chelsea Youngster Kendry Paez’s momentum at River Plate has taken another turn, following a difficult night on the heels of his first Superclásico start that raised new questions about his role – and ultimately, over his future on loan.

The 18-year-old, on loan from Chelsea, was given a starting chance against Boca Juniors Making an impact on the bench just a few days ago. However, River suffered a 0–1 defeat at the Monumental and Paez struggled to make an impact before being substituted after 57 minutes.

This was a sharp contrast to his recent performance, and could again impact how Rivers manages his minutes moving forward.

From impact subs to tough superclásicos

Páez earned his place in the XI after changing the game against Carabobo, where he came on and provided the assist for the winning goal in just 39 minutes.

That performance propelled him into contention and, ultimately, into the starting lineup for one of the biggest fixtures in South American football. Against Boca, however, the context was very different.

River dominated in periods of possession but lacked cutting edge and Paez struggled to impose himself between the lines. Although he showed personality from time to time, his overall contribution remained limited.

The numbers reflect that struggle. He had 32 touches but did not register a single shot. He completed 9 of 16 passes and failed to complete one dribble.

Furthermore, he lost too many possessions, lost possession 15 times and could not provide the creative spark River needed.

Criticism follows performance

The demonstration did not go unnoticed in Argentina. River legend Reinaldo “Mostaza” Merlo offered a candid assessment after the match, questioning both Paez’s impact and physical presence. His words were relayed hail.

“I thought Páez would not play because he only played a little bit against Carabobo. He played well for a short period of time [against Carabobo] Nothing else.”

“I have watched him since he arrived and he is a soft player. Coudet inserted players inside to keep the ball. They had the ball at times, but lacked depth and danger. Then they struggled to be clinical.”

He then criticized the player’s attitude as he was carried off the pitch and showed no ‘sorrow or regret’ after the final whistle.

“Losing a derby always hurts. It hurts. You have to endure as long as it takes and then you have to start again.”

The criticism highlights the level of scrutiny Paez now faces, especially in high-pressure matches.

What this means for Chelsea and loans

For Chelsea, such ups and downs are part of the development process. Paez is still adapting to a new environment, a new tactical system and the demands of a club like River.

However, it also reinforces uncertainty about their role. he went away from there having an unused optionFor a game-changing option, for a starter in the biggest match of the season – and now under question again after a quiet performance.

That inconsistency matters in the context of his debt. Rivers wants to keep Páez involved and playing regularly, especially with a system in place that could allow Chelsea Reevaluate his situation if his minutes drop too low.

Performances against Boca do not necessarily change long-term plans, but they may influence short-term decisions on selection and usage.

So after an extraordinary performance following a tough Superclásico, the next few weeks could prove crucial in determining whether Páez can secure a stable role – and whether River can maintain control of his loan situation.

If the spring game is any indicator, the Deion Sanders hype machine that once electrified Folsom Field appears to be winding down.

Colorado’s 2026 spring game had a very low turnout, with independent estimates placing actual attendance at about 17,000–18,000 fans, while the school claimed to have 27,772 “claimed tickets” for the free event.

This marks a steep decline from 47,277 in Sanders’ first spring run in 2023. And it also indicates a continuous decline to 28,424 in 2024 and 20,430 in 2025.

colorado spring football

How It Started (2023) vs. How It’s Going (2026) pic.twitter.com/lWiSJmiJBi

– Brad Powers (@BradPowers7) 13 April 2026

From packed stands to empty seats: How Deion Sanders’ Colorado campaign has faltered

The numbers reflect widespread change in Boulder. After a promising 9–4 season in 2024 on the strength of stars like Shadure Sanders and Travis Hunter, the Buffaloes fell to a disappointing 3–9 record in 2025.

The program responded with a massive roster overhaul via the transfer portal – bringing in over 40 new transfers and nearly 60 freshmen overall – leaving only 22 scholarship players from last year’s team.

Students have openly noted that the “honeymoon phase” is over, with one telling reporters that the program “is no longer about anything new and shiny.”

We’re really going to see what Neon Dion becomes this season. A former Buffaloes player recently delivered a brutal public criticism of the head coach, accusing him of prioritizing style over substance. He may be right.

