The Montreal Impact fired head coach Remi Gard and appointed former Houston Dynamo boss Wilmer Cabrera to take his place, the club announced on Wednesday.

- Interactive: Experience MLS like a die-hard fan

"Because I have so much respect for Remi as a person and as a professional, it was a very difficult decision to make and it was well thought, but our latest series of failures in the past couple of months and the way the team acts on the field led to that change," said Impact president Kevin Gilmore in a club statement.

"We hope to bring back confidence to this group of players for the last stretch of the season, to get a playoff spot and to perform in the Canadian Championship final. I would like to sincerely thank Remi Garde for his commitment and his professionalism with our club since he joined in November 2017. I wish him only but the best in the future."

Gard, 53, joined the Impact at the start of the 2018 campaign after a brief stint at Aston Villa. He failed to guide the club to the playoffs in his inaugural season and leaves Montreal with the team clinging to the final postseason place in the Eastern Conference, having won just one of their last eight league matches.

Cabrera, 51, was dismissed by the Dynamo last week after two-and-a-half years with the club.

Montreal assistants Wilfried Nancy and Remy Vercoutre have been retained by the club and will serve on Cabrera's staff.

Juan Mata has hit back at the "cowardly" individuals who racially abused Manchester United teammate Paul Pogba on social media after his missed penalty in a 1-1 draw against Wolves on Monday night.

Pogba was sent a series of racist messages on Twitter after his penalty was saved by Rui Patricio to deny United victory at Molineux.

- Man United condemn racist abuse aimed at Pogba

Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford were among the players who spoke out in support of Pogba in the aftermath and Mata has added his voice by slamming those responsible.

"It's not something we should be speaking about, because it should have been eradicated a long time ago," Mata said in an exclusive interview with ESPN FC.

"That's one of the things about social media. It's fantastic to connect people if you use it for the right things.

"But it also gives a chance for so many people to let go of their frustrations towards other people and with no problems because there are so many fake accounts. There's no identity. Then you can say whatever you want and you are not punished.

"It's a problem. Unfortunately some people do that and it needs to stop. It's cowardly to do it that way because no one can see you. It's not nice."

The incident marred a mostly positive night for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side, who have four points from two games after being handed a difficult start to the campaign with games against Chelsea and Wolves.

The atmosphere is more buoyant than a year ago when United -- then managed by Jose Mourinho -- started with two defeats from their opening three games, including a miserable 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham.

It is the start of Mata's sixth full season at Old Trafford after he agreed to a new contract in the summer.

"I'm very happy to be here and very happy we have started the season," said Mata.

"The [summer preseason] tour [to Australia, China, Singapore and Wales] was a nice few weeks for all of us to be together. We are only starting, but we're happy.

"I would be happier if we had six points. That's what we felt after the Wolves game but the first game was very good against a good side [Chelsea].

"We've got four points, but we're looking forward to getting three more on Saturday [against Crystal Palace].

"Every time that you start a new season there is excitement. We have a manager that everyone knows, he's been around the club for many years and has done great things here.

"We are all very excited about what we can do. Hopefully we can have a great season and keep our fans happy and excited until the end of the season."

"Take back control" has been a pretty loaded phrase in this part of the world ever since its co-option by Dominic Cummings and the Vote Leave campaign that successfully won Britain's EU referendum in 2016.

It is also a highly relevant one to Australia's Ashes campaign, which began so brilliantly at Edgbaston but was stifled somewhat at Lord's, not only by Jofra Archer and the concussion inflicted on Steven Smith, but also the inroads England made on the touring team's clear plan to cut down the flow of runs, build pressure and reap wickets from a home batting lineup always eager to impose themselves.

The Australian blueprint to maintain control over the scoring rates of the hosts, block off the boundaries and prosper through patience has been adhered to so rigorously as to rule out Mitchell Starc from selection so far. The coach Justin Langer's words two days out from the Headingley Test, about not getting caught up into a bouncer war begun by Archer, seemed to strongly indicate that this pattern of selection would continue. "What we're not going to do is get caught up in an emotional battle of who's going to bowl the quickest bouncers," Langer had said. "We're here to win the Test match, not to see how many helmets we can hit."

