Why has the No. 1-ranked U.S. women's national team struggled so much at the Tokyo Olympics? Not even the players and staff seem to know.

"I don't know," Carli Lloyd said after the USWNT's 1-0 upset loss to Canada in the semifinal. "I don't know in this moment. It happens, you know? You can't win them all."

Coach Vlatko Andonovski was at a similar loss on Monday, telling reporters, "I don't really know," before adding: "I guess we're going to have to go back and dig a little deeper and find out what is it that didn't go the way we wanted."

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Without any clear-cut explanations for why a team that dominated its way through a World Cup two years ago suddenly looked so disjointed and ineffective at the Tokyo Olympics, plenty of outside theories have floated around.

Here is a look at some of the top theories and our ratings (10=super likely, 1=unlikely) of how likely it is that each actually contributed to the USWNT's loss:

The USWNT's roster was too old: 5/10

It's easy to look at the average age of the USWNT's roster at the Olympics and point to that as the problem. All of the USWNT's primary attackers are over the age of 30, except Lynn Williams, who is 28. The USWNT's two biggest clutch players, Carli Lloyd and Megan Rapinoe, who were heroes in previous tournaments, are 39 and 36, respectively, and both are clearly a step slower than they once were.

But there's other important context. First, being the oldest team in a tournament hasn't hurt the USWNT before. The USWNT had the oldest squads at both the 2015 World Cup and the 2019 World Cup, and they won both. It's lazy to say that a team isn't good just because it's old.

More importantly, the USWNT's problem in Japan wasn't its older players. Did Lloyd and Rapinoe have good tournaments? No. But how do you explain, for instance, the uncharacteristic struggles of Samantha Mewis, the 28-year-old central midfielder who many analysts have considered to be the best player in the world?

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Basic execution of the soccer fundamentals -- like dribbling and passing -- was sloppy, and that happened all the way up and down the roster. As Rapinoe -- the most honest and blunt player on the team -- said after the tournament-opening Sweden loss, the U.S. was "doing dumb stuff, like not passing the ball, not trapping the ball." After the loss to Canada, her assessment was nearly the same: "Too many errors from us, again. The space was there for us to play in, and we just couldn't get into it -- too many touches or an errant touch."

To be fair, the Olympics is a particularly grueling tournament because of how few rest days the IOC gives players between games. Having some younger players to take on more minutes and workload could have helped, but with more substitutions available than normal, Andonovski went out of his way to rest his players as much as possible. As Alex Morgan said, the USWNT had the freshest players in the tournament due to the rotations.

Still, Andonovski may have found some benefit in bringing more younger players to the tournament -- and then actually playing them -- but it would've been less about their age than... (onto the next category...)

The selected players were too complacent: 7/10

When a team has won a World Cup in the unrelenting fashion the USWNT did in France in 2019, it would be tempting for any new coach to run it back. Andonovski already knew these players could succeed together in the pressure cooker of a major tournament, but what the USWNT seemed to lack more than pure fitness was desire.

The players, of course, will tell you they wanted it. The veterans wanted to go out on top as they (likely) end their careers. The younger players wanted to win their first medal in an Olympics. Yet it's hard not to notice that the one field player who had a standout performance in the entire tournament was Lynn Williams, who notched a goal and an assist against the Netherlands.

Williams is playing in her first major tournament, one of the only players on the entire roster to do so. Under both Andonovski and previous coach Jill Ellis, Williams has not been the USWNT's best attacking player -- there's a reason why she didn't make any tournament rosters under Ellis and why she originally made the Olympic roster as an alternate -- and yet she played in Japan like she had a lot more to prove than anyone else.

That also raises the question of why a player like Catarina Macario didn't have the chance to play a bigger role in the tournament, even as a substitute. She's talented and has proved herself to be capable of competing at the highest level, but she was only named to one matchday squad (the 6-1 win over New Zealand). If Andonovski had told her he trusted her to take over a game and do her thing, could she have helped unlock an opponent like Canada, which wasn't committing to attacking in that fateful semifinal? We'll never know.

With the Olympics being pushed back a year, Andonovski arguably had the time to break away from merely copying-and-pasting the World Cup roster and finding some players hungry to make their mark. At a minimum, it would've pushed the veterans harder as they fought to keep their spots going into the tournament, but it could've yielded some more dynamic options for Tokyo.

Andonovski rotated the starting line-ups too much: 10/10

In any tournament where a bunch of games are packed into a short period of time, a coach has one of two ways to approach it: consistency for the sake of chemistry, or rotation to keep the players fresh for each game. Andonovski clearly leaned toward rotation. Perhaps he was mindful of his roster's age, or perhaps he just knew that playing a game every three days is a lot for players of any age.

Rapinoe wondered after the semifinal if rotation was a problem but then dismissed it.

"It just didn't click for us," Rapinoe said. "I don't know if it was just roster rotations a lot. I know it's a tough tournament, trying to save people. But our bench is deep as hell, so I don't think we can really put it on that. I can't quite put my finger on it; I've tried, I've been thinking about it the whole tournament. We just didn't have that juice that we normally do."

If the concern about rotations is a drop-off in quality, Rapinoe was right to dismiss that. The substitutes for the USWNT are as good as its starters, and the USWNT never loses individual quality by rotating players. But as a collective, that's a different story, and the USWNT's biggest problem in Japan has seemed to be a lack of chemistry.

