Current State
- Rafa has 7555pts with 370 to defend until YE (90 Cinci, 180 USO, 10 Shanghai, 90 Beijing) putting him at 7185 in the race
- Federer has 7145pts, none to defend and therefore the same amount in the race
Option 1: Federer Wins Montreal
Puts him 10pts behind Nadal next week in the ranking and 360pts ahead in the race. Nadal will lose 90pts in Cinci meaning that Federer will be #1 after Cinci if he performs at least as well as Nadal.
Option 2: Federer does not win Montreal
If Federer reaches the final in Montreal, he'll still be behind Nadal in both the Race (by 40pts) and the ranking (by 410pts) meaning that he would need to get 320 pts more than Nadal in Cinci to claim #1. Federer would be #1 after Cinci if:
- He wins against Nadal in the final (or Nadal loses earlier)
- He loses the final and Nadal does not reach the semis
- He loses the quarters and Nadal does not reach R3
YE #1
Right now, only 40pts seperate the two in the race. Whoever wins more points until the end of the year will be YE #1. Most people consider Federer the favourite because he performed better than Nadal in the late season in most years.
Rafa Benitez is enjoying life outside of European football since joining Dalian Professional in China.
With no pressure to fight for titles or silverware, Benitez is happy to go back to the basics of coaching and being able to focus on improving the players he has at his disposal in order to leave a legacy.The Spanish coach welcomed MARCA late into the night, with his former club Liverpool playing in the background, to talk through his career.
How is the Coronavirus being dealt with?
>We have to control everything daily - our temperature, washing our hands... We're training normally because we don't have any sick players or anything. Madness was created and it's hard to control that. We've come to Marbella now, and it's been almost a month.
Your club is controlled by Wanda, who are stopping their investment in football. How is that affecting you?
>They're thinking about whether or not they want to continue because of changes in the wage regulations and it's essential for Dalian's growth.
Doesn't it frustrate you that you can't sign who you want?
>I come from a school of teaching, of training. I've always liked it, to teach when you train. Not only making players repeat things, but also explaining why we do the things we do so players' knowledge grows. We have a responsibility that goes beyond the first team and you have to adapt to what you have.
Do you feel like more of a teacher than a coach?
>Of course. I'm doing a lot of the things that I did with Castilla. People wonder why Chinese football doesn't grow quickly, but it's because kids start playing at 13, which is very very late.
You signed for two and a half years in China. Aren't you worried about falling behind in Europe?
>Not at all. I have a good staff here and we're very up to date. We watch games from other leagues, we look for players and the only difference is that you're not in the papers every day.
How many players are in your database?
>About 17,000. Saying that sounds great but only between 500 and 1,000 are of interest either now or in the future.
You still have a reputation in England and you can return at any time.
>Yes, but I'm not thinking about that now. We want to develop things in China. We had offers from other players before we came here, but they didn't offer us what we were looking for. We could have gone somewhere else.
Did you have offers from Spain?
>There too. There was a lot of money on the table fr
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Apparently Borussia Dortmund have reached out but were told he plans to sit out until the summer to ensure he gets his payout after his sacking. Bayern Munich are also interested but still giving the interim manager a chance (also the current interim has been promised the assistant job at worst no matter what so knowing Poch's loyalty to his staff that may be hang-up) But don't expect Poch to be on any opposition sidelines this season.
Source: The Totally Football Show
A win away at last season’s European Cup finalists Tottenham, a rare win over Man Utd at home and a draw with Guardiola’s Man City as well, albeit some poor showings against some of the Premier League’s lesser lights. How would everyone evaluate the season so far? And how do people think Steve Bruce has done?
They are still brilliant even now.