ALSO READ: Here to win Ashes, not engage in bouncer war - Langer

But this plan, of course, has two sides to it. England were not only better able to find scoring avenues off the likes of Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon at Lord's (both were taken for more than 3.5 runs per over), they also succeeded in keeping things exceedingly tight when Archer and Jack Leach had the ball. Where Australia's batting at Edgbaston had taken on an air of freedom, at Lord's it was always a slog, even without accounting for the short-pitched stuff from Archer that claimed most of the headlines.

"You look back at that period before the second new ball, Jack Leach bowled 10 overs for 12 runs at the other end to Jofra," England's captain Joe Root said. "It's important that you dovetail well as a bowling group and that you continue to keep applying pressure from one end if you're attacking at the other. I thought we got the balance of that exceptionally well and right last week."

Lyon's inability to put the clamp on England's scoring made for quite a contrast. In fact, in all the 20 Ashes matches he has played, Lyon has never been more expensive than the 3.76 an over he conceded at Lord's when bowling more than 25 overs in a Test. Root, certainly, was happy to see Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow find their ways into the series.

"The most pleasing thing from my part was seeing Ben, Jos and Jonny sending good time at the crease," Root said. "I feel like they really got themselves into the series in that Test match, and it's a big engine room for us that middle order, they're some high quality players who can go up and down the gears and really change the momentum of a game. To see them starting to hit some form at what seems like a really poignant time in the series is a really impressive thing for us and a huge confidence boost for the whole batting group."

Australia's captain Tim Paine, too, acknowledged the shift. "I think Ben Stokes played a pretty good innings as well, I think you've got to give him credit there," he said. "But Lord's can be a fast scoring ground and so can this one and it just happened to be that the rain pushed the game forward really quickly and almost turned day five into a one-day game, and we know that England are the best in the world at that game, so we thought that really suited them.

"We thought we could have handled things a little bit better, but at the same time we had them 6 for 130 in the first innings and 4 for 60 in the second so we still thought we had some opportunities there to break the game open. But as the game played out, we know when they're in that sort of mood particularly Stokes, Buttler and Bairstow, they're hard for anyone to stop. If we get in that situation again we'll do some things slightly differently."

So what must Australia do to improve on their control of proceedings at Headingley? Precise lines and lengths are a given, but so too is awareness that the ground an allow for quick scoring if bowlers are too attack-minded. Darren Lehmann's wildly successful stint as Yorkshire's overseas professional in the late 1990s and early 2000s was epitomised by how he often turned favourable bowling conditions on their head by going after the opposition, taking advantage of the quick, short square boundaries not a million miles removed from his Adelaide Oval home.

Additionally, the slope across the ground at Lord's has now been replaced by a gradient from the Kirkstall Lane End down to the Rugby Stand End. Plenty of rapid-fire spells have been delivered down that hill, from Bob Willis in 1981 to Jason Gillespie in 1997. A serviceable, accurate and uncomplaining seam and swing merchant pushing up the hill can also enjoy success: Peter Siddle claimed 5 for 21 here on the first day in 2009 when the Australians set the game up by rolling England for just 102.

"We've had a couple of days here now for the bowlers to come in and have a bit of a bowl," Paine said. "Granted it's not on the centre wicket, but out on the wicket block. You get guys playing in different conditions with different run ups and different surfaces all the time, that's part and parcel of being a professional cricketer and whatever lineup we pick, we expect that guys will be able to handle it or adapt to it really quickly."

Most capable and flexible for the Australians is Pat Cummins, who can be expected to turn out for the second of back-to-back Tests as the "ironman" of a bowling attack that is otherwise rested and rotated carefully. There will be times during this Test where Cummins may be asked to do either job, attacking down the hill or pushing tightly up it, and it will be critical that the Austrlaians are able to prevent England's middle order from getting as comfortable as they did at Lord's.

"He's pretty good. No complaints from him so far," Paine said. "I think in the last 12-18 months his body's really matured and he can handle a really big workload and not only do you see a high level of skill from Pat all the time but he's highly competitive as well. So he's a great weapon for us, and someone we certainly need to look after, but at this stage he's handling the workload really well, he's a super professional in the way he prepares himself, the way he looks after his body. So at the moment he's going really well."

As a county, by the way, Yorkshire voted to leave in 2016, though the city of Leeds was a remain hold-out, both by narrow margins. Taking back control has proven more complicated than the slogan suggested: Australia will hope their task at Headingley is a little more straightforward.