While we can't see what's happening behind the scenes to build that chemistry, we do know that there wasn't much consistency in games. Look no further than an unprecedented nine goals called offside throughout the tournament as tangible proof that the players just weren't on the same page.

"There was a lot of rotation, so in a way I think we had the freshest legs of any team," Alex Morgan said after the semifinal. "But [other teams] also had the consistency in the line-ups. So that's what you have to weigh in tournament like this. It's very different than a World Cup. There were more substitutions than there's ever been, so it's very different."

It's unclear if Morgan was hinting that the higher amount of allowed substitutions meant that less rotation should have been needed; it would have been a good point, too. With five substitutes, it probably wasn't necessary to introduce five different starting line-ups in five games. If Andonovski had stuck to more consistent starting line-ups, he could have made better use of his substitutions to make sure impactful players were coming into games, instead of just taking players off for the sake of it.

The USWNT got too distracted by its lawsuit or politics: 0/10

Anyone who claims that the USWNT struggled in Japan because they were too distracted by social justice is someone who clearly does not watch the USWNT and has never watched the USWNT. These are people who should be laughed at or ignored.

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The USWNT has historically been one of the most dominant teams in sports, period, and they've done it all while constantly fighting for better treatment and better pay. Seriously, there's a whole book about it, but you don't even have to look back any further than the 2019 World Cup. The USWNT filed their equal pay lawsuit only months prior, Megan Rapinoe got into a fight with Donald Trump (which he started, for some reason), and both the USWNT and Rapinoe crushed their competition.

The evidence is clear: the USWNT has won more tournaments while caring about social justice than not.

The USWNT didn't lose enough before the Olympics: 7/10

Fans of the USWNT are very accustomed to winning. So accustomed, in fact, that a single loss is enough to set off calls to fire a coach, which has created a culture where it can be difficult for coaches to experiment and take the risks that result in losses.

But losses are good. Jill Ellis has said that losing games before the 2015 World Cup allowed the team to win the trophy, and she thinks the USWNT probably wouldn't have gone as far without those losses. It's easy to see why, too: defeats force a hard self-examination of weaknesses and shake away any feelings of complacency.

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Coming into the Olympics, Vlatko Andonovski had never lost a game with the USWNT, and the team was riding a 44-game unbeaten streak when it arrived in Japan. Where, then, was any serious introspection going to come from? What would have prompted players to look in the mirror and dig a little deeper? It appears the answer is that those things went missing in Japan.

The lack of crowds hurt the USWNT's mentality: 6/10

Americans will follow the USWNT anywhere. During the 2019 Women's World Cup in France, Reims, a quaint city known for its champagne production and Gothic architecture, looked like an American resort town at the start of the tournament. As soon as the USWNT left, the throngs of traveling American fans did too, following the USWNT from city to city across France. The players admitted that every match in France, except the quarterfinal against France, felt like a home game.

But no Americans have followed the USWNT to Japan.

Due to the pandemic, the USWNT's games have been mostly played in empty, dead-silent stadiums. The players have insisted it's not a big deal -- they've gotten used to it during the pandemic. But the truth is, if fans were allowed in Japan, no other non-host team would have as much support as the USWNT. It's hard to measure the impact of it, but ask any athlete: fans add that extra push, and for the USWNT, that extra bit of swagger to put on a show.

"With it being a major tournament without fans, we know that energy and everything is gonna come from us," Rose Lavelle said during the group stage. "It comes from every single player and staff member, so that's something we've been emphasizing too."

But it clearly hasn't worked, and there's no substitute for a stadium of mostly USWNT fans. The lack of fans may only be one piece of the psychological difficulty of the past 16 months during the pandemic, but it's an important piece.

The world has 'caught up' to the USWNT: 4/10

If the question were whether there were other teams in Japan capable of beating the USWNT, then there is a 100% probability that it was a factor in the USWNT's loss: teams like Sweden and the Netherlands were favorites, along with the USWNT, before the tournament even started. But if the question is whether the world has "caught up," meaning the field has been somehow significantly more difficult than in years past, that's a lot less likely.

The fact is, women's soccer has been growing at a rapid pace for several years now, and there have been very good teams capable of beating the USWNT all along. The 2019 Women's World Cup was easily the most difficult in history -- more teams looked like title contenders than ever -- and just because the USWNT won it in impressive fashion, that doesn't mean it wasn't tough.

Sure, it's possible the USWNT's failure to reach the gold-medal match in Tokyo will signal a new shift in women's soccer where the USWNT never reaches a final again. But that seems highly improbable unless the USWNT disbands tomorrow.

In truth, there are several teams that can win any major tournament, and that number is indeed growing, but the USWNT reaching a final is never a given. It wasn't a given in 2016, when the USWNT got knocked out in the quarterfinal at the Rio Olympics, and it wasn't a given in 1995, 2003 or 2007, when the USWNT didn't reach the finals of those World Cups either.

The USWNT's run wasn't actually that terrible: 5/10

Looking at the USWNT's performances, rather than the results, is certainly disheartening. By the players' own admissions, they looked bad, both as a collective group and as individuals. For fans, the team on the field was unrecognizable at times.

But reaching the final four of a major tournament isn't terrible, all things considered. The USWNT has only failed to get that far once in the team's entire history, and that was at the 2016 Olympics with a loss in the quarterfinal. That arguably puts the Tokyo Olympics in line with the USWNT's expected results.

