Chelsea’s Title Chase (and Where to Eat in London) with Graeme Le Saux

By Feb 6, 2017, 10:10 AM EST
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He’s one of Jersey’s favorite sons. Not that Jersey. This one. Graeme Le Saux knows a little something about English football, making 327 Premier League appearances for Southampton, Chelsea and Blackburn, helping bring the latter a title in ‘94 – ’95. These days Graeme plays the Goose to Arlo White’s Maverick on NBC’s Premier League coverage (Sorry, Lee Dixon, you’re Merlin). We caught up with Graeme via phone this week to talk about Chelsea’s title chase, his favorite gantry in the Premier League, and his (very) short stint working in the kitchen of a high-end London eatery.

MiB: You’ve spoken with Antonio Conte since he took the Chelsea job, and have gotten a sense of the kind of person he is. How has he been able to adapt to the Premier League in a way that Pep Guardiola has not?

GLS: Antonio Conte gives me the impression that he’s a very honest, fair manager, who is happy to confront issues head on, confident in his own opinion. He’s very experienced in dealing with big players, and what he’s done brilliantly is treat everybody fairly. As Pep is finding out, you can have the most incredible CV and philosophy on the game, but ultimately you’ve still got to work with a group and be flexible with them, in terms of your own philosophy. That’s where Conte has been ahead of everyone else.

MiB: The Diego Costa situation. He’s injured. He’s had a bust up with Conte. He’s off to China. All these rumors, yet he’s back in the team and scoring on the weekend. How damaging can this be to team chemistry?

GLS: It can be very damaging. It really can. But I think Conte’s leadership has really helped. And Costa must’ve explained himself to the players, or they would have held him accountable for wanting to leave at such an important stage of the season, if it was true. When he scored against Hull, the whole team went over and celebrated with him. For me, that suggests they’ve accepted whatever he’s said behind closed doors.

MiB: If one of these teams in the chasing peloton were to challenge Chelsea, who do you think it could be?

GLS: Tottenham. Their fundamentals are so good and they came so close last year. That pain serves as good fuel for this season. When I look at Arsenal, I still think they’re not a team with the resilience to keep plowing through the football calendar and come out with more points than Chelsea. Liverpool gives us a lot of excitement, because they score a lot of goals, but there are defensive liabilities. To lose to Swansea the way they did last weekend, with the game tied at two and all of the momentum, that’s damaging for a title run. Manchester United have found some fantastic form, but they fell so far behind at the start of the season. To make up that deficit would be a miracle.

MiB: Now to the important stuff. What’s the best gantry in the Premier League and why?

GLS: Oh my word. Let’s be honest, it’s not like choosing between a Rolls Royce and a Bentley. They’re all quite rudimentary. I’m thinking, probably which ones are the least cold and best position. I know Spurs are redeveloping their ground, but I like their current gantry because you almost hang over the pitch. Everton’s is fantastic as well because you’re stuck out from the middle tier, so you’re connected to the pitch. Either of those would be my pick.

MiB: Best restaurant near Stamford Bridge. What are we ordering?

GLS: One of my favorite restaurants in London is The River Cafe. It’s run by a fantastic chef Ruthie Rodgers. It’s about 10 minutes by car from Stamford Bridge on the River Thames. I’ve actually done a shift in their kitchen when I was a player at Chelsea. I told them I was tired after a game and they said, “You don’t know what tired is. Come do a double-shift in the restaurant.” I took them up on it and worked in the restaurant one day. They had me doing all the dirty jobs. By the end I was exhausted and couldn’t wait to get my boots back on. For a dish, they do the most amazing beef with split olives and ragù lentil. It’s phenomenal.

How to watch, stream sports on USA Network after NBCSN shuts down on January 1st

By Dec 30, 2021, 1:00 PM EST
Find out how to watch NBC Sports on Peacock and USA Network
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Starting Saturday, January 1st, 2022, a significant slate of NBC Sports programming and events will appear on USA Network as NBCSN ceases operations.

Sports action that will appear on USA in 2022 includes coverage from the Premier League, NASCAR, INDYCAR, the Olympic Games, USGA and the R&A Golf Championships, college and Olympic sports, horse racing, cycling, and more. Many of these sports will continue to have programming on the NBC broadcast network. In addition, most linear coverage can be streamed via authentication on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app (all PGA TOUR events remain exclusively on NBC or GOLF Channel).

USA Network’s 2022 sports calendar officially kicks off on January 1st with a Premier League tripleheader to start the New Year on the right foot. The slate of matches starts with a top-of-the-table showdown with Arsenal taking on defending champions Manchester City.

NBC Sports Programming on USA Network in 2022:

  • The Winter Olympics

  • Premier League

  • Horse Racing

  • NASCAR: Cup and Xfinity Series races

  • Olympic sports

  • Supercross

  • The R&A – The Open, AIG Women’s Open: Early round and weekend lead-in coverage

  • Tour de France

  • USGA – U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open: Early round and weekend lead-in coverage

  • Atlantic 10 basketball

  • IMSA

  • INDYCAR: Two races

  • Monster Jam

How to Stream NBC Sports on Peacock:

Sports fans can stream games and events live on Peacock, including Sunday Night Football, all Notre Dame football home games, Premier League, NASCAR, golf, and much more. In 2022, Peacock will continue to offer an array of live sports coverage including Super Bowl LVI and competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Peacock also features studio programming, original series, and documentaries, and full-event replays, and is available across a variety of devices and platforms, with the full list available here. To learn more about sports on Peacock and how to sign up, visithttps://www.peacocktv.com/sports.

