horowitz as an assistant general manager. Horowitz most recently served as director of amateur scouting for the Pirates beginning in 2023. But Horowitz becomes the second high-profile AGM who previously worked under Paul Toboni in Boston. This hire follows Devin Pearson's, who also served on Toboni's staff in his Red Sox days. Both new AGMs are viewed as sharp, modern voices in scouting and player development.
Womack plays like a can-opener with an initial pop that jars the tackle and suddenly the quarterbacks pocket shrinks quickly. If he snaps to a faster counter when plan A stalls and keeps the pads trimmed, he graduates from rotational spark to playing every down like a menace. Everette plays with good energy and a surgeon's touch. He stalls releases with good physicality then shadows routes without wasted motion.
The most difficult players to project before an NBA season are the rookies, because so much is based upon how prepared they are for the speed, power and explosiveness of the NBA game. There is no other league in the world that can truly compare with what the young players will face when they make it to the league with Jerry West's silhouette on the logo.
They've identified that as an area of their team where they feel they can improve, and I think it's something they have to do if they want to be title contenders. Sanchez is a good goalkeeper, but he's not an elite one, and he's showed that this season. So it's going to be a position Chelsea look to strengthen, and I hear they already have scouts assessing a number of potential replacements for him.