"This was my eighth tournament, and they've all been different," Lloyd said after the loss to Canada. "They've all had a different storyline, they've all started and finished in a different fashion, some have been pretty, some have been ugly and some we've just scraped by. This one, we didn't get by."

It's easy to forget that the USWNT won a World Cup in 2015 playing rough soccer for most of the tournament. The first few games looked so bad that pundits and former USWNT players were questioning why coach Jill Ellis hadn't been fired already. The USWNT grew into its later games -- something this team couldn't do in Japan -- but it was far from invincible.

Sometimes in past tournaments, the ball seemed to bounce the USWNT's way, even when they weren't playing well. The USWNT had no such luck in this go-round, and sometimes luck makes all the difference.

Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones did not say when it would happen, but he made an announcement Thursday night that many hoped would come sooner rather than later: Jimmy Johnson will be inducted into the Cowboys' Ring of Honor.

Johnson will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend, and Jones has said in the past that he did not want to take away from that moment when discussing when or if Johnson would be put into his team's Ring of Honor.

"I think we've got some great days ahead of us," Jones said on the FOX pregame show before the Cowboys faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Hall of Fame Game. "We are going to certainly be recognizing what's happening here with the Hall of Fame, but Tex Schramm, who started that Ring of Honor, he said, 'Jerry, keep it kind of limited with people, but make sure it wasn't just about the plays they made. Make sure they contributed to the story of the franchise.' Now, it's kind of hard not to recognize [Johnson's] contribution to the story of the franchise."

After Jones' announcement, Johnson, his former Arkansas teammate, joked about when the induction would happen, saying, "While I'm alive?"

After a 1-15 record in 1989, his first year after taking over for Tom Landry, Johnson led the Cowboys back to prominence, with wins in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII. He and Jones had a falling out after the second championship, but Johnson is given a large amount of credit for the Cowboys' win in Super Bowl XXX under coach Barry Switzer, a victory that made Dallas the first franchise to win three Super Bowls in four years.

In five seasons with the Cowboys, Johnson had a 44-36 record and went 7-1 in the postseason.

At the start of training camp, Jones expressed regret about the breakup with Johnson.

"Ridiculous. My role here was, my job was to keep it together," Jones said, later choking up. "It was my job. Should have had deference to something that was working good. Those are the things that come to my mind. We had a great run of it. He's a great coach, and I'm proud to have him as a friend, and proud to have had the times that we had. We just had a great experience."

Last month, Johnson was asked about the Ring of Honor during an interview in Key Largo, Florida.

"I think other people think about the Ring of Honor a lot more than I do," Johnson said. "Jerry's told me numerous times he's going to put me in the Ring of Honor, and I think that day will come whenever Jerry feels like it, which is fine with me. I know what we were able to accomplish, and I'm very proud of that."

At the end of the interview Thursday, Johnson embraced Jones.

"Our successes wouldn't have happened and every player that was on those teams knows that -- Michael [Irvin] and Emmitt [Smith] and everyone else. It took both of these guys in order for us to achieve," Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman said on the pregame show. "Jimmy couldn't have been the coach he was had it not been for Jerry and his ownership, and Jerry wouldn't have been the owner he was had it not been for Jimmy as the head coach. And we were the beneficiaries of that. I'm just glad to see these two together. It's what we've all been hoping for."

Former Wales and British and Irish Lions full-back Terry Davies has died at the age of 88.

Davies featured in two Lions Tests including a win over New Zealand in Auckland.

He won 21 caps for Wales between 1953 and 1961 despite missing three seasons with a shoulder injury.

"When I was a young boy I was lucky enough to see Terry play at his peak," said former Wales and Lions fly-half and Scarlets president Phil Bennett.

"He was a hero of mine, a local Bynea boy, but a player with a real aura about him. He could tackle, goal-kick, break the line, he was an outstanding player."

Davies, from Llwynhendy, was first capped as a teenager while playing for Swansea but moved to Llanelli when he resumed his career.

Renowned for his hard tackling, he scored 50 points for Wales and five in Lions Tests, and was dubbed "Wales's First Superstar Full-Back" by the publishers of his autobiography.

Davies had a spell in the Royal Marines and later worked as a timber merchant.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Try and tweet as he might, Jim Herman could win this week ... and the week after that ... and all three FedExCup playoff events ... and still probably not crack the top 10 in the PGA Tour’s new Player Impact Program.

Started in January but made public in April, the Tour’s $40 million program uses a handful of metrics to recognize and reward those who best move the needle.

Metrics like Nielsen Brand Exposure. Q Rating. Meltwater Mentions.

Metrics that 43-year-old Jim Herman had likely never heard of until the Tour memo announcing the program, but that hasn’t stopped the journeyman and three-time Tour winner from entering the fray. Encouraged to build what had been a non-existent brand, he fired up Twitter, cracked his knuckles and introduced a different side of himself. Or at least an alter ego.

Of course, with his loyal but light follower base of 16,000, Herman knows he has little chance to finish in the top 10 ... or the top 50.

Following his opening 64 at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, he was asked where he thinks he realistically ranks currently in the PIP. “I rank about 100,” he said, breaking into a smile. “But that’s 100^th heading toward first.”

Even if he won’t cash in – and to be clear, he will not – Herman is having fun showing more of his true self, the side you can’t see behind his shades as he competes in near-anonymity on Tour. At last, he has found the freedom to be publicly who he has long been in private: fun, witty, self-deprecating, cheeky.