If Joe Root required any reminder - and he almost certainly doesn't - over the extent to which Ashes results tend to define careers in English cricket, he will have received it on Tuesday with the news of Mark Robinson's sacking as England's women's coach.

It did not matter that, just two years ago, Robinson oversaw his side's World Cup success. And it did not matter that, in all likelihood, no coach in history could have led his England side to victory over that Australian side in the recently-concluded women's Ashes series; there was simply a chasm of quality between them.

What mattered was that England lost the Ashes and that they lost it by some distance. All the promise of recent times was forgotten.

Root's England side could soon be in a similar position. Put simply, having won none (and lost six) of the previous eight Tests between the sides, they have to win two and lose none of the remaining three Tests if they are to reclaim the Ashes. And if they fail to do so, it will be Root's second successive series loss following the defeat in the Caribbean. Perhaps more importantly, it would be Root's second successive Ashes series loss as captain and England's first at home since 2001.

It may be that Trevor Bayliss' impending departure - his contract ends in September - buys Root some time. Bayliss could be, in effect, the sacrificial offering required should Australia retain the Ashes. But the stain on Root's captaincy record would be lasting. As Robinson discovered, you can go from tomorrow's man to yesterday's in the blink of an eye.

There are two significant areas for optimism for England and for Root. The first is that, in Leeds, Australia will be without Steve Smith. He is, quite clearly, the best batsman involved in the series so his absence is a serious blow for Australia and a huge opportunity for England.

The second is that, in Jofra Archer, England have a special asset: a genuinely fast bowler with the skill, body, action and ambition to suggest he should have a long and successful career. Young people don't come with guarantees, but Archer really does appear to have the world at his feet.

Archer is a lottery win of a cricketer. He offers masses and changes much. But English cricket would be deluding themselves if they took much credit for him. That's not to decry Sussex's contribution. The club made Archer feel valued and have, no doubt, aided his development. But the fact is he arrived in the UK as an outrageously talented young man who had developed through the Barbadian cricket scene. His availability to England is an enormous slice of good fortune that should not be allowed to hide the faults - the broken fast bowlers, the absence of top-order batsmen, the paucity of spinners - in the English game.

For the reality of Root's reign as captain - 30 Tests and counting - is that England have made almost no progress. They remain dangerous, certainly, and victory in Sri Lanka was an admirable achievement. But the search for an opening batsman to replace Andrew Strauss - let along Alastair Cook - goes on; the search for a No. 3 or No. 4 to replace Jonathan Trott goes on.

And while Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler have enjoyed fine moments, their scores of late hardly offer the return their promise suggests we should expect. Put simply, it seems reasonable to expect a side blessed with the likes of Root, Buttler, Anderson, Ben Stokes et al. to be placed higher than No. 4 (and it may be No. 5 if they lose this series) in the Test rankings.

Let's be clear: this is not entirely Root's fault. He is not responsible for the lop-sided county schedule, the embrace of all things white-ball or the absence of the basic red-ball skills - the patience, the denial, the technical ability - that used to proliferate in the county game.

But he does have to take some responsibility. He is England captain. This is his team. If he is unhappy with any aspect of the preparation, selection, coaching or ethos, it is within his remit to change it. And the fact is that, on his watch, the batting order might as well be picked out of a hat and his side are persisting with an opening batsman who everyone knows would be better suited to the middle order.

For while England ended their Caribbean tour with the coach insisting they had learned valuable lessons - notably that the spine of the team, from No. 4 to No. 8, was a strength that should not be tinkered with - they have done almost nothing but tinker ever since. The No. 8 has gone, the No. 4 is a No. 3, the No. 6 is a No. 5 and the No. 7 might well be at No. 6. The England management insist it's not chaos, but it's starting to look as if it might be.

ALSO READ: Miller: England's batting maelstrom squanders another opportunity

Furthermore, Root has been one of those advocating the "positive" mindset that all too often veers into recklessness - remember him saying "you don't win games by batting long periods of time" in the Caribbean? - and increasingly appears to be a cover for a lack of defensive technique.

Most of all, Eoin Morgan's shadow is starting to loom over Root. For while Morgan seized a failing team and, with a combination of vision, bravery, consistency and unwavering determination, moulded them into world champions, Root has taken charge of an exciting group of cricketers and allowed them to drift. They should be two years better; most of them are simply two years older.