Christian Fauria, former tight end for Colorado and two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots from 1990–1994, appears zach gelb show And he didn’t hold back in his assessment of Sanders’ tenure leading Buffalo.

“I’m not a fan of Coach. I’ll never be a fan of Coach,” Fauria said. “I like the school. It’s not me picking on Deion Sanders – I pick on Joe Gibbs, too. I just don’t like the way he coaches football.”

“I don’t think he’s very talented. I don’t think he can manage the game. I think there’s a lot of flashes, but I don’t think there’s any substance to it.”

Heading into his important fourth season, Coach Prime emphasized that the program is moving forward with a new coaching staff and a new offensive scheme under Brennan Marion. Sanders also has some new energy after dealing with blood clots earlier this spring.

Yet the empty seats and fading buzz raise an obvious question: Has the magic of prime time in Colorado finally reached its peak?

The 2026 season will provide the answer.

Rusty Weis is a lifelong fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Dallas Cowboys and Xavier Musketeers. He has been writing professionally… More about Rusty Weiss

BOSTON — Steve Kerr finally said his quiet voice out loud after the Golden State Warriors’ 120-99 loss to the Boston Celtics, their sixth loss in seven games.

“We’ll be in the play-in,” Kerr said. “We know this, one way or another.”

It’s a reality the Warriors have understood for some time, Kerr said, but the fact he vocalized it to the press is significant. As Golden State drops to 10th in the West after a 120-99 loss to the Boston Celtics, its play-in destiny is a stark observation.

But also important is how he cited his “game plan mistakes”, i.e., allowing the Celtics to back cut and box out, things the team overcame in their morning shootaround. It is significant how the words Kerr used repeatedly during his disappointing press conference were “process,” “habits” and “emotion” to emphasize his lack of success.

“Going through the same actions this morning, we gave up early, like three back cuts,” Kerr said. “And we totally messed up [those] Coverage three times in the first quarter. Can’t do this. Cannot be done. Do you want to win playoff games? You better lock in. So get locked in.”

What does closure look like in Steve Kerr’s eyes?

For Kerr, being locked up means many things. It starts with eliminating mental mistakes and implementing your preparation. It also means being ready for Stephen Curry and the rest of the crew to return from injury. But it’s also about what Kerr describes as “the spiritual part.”

“The lock-in part of it is not just the mental part of it, but it’s the spiritual part. It’s the emotion. How prepared are you, how confident are you? How united are you? And like I said, it’s easy when you’re beaten down. It’s easy to hang your head. We can’t hang our heads. We’ve got to keep that at bay.”

Keep is the keyword because they are plug-in. Warriors are not losing for lack of effort. They have worked hard, they have struggled and struggled. Even brought down many players. Even with two-way players and guys on 10-day contracts. And they’re certainly not tanking, Kerr has made that clear on several occasions.

But Kerr reaching his boiling point after defeat signals a very specific kind of smoke. A very specific type of messaging may take effort, but it’s nothing without the process. Without habits it is nothing. And that’s what the Warriors are trying to establish so they can take the field when the big guns arrive.

“I’m telling people, we have to build our habits and be prepared for when we get people healthy again,” Kerr said. “Because then we can have that firepower that can be complemented by a foundation of good habits, good fundamentals. As I said, I think there are a lot of things we can improve on. But at the base of all of that is your spirit, energy, confidence. We have to work on that as well.”

reality of warriors now

Gui Santos summed up the Warriors situation as it stands right now.

“We know it doesn’t matter whether we win 13 games or lose 13 games, we’re going to keep playing [in the play-in]Santos said.

Therefore, as attested, the players understand the realities of the situation. They know they have to be in good shape when Curry eventually returns. Based on the latest updates, with Curry ramping up his individual work this week, he’s getting closer. And in the words of Pat Spencer, the Warriors need an identity to be proud of, given how different the team is now with Jimmy Butler out and Kristaps Porzingis out.

“It’s about creating an identity,” Spencer said. “When we get number 30 and a few other guys back we’ll really have something solid and something we can rely on.”

Kerr’s belief in this team is as strong as ever. Hence his vocal frustration.