“Like everybody,” he said, “we say things and we hide behind our tablet or our phone.”

Herman started his account five or six years ago – long before the PIP – and his manager always believed the social-media activation could lead to something bigger, such as more sponsors or a sweeter club deal, for the player whose career began as an assistant pro at Trump Bedminster. 

“That obviously hasn’t been the case,” Herman said, who sports only three sponsors on his shirt and hat – practically nothing compared to some of his peers who resemble bulletin boards or NASCAR drivers. “But Twitter can be an interesting experience, so we’re trying to keep it funny and light and just have fun with it. Too many people take things too seriously on Twitter, so we’re just trying to poke a little fun at a few things and poke fun at myself as well.”

The cynic would say that Herman should spend more time practicing than popping off on Twitter. An out-of-nowhere winner at the Wyndham Championship 51 weeks ago, Herman has dropped from 91^st in the world to 144^th. His best finish, a tie for 20^th, was in his most recent start. Had he not won last year, at No. 170 in the FedExCup standings, he’d be looking at a Q-School this fall.

But even though it has now become a running joke, Herman doesn’t measure his career in wins and rankings, nor his value in some quasi-objective popularity contest. 

“It’s not life or death, by any means,” he said. “I’ve got children, and being around and being a father, there’s a lot more to me than just being a professional golfer.” 

And that’s worth more than any $8 million bonus.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Harris English shot an 8-under 62 on Thursday to match his lowest PGA Tour score and take the first-round lead in the FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

The 2013 winner at TPC Southwind, English had a two-stroke lead over Jim Herman, Carlos Ortiz, Ian Poulter and Matthew Wolff, with Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Marc Leishman another shot back at 65.

DeChambeau returned to competition after missing the Tokyo Olympics because of a positive test for COVID-19.

The 32-year-old English birdied the first four holes — making a 27-foot putt on the par-4 second — and added birdies on Nos. 6, 7 and 9 to match the course front-nine mark of 7-under 28. The 28 also is English’s career-low for nine holes.

“It was one of those rounds where I was hitting it really good off the tee and making a lot of good putts,” English said.

Ahead by two strokes after nine holes, he encountered difficulty to start the back nine. He bogeyed Nos. 10 and 12 to fall out of the lead. But he recovered on the final few holes. He closed with birdies at 15, 16 and 18. He hit his approach at 18 inside 5 feet and sank the putt.

“I’m just happy with the way I fought back,” English said.

The strong start was a continuation of what has been a solid season for English. Of his four PGA Tour victories, two have come this season: the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January in Hawaii and the Travelers Championship in June in Connecticut. He finished third at the U.S. Open.

English has won two of the four times he has led or shared the lead after an opening round.

Ortiz, who played bogey-free, moved up the leaderboard with birdies at Nos. 15 and 16. Wolff also birdied 15 and 16 and said “everything is starting to fall in place” for him.

Herman, seeking the fourth PGA Tour victory of his career, is in contention after a difficult mid-season stretch in which he missed eight of 10 cuts. After birdies on 16 and 17, he briefly tied English for the lead at 6 under. Herman’s birdie putt on 17 was from 31 feet.

DeChambeau was encouraged by his start. He expressed to the media Wednesday he didn’t expect to be much of a factor this week. That sentiment changed Thursday.

“I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend,” he said. “I feel like I can be there to win on Sunday.”

British Open champion Collin Morikawa and defending FedEx St. Jude Invitational champion Justin Thomas shot 67s. Second-ranked Dustin Johnson and Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele were at 69.

Serie A side Venezia FC have agreed a deal with Sporting Kansas City to sign midfielder Gianluca Busio pending a medical and the agreement of personal terms, the MLS club confirmed on Thursday.

Busio will become the latest United States international to join the newly promoted Italian club, with Venezia having signed Tanner Tessmann from FC Dallas last month.

Venezia have also been linked with U.S. defender Erik Palmer-Brown, who would join on loan from Manchester City.

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The Venice-based club is also led by American ownership, with Duncan Niederauer acquiring control in 2020 and serves as the club president. The upcoming campaign will be Venezia's first in the Italian top flight since the 2001-02 season.

Busio, 19, holds Italian citizenship through his father, which would allow him to qualify as a domestic player in Italy and had increased interest from Serie A teams.

Busio has been with the USMNT this summer as part of Gregg Berhalter's squad at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, making his senior debut against Haiti in group-stage play. He is the second-youngest American ever to make a Gold Cup roster.

NEWS: #SportingKC transfers @gbusio13 to Serie A side @VeneziaFC_EN in club-record deal.

?: https://t.co/XP06LDEGaG pic.twitter.com/ftHznrKJWN

— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) August 5, 2021

A U.S. youth international at the under-15, U17 and U20 levels, Busio signed a Homegrown contract with SKC in August of 2017. He was the youngest player since Freddy Adu to sign a MLS contract, at 15 years, 2 months and 28 days.

He has been a steady presence in the Kansas City lineup since the start of the 2019 campaign. He's shown versatility as well, playing as a deep-lying midfielder, attacking midfielder and forward.