Premier League Schedule on USA on New Year’s Day:

On New Year’s Day, USA Network presents a tripleheader as it becomes the cable home of the Premier League. Premier League Mornings kicks off at 7:00 am ET ahead of the first matches of 2022, and the action on the pitch starts with Arsenal vs Manchester City at 7:30 am ET. Here is the full slate on USA on New Year’s Day, streaming on the NBC Sports App:

  • Arsenal vs Manchester City

  • Watford vs Tottenham

  • Crystal Palace vs West Ham

Premier League action on USA continues Sunday, January 2nd starting at 8:00 am ET and will be highlighted by Chelsea vs Liverpool at 11:30 am ET. Content is also available for streaming on Peacock.

RELATED: How to watch, stream Premier League on USA Network after NBCSN shuts down

NWSL Commissioner Baird resigns amid scandal

Associated PressOct 2, 2021, 12:15 AM EDT
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National Women’s Soccer League Commissioner Lisa Baird resigned after some 19 months on the job amid allegations that a former coach engaged in sexual harassment and misconduct.

Baird’s resignation was announced by the league late Friday, a day after The Athletic published the accounts of two former players who claimed misconduct, including sexual coercion, by North Carolina coach Paul Riley.

Riley was fired by the Courage on Thursday and the allegations touched off a wave of condemnation by players that forced this weekend’s games to be called off.

Additionally, FIFA on Friday opened an investigation into the case. It is rare that soccer’s international governing body gets involved in a controversy involving a member association. U.S. Soccer also announced an independent investigation on Friday.

U.S. Soccer was instrumental in founding the NWSL in 2013 and helped support the league until last year, when it became independent. The federation continues its financial support of the league.

“Player safety and respect is the paramount responsibility of every person involved in this game. That is true across every age, competition and ability level,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Cone said in a statement. “We owe it to each athlete, each fan and the entire soccer community to take every meaningful action in our power to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.”

U.S. Soccer suspended Riley’s coaching license Thursday after The Athletic published claims of abuse made by former NWSL players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim.

FIFA told The Associated Press it was “deeply concerned” by the case and will now be seeking further details from American soccer authorities about the issues raised.

“Due to the severity and seriousness of the allegations being made by players, we can confirm that FIFA’s judicial bodies are actively looking into the matter and have opened a preliminary investigation,” FIFA said in a statement to the AP. “As part of this, FIFA will be reaching out to the respective parties, including US Soccer and NWSL, for further information about the various safeguarding concerns and allegations of abuse that have been raised.”

The alleged harassment of Farrelly started in 2011 when she was a player with the Philadelphia Independence of the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer league.

She told the website the harassment continued when Farrelly was with the Portland Thorns. Shim, a former Thorns player, also allegedly experienced harassment. The Thorns said Thursday that the team investigated claims about Riley and passed those on to the league when he was dismissed.

Riley told The Athletic the allegations were “completely untrue.”

Outcry over the allegations rocked the league and forced this weekend’s games to be called off. The NWSL Players’ Association said it hoped fans would understand and support the decision.

“It is OK to take space to process, to feel and to take care of yourself,” the union said. “In fact, it’s more than OK, it’s a priority. That, as players, will be our focus this weekend.”

Baird became commissioner of the NWSL in February, 2020, after serving as chief marketing officer of the United States Olympic Committee. She was praised for brining new sponsors to the NWSL and increasing the league’s visibility on the national stage.

OL Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock, who has been playing in the NWSL since its inception in 2013, suggested the league, and women’s sports overall, are in the midst of a reckoning.

“I think women athletes specifically have gone through so much over the years, not just women’s football,” Fishlock said. “I think everybody knows what’s happened with USA Gymnastics that has gone on, and this is something that has been happening in women’s sports over and over and over again for years and years and years. And we’ve never felt safe enough to talk about it, and if we ever felt brave enough to talk about it, then it would just get swept under the rug, or we were told that we were in the wrong … and I think we’re at a point now where we’re just done.”

Riley was head coach of the Thorns in 2014 and 2015. After he was let go by the Thorns, he became head coach of the Western New York Flash for a season before the team was sold and moved to North Carolina.

In its ninth season, the NWSL has been rocked by a series of recent scandals involving team officials.

Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke was fired after a Washington Post report detailed verbal and emotional abuse of players. The league formally dismissed Burke and sanctioned the Spirit on Tuesday after an independent investigation.

Gotham FC general manager Alyse LaHue was fired in July after an investigation connected to the league’s antiharassment policy. She has denied any wrongdoing.

Racing Louisville coach Christy Holly was fired in September but the reasons for his dismissal were not made public.

OL Reign coach Farid Benstiti abruptly resigned in July. On Friday, OL Reign chief executive officer and minority owner Bill Predmore said Benstiti was asked to step down after an undisclosed incident during practice.

Benstiti had previously been accused by U.S. national team midfielder Lindsay Horan of sexist behavior during his time as coach of Paris Saint-Germain. Horan has said she was berated by Benstiti because of her weight.