That lack of progress applies to Root as much as anyone. He hasn't made a first-innings century as captain since August 2017 in just his fifth game at the helm. Since then, he has only made one - the second-innings century in Kandy - in a live rubber. England cannot afford such decline in the returns of their best batsman. If the evidence suggests the captaincy is compromising his run-scoring ability - and it is starting to do so - England may have to consider the possibility of a change.

All of which makes this a vital game for Root's England. He remains the natural leader of this side and a man with many positive qualities. And alternatives aren't especially obvious. But as Robinson's demise has reminded us, Ashes results tend to bookend the careers of captains and coaches. England really do need a victory in Leeds.

The ECB have advertised for a new assistant coach for the senior England men's team.

While the role is, in effect, currently occupied by Paul Collingwood, he is employed on a consultancy basis and his contract expires after the final Test of the Ashes. He will be obliged to apply for the role if he wishes to continue.

Ashley Giles, the director of England men's cricket, has previously outlined his vision for an England coaching set-up featuring a head coach and three assistants of equal seniority to share the burden. Each of those three assistants may, from time to time, take charge of the side in order to provide the head coach with time to watch other cricket, take a break or attend to other matters.

While Collingwood would be a strong candidate if he chooses, as expected, to apply, he should not be considered a certainty for the role. There are certain to be many applicants and the ECB insist the process will be open and rigorous. The successful candidate will be a full-time employee of the ECB.

The other two assistant positions have, in effect, already been filled. Graham Thorpe, the ECB's lead batting coach, is one, while Chris Silverwood, the team's bowling coach, is the other. Both men have indicated their desire to apply for the head coach role when it becomes available in a few weeks.

Virat Kohli has indicated that India will go into the Antigua Test with the same combination that helped them pull off their first-ever Test-series win in Australia at the turn of the year. If this is the case, Rohit Sharma and Hanuma Vihari will most likely be contesting the No. 6 role.

Having played five batsmen, a keeper, an allrounder and four bowlers through most of their tours of South Africa and England in 2018, India switched to playing six specialist batsmen in the fifth and final Test in England, at The Oval. They stuck with six batsmen through the tour of Australia as well.

With Hardik Pandya rested for the West Indies tour, India don't have a seam-bowling allrounder in their squad. The only way they can play five bowlers would be to pick two spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin - both of whom can bat - and three fast bowlers.

At his pre-match press conference, Kohli said he hadn't yet looked at the pitch.

"Still thinking about the combination," he said. "We haven't had a look at the wicket. It's more or less a choice between three quicks and a spinner or two quicks and two spinners. Last time England played here the wicket had a bit of variable bounce so all those factors come into play. We're flexible at the moment about what the combination should be."

India playing only four bowlers - variable bounce might also necessitate the extra batsman - would probably mean a straight shootout between Rohit and Vihari for the No. 6 role. Kohli did not reveal whom India would pick, between the two, but he hinted that Vihari's part-time offspin could be a factor in his favour.

"It all depends on the type of combination we want to go in with," Kohli said. "Vihari has done so well since the time he's come in. Two difficult tours. Rohit's also done well in Melbourne. It all depends on the kind of combination we want to go with.

"Vihari gives you a few overs with the ball as well. He's a solid player. Rohit, we've been seeing it for years, so it's about who provides the best balance in terms of the XI we want to choose."

Both Vihari and Rohit come into the West Indies tour with form behind them. Rohit is fresh off a World Cup campaign in which he made a record five centuries, while Vihari toured the Caribbean with the India A team, scoring 55 and 118* in the second unofficial Test. Both enjoyed productive outings with the bat during India's warm-up match in Coolidge. Rohit made 68 in his only innings, while Vihari batted twice, scoring an unbeaten 37 in the first innings and 64 in the second. Vihari did not bowl in either of West Indies A's innings.

In Australia, Rohit only played two of the four Tests, missing the Perth Test with a back injury and the Sydney Test on paternity leave. He scored 106 runs at 35.33, including an unbeaten 63 in the third Test in Melbourne.

Vihari played three Tests, scoring 111 runs at an average of only 22.20, and picking up two wickets while bowling 35 overs. The numbers might not look hugely impressive on the surface, but Kohli praised him for the stickability he showed, particularly in Melbourne where he opened the batting, and batted for a combined 133 minutes across the two innings while scoring 8 and 13.