Venezia prevailed in dramatic fashion over Cittadella in the Serie A promotion playoff in May when Riccardo Bocalon scored the winner with his side down to nine players following two red cards.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Manchester United and their manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, are enjoying their summer so far. Solskjaer has signed a new long-term contract and key transfer targets Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane have been secured in plenty of time ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

Last season ended with a surprise defeat in the Europa League to Villarreal, while the relationship between supporters and the owners at Old Trafford, the Glazer family, reached a new low after the botched attempt to sign up to the European Super League. United haven't won a trophy for four years and it's been eight years since their last title in 2013 but there is genuine hope Solskjaer's team will be legitimate challengers this time around.

With just over a week to go before their first game of the 2021-22 campaign, against Leeds United at Old Trafford, Solskjaer sat down at United's preseason training base in St. Andrews for an in-depth interview on the summer so far, his new signings, the spending of his rivals and his expectations for the new season.

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ESPN: This summer couldn't have gone any better for you, could it?

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: It depends on how you look at it. Of course, I would have liked to have had a few winners coming back [from the Euros and Copa America], that would have been good. Transfer-wise, we've done our business early. [Varane] hasn't done his medical yet, but that should be OK. I'm very pleased with what we've done.

You barely had any time to prepare last summer because of the quick turnaround between seasons, but this time you've had a few friendlies and two camps: one in Surrey and one here in St. Andrews.

OGS: Last season was unique. We had five days with everyone [before the start of the season]. We've not got everyone back yet; we're still lacking a few. Every year that there's a [summer of international football], it's difficult. Luke [Shaw], Harry [Maguire], Fred -- a few -- will only have the Everton game [on Saturday] to prepare.

It's still not perfect, because I think teams with fewer players in tournaments do have an advantage early on, but we're as ready as we can be. Fred played nine games over the summer, and he's had three weeks away from us -- and then two weeks to get ready again -- so they should be ready.

United didn't start well last season -- with defeats to Crystal Palace, Tottenham and Arsenal in the first six league games -- but is the hope that you can fix that this time?

OGS: You put every season into blocks, but the first six or seven games are very important to set the momentum and to give you a chance. I read somewhere that Pep [Guardiola] said you can't win the league in the first eight games, but you can lose the chance to win it, and that's what happened to us last season.

I felt we lost too many points early on. From Nov. 1 until the Leicester game in May, we only lost one league game. That's the consistency we want to see again.

Is there a chance [Jadon] Sancho and [Raphael] Varane could play against Leeds United?

OGS: They still haven't trained with us, and I need to see how they are. I can't see them being available for Everton [this weekend], but hopefully they will be ready to be on the bench [against Leeds].

The transfer window has seemed to go a lot smoother this summer. Did that have anything to do with John Murtough being appointed football director and Darren Fletcher coming in as technical director in March?

OGS: John and Fletch are doing a very good job. The whole system has worked. We've identified the players early on, and with Jadon, we spoke about him 12 months ago, at least. John and Fletch coming in has been a big plus.

You've spoken about needing to rebuild since you arrived as manager. Is this now the squad you had in mind when you started that process?

OGS: When you've had the experiences I've had as a player at this club, the vision is about how we're going to be on the pitch and off the pitch. We're a family, and there's no one bigger than the team -- that's important for me. You have to understand you are part of a team.

The only place these boys can be normal is when they play football. Wherever they are, whether they're with their friends or in town, it's a big thing. But when they come in here they feel like one of many. That's the feeling I had when I played under Sir Alex [Ferguson]. We all stuck together; we were all doing it for one cause, and one cause only, and that was that the team did well.

You've said you couldn't have asked for more backing from the club this summer. Does that then increase the pressure on you?

OGS: There's always pressure here to win the league and to win trophies. For me, it's the pressure I put on myself and the pressure the players put on themselves to achieve the best you can. That the board also wanted to extend my contract is proof we're going in the right direction, but we have to keep on moving in the right direction.

You must be delighted the club wanted to offer you a new contract so early?

OGS: Of course you're happy when they approach you. I had a year [left], plus they had an option so there was still literally two years left, but I think maybe the signal of the continuity is important for the players as well that they know this is the way we want to do it.

For me, you have to do well enough to stay anyway. It doesn't matter if you have a 10-year contract or a one-year contract: if you don't do well, off you go.

You still feel that pressure that if you don't start well next season, there could be questions about your future?

OGS: You feel under pressure all the time. At this club, with this responsibility, it's not just clinging onto your job; it's about the responsibility that's in my hands. We've got millions of fans, the players, the club, the staff... and the responsibility is on getting results. As long as you get results and improve, that's what I felt that we've improved all the time. As long as you can see improvement.

We've gone from third to second [in the Premier League] and a lot closer in points; we've gone from three semifinals to a final and one kick away from winning, so it's about taking the next step now. That's the challenge.

With the new arrivals, is this squad now strong enough to win the Premier League?

OGS: I'd rather be an optimist and be wrong than be a pessimist and be right. Of course these boys can, with a maximum effort, maximum season and maximum sacrifice. Every day is a chance to get closer to our target, and that's to come together as a team to give yourself a chance to win every game. But every day is also a chance to step backwards, so it's down to us as a coaching staff, but also the players, to keep improving.

Is there a chance of more signings before the transfer deadline?

OGS: Anything from now is a bonus. I have to say that with the two signings we've got, we've strengthened where we wanted to strengthen. Let's see what happens. You never know in football. Anything can happen with ins and outs.

There's lots of talk about what Manchester City are looking to do in the transfer market this summer. Do you pay attention to what your rivals are doing in that respect?

OGS: Of course you pay attention and you notice that there's possibly big money being spent somewhere else. You have to keep up with the challenges. Anyone who ends up above last year's champions will be champions.

Will we see any outgoings before the deadline? Jesse Lingard, Andreas Pereira and Diogo Dalot are all part of the squad here in Scotland after going out on loan last season...

OGS: We need a big squad. The start is important, the whole season is important, but you need to arrive in April and May fresh and with enough options. Some might go on loan until Christmas, some might go for a season, but I don't want to be too light in any position.

There seems to be an assumption one of the goalkeepers will leave because you already had David De Gea and Dean Henderson, and you've also brought in Tom Heaton this summer.

OGS: It depends on the characters you've got and how they gel. It's healthy competition. If you're too comfortable, I don't think you get the best out of yourself. You need an edge, and you need an edge of "if I don't perform, someone else is going to take my place," but it has to be healthy for the team and healthy for the group. If it's toxic and it's energy-sapping, that's not great.

Last year, it was a new situation for David and a new situation for Dean. This year, let's see how it works out.

Gary Neville said last season that as a defender, he always preferred to know who the first-choice goalkeeper was...

OGS: I enjoyed having one first-choice right-back when I played, but I never had one!

There is speculation again about Paul Pogba's future. He says he wants to win trophies, but do you think the new signings prove to him that United is the place to do it and that he'll extend his contract?

OGS: I hope every player thinks this is the place to be to win trophies. When you sign for Manchester United, you have to rise to the challenge. Paul has come back and he's fresh, and he's always such a positive boy. The talks I've had with him have all been positive.

With Sancho arriving, there is going to be a lot of competition for places in the forward positions next season.

OGS: We need to arrive in April and May with players fresh. We need players with that X factor who can make a difference. Bruno [Fernandes] last year for example, maybe I overplayed him but it was because he was so important for us. Adding these extra players -- Jesse [Lingard] coming back, Jadon [Sancho] coming in, Anthony [Martial] being fit again -- gives us a lot more to work with.

Have you been impressed with how Donny van de Beek has come back to preseason? It looks like he's a lot stronger.

OGS: He's put on a bit of muscle, yeah. He had last season to learn about English football, and he's used the summer well. You never know how players from abroad [are going to] come in -- some players need a year. You see Fred's development and evolution and there are other players that just come in and take to it straight away; it depends.

The Premier League is such a fantastic league, and the intensity of it is unbelievable. You see, you have Man City against Chelsea in the Champions League final. You have Liverpool, who have been amazing the past few seasons -- that's the competition to win the league. We lost to Sheffield United, who were bottom of the league. No game in the Premier League is a given, not at all.

Does the challenge posed by Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool make this one of the toughest Premier League seasons?

OGS: For me, it feels like this season coming up is one of the strongest Premier League seasons. Of course it's been City and Liverpool fighting it out for a few years. I feel us and Chelsea have spent well and worked well and we should look at ourselves as potential challengers, but it's potential. The first game is the most important, then the first block of games, and then keeping that momentum.

The one blip this summer was having the friendly at Preston cancelled because of a suspected COVID-19 outbreak. Is there any concern that Premier League games could be affected because restrictions in the UK have been lifted and the rates are still high?

OGS: That [the Preston game] I think was a testing mistake because all nine tested positive and then next day, when we did a proper PCR test, they were negative, so if that happened the day before the first league game, that would be a problem. What happened is not our fault, but it cost us preparation time, it cost us a couple of days away from the training ground. So when you say the summer has been perfect, it's not been perfect because the world is not perfect; it's not an ideal world. We live in a world where the [infection] rates are still high.

Footballers have been privileged because when the world has been closed, we've been able to play football. Now that the rest has opened up, we have to be really careful because if they spend too long in a place, they might catch something, so we've got to be really careful. But it's a sacrifice we've got to make to play football.

As I said we are privileged, but it's a difficult situation because their life is not normal. I think it's been easier for us because we've been able to come into work, train together, play games and yeah, we've had to live in a bubble, but other people have had to stay inside and not be able to go outside and see anyone. We've been privileged, but at the moment our day is different to anyone else's because signing autographs for the kids, taking pictures -- yeah, we want to do it, but we can't. That's hard for us.

For the Leeds game, Old Trafford will be full, fans will be outside, we want to engage with them, but we can't really because you think if I catch something here, it's a four-game ban. Literally. So it's such a difficult one.

Have you had conversations with the squad about getting vaccinated, or has it been left as a personal choice for them?

OGS: Yeah, we've informed them and some of them are already fully vaccinated, some are not sure. But we're going to have a bigger session with them now because I think it's important that everyone knows what it's about.

Last season, you had to deal with a difficult situation between the owners and the fans. You must be happy to see the Glazers take steps to remedy that?

OGS: The communication between the fans and the club is important, and of course I was there and I have a very good relationship with the fans and with the club. What happened was not an ideal situation, but I tried to make the best out of a difficult situation.

You've now got a contract until at least 2024. What are you looking to achieve in that time?

OGS: We want to be successful. We want to start winning trophies and we've laid the foundation, and I feel now that the foundation has been laid on the training ground, in the transfer market and with the work that the coaches and the staff that everyone has been doing with the players. I think we've made [the players] more robust and ready to face the challenges of a Man United player. That's not the same as playing in any other team and I think everyone that's been here or arrived here, they know the demands and expectations are higher.