"In the Melbourne Test if you look at how Vihari and Mayank [Agarwal] opened, Vihari scored just 18-20 runs but he batted around 85 balls, [which] tells you it's all about the team. He handed the situation so well that [Cheteshwar] Pujara and myself could go out there and play the way we did and Pujara went on to get the century for us. So the small contributions are not recognised or spoken about so much."

There is a widely accepted theory that, in the wake of a traumatic or painful event, it is helpful to face a similar experience as soon as possible. Get caught in a rip while swimming in the ocean? Go to the beach the next day. Thrown from a horse? Hop back in the saddle as soon as possible. Suffer a miserable break up? Swipe right often and jump back in that dating pool.

The thinking is that turning on the light and facing what was a monster in the dark can reveal it is merely an awkwardly draped coat stand. To avoid confronting it allows it to grow and gnaw persistently at any lingering insecurity.

In Australia's case the monster is Jofra Archer's rapid and deceptive bouncer: it has already cost them the presence of Steve Smith at Headingley, it threatened to do similar damage to Marnus Labuschagne, and Matthew Wade has reason to be thankful for his diminutive stature - the ball merely grazed the top of his helmet as he tried to duck under it.

Also read: Australia yearn to take back control at Leeds

Of course, batters cop hits and bruises all the time and being able to handle fast, short-pitched bowling is just part of the game; several England players likely have Pat Cummins to thank for any tattoos appearing after the Lord's Test. Thankfully, blows to the head are less common, although Jason Roy's concussion scare in the build-up to the third Test is another reminder of the danger. But the serious sort can have a lasting impact and any perceived hesitation is exploited by opposition bowlers who have the necessary arsenal. Stuart Broad's battle with the short ball after a bouncer rearranged his nose was obvious and Chris Rogers has spoken openly about the lasting effects of multiple concussions on his batting. In other cases, the lingering mental effects may only be minor or short-lived.

Sometimes, according to Joe Root, the greatest injury is to a player's pride.

"The thing that hurts the most is your ego," said Root, speaking to the media at Headingley. "You're stood out there in front of 35,000 people and someone has mugged you off a bit. That's how it feels when I've been hit. You pride yourself on being able to either get out of the way or take it on and you make sure, first and foremost, you stay in and keep batting. You don't want to be in that position again and let them get one up on you.

"I've never had a blow as serious as that, so hard to comment in Steve's case but you could see the concern on the guys out in the field. Jofra and Jos [Buttler] were straight over. I think everyone relaxed a bit when he got up and the doc was having conversations with him. But as a batter you pride yourself on being able to manage those deliveries but it's like anything, it's a psychological battle. When they go to that plan it's like, can you play it well like you would play the top of off stump? If you get out in that fashion, it's seen as a good ball but, if you're caught at deep square leg because someone has got a bouncer right on the money, it looks like a rash shot."

When time comes for Smith's return, Tim Paine believes that the seemingly impermeable mental bubble that has encased him throughout this series will be firmly back in place.

"Steve loves batting," said Paine. "I don't think that's going to change. Marnus is strange, he seems to enjoy getting hit on the head, so he's a different kettle of fish altogether, but I think it has happened at times. Marnus has handled himself exceptionally, his innings was unbelievable after that happened. Steve Smith's the best player in the world, he will come back in the next Test, if it's next Test, or the tour game and we're expecting him to be the same old Steve Smith. He's a high-quality player and he'll adapt as he always has."

(Let's just pause for a moment to say, what the hell, Marnus?)

The Australians know what is coming at the end of Archer's laconic run up and there will be plenty of it in Leeds. They looked to attack and get on top of England's shiny new toy at Lord's but, as Paine admits, all the preparation and planning and net sessions can only do so much.

"Obviously we copped some short-pitched bowling, I think guys prepared for it last week but it's another thing facing it," said Paine. "Guys have got plans in place and we've prepared really well for it. It's about going out and executing it. We think the Lord's wicket was quite a difficult one to face short-pitched bowling on, so we're interested to see how this wicket plays. But it's about adapting to the situation, the wicket and what any of their bowlers are trying to do. We've got to have a plan to counter that and I know our boys will."

And how do the Australians turn on the light and demystify the monster?

"You put all the gear on and you get in there. It's as simple as it is."