Does it help you get that message across to the players because you experienced it first-hand?

OGS: Sometimes you think back and you have to be mentally strong and robust. You can't be flaky at this club because then you might as well knock on my door and say "this is not for me." You have to handle the ups and the downs.

If you win, it's not like you're the best player in the world and if you lose, you're not the worst player in the world. You've got to trust and believe in yourself without showing off. I like the arrogance and confidence on the pitch, but I don't like arrogance off the pitch because you're playing football, you're a good footballer.

Can that make recruitment more difficult here because it's about more than just identifying good players?

OGS: Yeah, it's about character, that's the difference. There are so many good players out there, but some of them don't handle the pressure. Some do. Some thrive under pressure, some enjoy it. Walking into the dressing room with Ryan Giggs, Roy Keane, Gary Neville... we challenged each other every day and now we're getting more and more characters in this dressing room as well and they do enjoy being a Man United player.

You have to enjoy it -- if you don't enjoy being a Man United player, you can play somewhere mid-table.

Ninety-nine words to wipe out 21 years walking hand in hand... not to mention 810 professional games, 683 goals, 10 Liga titles, seven Copas del Rey, four Champions League crowns and three FIFA Club World Cups.

Barcelona's terse statement on Thursday appears to leave no doubt, right down to the headline on the club website -- Leo Messi not staying at FC Barcelona -- that arguably the greatest single club career of any player ever has come to an end.

- Sources: Messi's Barcelona deal in limbo
- Social media reacts to Messi news
- Messi timeline: Breaking down his 20 years at Barcelona

But, as with Messi's own "Burofax" incident less than 12 months ago, there's more here than meets the eye.

Q: A few weeks ago everybody was reporting that Messi and the club had agreed a new contract. Spanish media were hailing today as "Messi Day" -- the day when it would all become official. What happened?

A: All we know for certain right now is that, according to Barcelona, the club are unable to register the contract due to the Spanish league's rules on player registration, despite having reached an agreement for a new five-year deal with Messi. They don't go into specifics but it's safe to assume that they're referring to LaLiga's version of the "salary cap" which limits spending on wages and player acquisition costs based on projected club revenue and costs. And since Barcelona are in dire financial straits -- with more than a billion dollars of debt, of which as much as $800 million is described as short-term -- Messi's new contract won't get the green light. Which means he will leave.

Q: But how did this happen? Surely they knew what the limits were heading into the summer and the Messi negotiations...

A: Yeah, that's one of the mysteries here. Especially since they spent $9.6 million on Emerson from Real Betis and also made three free agent signings -- Memphis Depay from Lyon, and Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia from Manchester City -- and the first two come with big salaries. The obvious question is this: If Messi was your priority (and he obviously was), why would you commit around $50m in wages and the Emerson fee to sign those four other players if it was going to put you over the cap? That's why plenty are speculating there's something else afoot.

Q: Such as?

A: Some reports are suggesting that there was a last minute hitch in the Messi deal, in terms of commissions to be paid and that he wasn't entirely happy with some of the club's transfer dealings this summer (even though they did sign his buddy and Argentina teammate, Aguero). And, because the club could never blame Messi, they're blaming LaLiga's rules instead. There may be some truth in that, but a much more plausible explanation may be the tense relationship with LaLiga and that it's a power play between Barca president Joan Laporta and Liga boss Javier Tebas.

Q: What's that about?

A: In one word: control. Barcelona are, along with Real Madrid and Juventus, one of only three clubs who have not dropped out of the Super League and, in fact, are taking legal action to push their case. Tebas, as you'd expect, is dead set against the Super League as he believes it would hurt the competitive balance of LaLiga. Perhaps more important than that is the deal Tebas struck with a private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners, which would see LaLiga receive a cash infusion of around $3.2 billion in return for 10% of future revenues and a 10% stake in a newly formed commercial company. Barcelona, like Real Madrid (who, maybe not coincidentally, issued their own statement lamenting the deal on Thursday) are dead-set against the CVC agreement.

Q: Why don't they like the deal? Don't they want the cash?

A: I'm sure they do, but they also say Tebas negotiated the agreement without their knowledge and that it hands the future of the clubs over to private investors. They're likely also unhappy with how LaLiga and CVC might redistribute funds going forward. The deal now needs to be approved by the clubs and Real Madrid and Barcelona are likely to lead the "no" front.

Q: I get that, but how does Messi come into it?

A: Simply put, LaLiga, as a product, is less valuable without Messi. His departure, or even just the possibility of his departure, could turn public opinion against Tebas and his plans. Barcelona and Real Madrid generate the bulk of Liga revenue and a sizable chunk of that trickles down to other clubs. Messi leaving wouldn't just hurt Barcelona, it would hurt LaLiga. And not just in terms of image, but in commercial terms. That's another of the theories being bandied about. But there's a third, somewhat simpler scenario that may be the most plausible.

Q: What's that?

A: It's hard to believe that, having had months to talk to Messi and his family, Barcelona would not get their sums right and suddenly realize they couldn't afford him. The structure of the five-year deal they agreed suggests they were careful to stay within the cap. Plus, the transfer windows is still open until September. They could, conceivably, move on other players to keep him around. It wouldn't be easy, because the guys they'd like to transfer out of Barca are on high salaries and few clubs could afford them, but there are ways to do it. Not to mention the fact that if Messi was as committed to staying as they suggest, he could lower his wage demands or include more bonuses in his package or whatever. Instead, they're announcing that they're throwing in the towel now.

LATEST NEWS | Leo #Messi will not continue with FC Barcelona

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 5, 2021

Q: And what does that suggest?

A: That it's a strategic move to spook Tebas. Either within the context of CVC or the Super League or, more simply, in terms of cutting them some slack on the salary cap. This feels like giving up without a fight. And I can't see Barcelona -- or Messi -- doing that.

Q: OK, let's assume you're wrong. Let's assume it really is over. Where could he go to next?

A: The usual suspects will be mooted: Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, maybe Manchester United, maybe a move to Major League Soccer. But the fact of the matter is that Messi became a free agent on July 1 and, legally, from Jan. 1, he could have signed a pre-contract with anyone. And, while there may have been interest from City 12 months ago, in the Burofax days, it's not as if clubs were beating a path to his door in the past six months. Why? Because many believed he was committed to staying at Barcelona. Now, most clubs have made other plans. City are pursuing Harry Kane. PSG are trying to extend Kylian Mbappe's deal before he becomes a free agent next June (and they've committed huge amounts in salary on big name free agents like Georginio Wijnaldum, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Sergio Ramos). Signing Messi would be a huge undertaking, you don't just magic up close to half a billion dollars over the next five years out of nowhere.

Q: So what's going to happen?

A: I'm purely speculating here, we may know more when Laporta addresses the media on Friday and, by the way, we haven't heard from Messi himself yet. But fundamentally we have a situation where -- at least according to Barca's statement -- Messi wants to stay and the club want to keep him, but the league won't allow it, even though his departure would hurt everyone, league included. Does that sound right or logical to you? No, it doesn't. Because it isn't. My guess is come Sept. 1, he'll still be a Barcelona player. Either because he will have restructured the contract they agreed or because Barca will have recouped some transfer fees or because LaLiga will have revised their salary cap to accommodate the club. Or a combination of all three.

CHICAGO -- The Commission on Chicago Landmarks unanimously voted Thursday to approve the Cubs' plans to build a two-story sportsbook adjacent to Wrigley Field.

The addition will take at least a year to build, sources told ESPN. It will be open to the public before, during and after games, and while fans will be able to enter Wrigley Field from inside the sportsbook, they won't be required to be attending the game to make bets inside.

"With this approval by the Chicago Landmarks Commission, we are excited to realize the potential envisioned by the State of Illinois to bring revenue, jobs and an exciting amenity to our fans," the Cubs said in a statement. "This sportsbook will play a huge role in helping to create economic impact through job creation, wages, investments and revenue for the City, State and County at a time when new sources of revenue are needed to fund infrastructure projects and education."

The sportsbook will be located outside the southeast corner of the stadium and will be open year-round.

"While the game of baseball has largely been the same for the last 150 years, the fans have changed. The way they consume baseball is different through emerging technology and content platforms," the Cubs said in their statement. "Sports wagering is becoming a big part of that change and this sportsbook will allow us to connect fans to the game in new ways."

The Cubs entered a multiyear agreement with DraftKings in 2020 with plans for the two to open one of the first betting venues at a professional sports stadium.

The administrative leave for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer was extended a fourth time on Thursday, this time by an extra seven days through Aug. 13, according to a league official.

A civil hearing for the temporary restraining order that was obtained against Bauer will begin three days after that in L.A. Superior Court. The hearing, which was twice granted a continuance at the request of Bauer's legal team, is scheduled for Aug. 16 to 19. That means Bauer's leave might have to be extended at least once more, unless MLB or the City of Pasadena (California) Police Department wrap up their investigations before then.

MLB can unilaterally place a player on administrative leave for up to seven days under a joint domestic violence policy, but it must obtain consent by the MLB Players' Association thereafter. Bauer hasn't been with the Dodgers since initially being placed on leave July 2.

Bauer, 30, has been accused by a woman of choking her until she lost consciousness on multiple occasions, punching her in several areas of her body and leaving her with injuries that required hospitalization over the course of two sexual encounters earlier this year, according to a domestic violence restraining order that was filed in L.A. County Superior Court on June 28, copies of which were obtained by ESPN.

The temporary restraining order was executed ex parte, which can be attained without input from the other party. Bauer's side has strongly denied the allegations of sexual assault, calling the interactions between him and the woman "wholly consensual" and saying in a prior statement that Bauer "vehemently denies her account of their two meetings."

The initial hearing to decide whether the temporary restraining order would become permanent took place July 23 and was delayed an additional six business days after Bauer's attorneys requested more time to prepare a defense against witnesses and exhibits they claimed to not have received until the night before the hearing. A continuance was obtained once again on July 29.

Bauer attended the initial hearing, as did his accuser. Bauer's legal team told the judge that it has advised him not to testify, given the ongoing investigation, but the petitioner's side stated that he must nonetheless take the stand, even if invokes his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions. Both sides will call a total of up to 10 witnesses.

The Dodgers, who traded for Max Scherzer last week and signed Cole Hamels on Wednesday, have canceled Bauer's bobblehead night and have removed all of his merchandise from the team and online stores, saying they "did not feel it was appropriate" given the investigations.

Bauer, the 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner as a member of the Cincinnati Reds, joined the Dodgers with a record-setting three-year, $102 million contract in February that includes two opt-out clauses