“If we’re ready when they come back, we can do some damage,” Kerr said. “We can go rushing. But we can’t make mistakes in the game plan. We’ve got to develop better habits. Like boxing out, taking care of the ball in transition, being more efficient in transition, things like that.”

This is a handicap for 33-36 warriors. With injuries and limited time in the season, whether they can clean it up remains a challenge.

Ever since news broke about the Kawhi Leonard-Aspiration saga, it is being said that the NBA is considering giving a major punishment to the Los Angeles Clippers after completing its investigation on the matter. The allegation is that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer used the ‘no-show’ endorsement deal with Aspiration to give Leonard approximately $28 million in additional compensation through a four-year deal.

And while the expectation is that both the franchise and the players are considering a major punishment, Max Kellerman has argued that the Clippers should actually effectively walk away unscathed.

“He’s willing to spend his money and resources to give his fans the best product. Whether he does it smart or not, right or wrong, that’s what he’s trying to do. Can I give Kawhi more money to entice him to come here? Well, if I’m a Clippers fan, cool. If you’re the league, a punishment is a punishment for a solution to something that isn’t really a problem,” Kellerman said on Game Over. Told on the podcast.

He argued that “no harm, no foul” simply because the Clippers “aren’t that good anyway”, suggesting that the rest of the league had no reason to complain. Kellerman suggested financial penalties instead

“Don’t punish the Clippers in terms of draft picks or anything like that. That’s silly, you don’t want a team to be worthless for five years, and I believe the Clippers will do that. Don’t do that. You want to punish him? Fine him. Give him a huge fine. $100 million, $50 million fine, Ballmer will pay it. Just fine him something big if the league is upset that he used his money to get an unfair advantage. “If you’re doing that, spread your assets. And you give it to other teams, make Kawhi a free agent, that’s fine,” he said.

Kellerman believes it would be detrimental to the NBA because the Clippers would not be able to compete if real action was taken. Instead, he suggested making Leonard a free agent, claiming that wealth redistribution might be a better solution.

Of course, while this argument makes sense given that the Clippers will undoubtedly be affected, the problems are also obvious. Not imposing adequate penalties would not only set a hugely problematic precedent, but it would also completely undermine the league’s salary cap and other finance-related rules and regulations.

last month, sports witness He shared the optimistic outlook in Italy regarding Leeds United’s Jack Harrison.

The attacker had joined Fiorentina on loan from the Whites, with Tottenham’s Manor Solomon also ending up at La Viola.

Harrison made an impact in his first two games, coming off the bench and getting an assist in a 2–2 draw against Torino. Right after that, the Englishman became a regular starter. He started against Como and scored in an important 1–0 win over Pisa.

Unfortunately for Fiorentina, they were on the receiving end of a huge 3–0 defeat against Udinese. Harrison started in that game and failed to make an impression, disappointing greatly with his ability in the final third.

Now the Leeds United loanee is coming under criticism and it’s coming from a number of angles.

Many are not impressed with the Leeds United player

Journalist Riccardo Trevisani spoke to Cronache di Spogliatoio about the winger.

He had some harsh words about him, especially in the wake of the Udinese defeat. The Italian also compared him to Tottenham’s Solomon.

He said- Via violanews: : “Harrison is an irrelevant player, he doesn’t move anything; Solomon is much better. If yesterday was worse than usual, it is because Dodo and Solomon were missing, who, along with Keane, are the most in-form players at Fiorentina.”

La Nazione’s Stefano Cecchi also dropped Harrison’s name, and it was not positive.

The journalist told Toscana TV – relayed by fiorentinanews: : “I hope this is due to the change in formation. The problem is that nothing worked. Harrison, defense. I will not criticize Rugani, he played so poorly that it is not worth talking about.

He further said: “Gudmundsson? He’s played three good games this year, I expect a lot more from a player like him than Harrison.”

Harrison finds himself under pressure

The 29-year-old would always have been criticized had he not been an instant hero. Fiorentina are battling relegation, which is not their expected situation. The team is in shocking form and the crisis situation means fingers are being pointed.

Fiorentina have the option to buy him permanently from Leeds United. This is possible only if they remain in Serie A.

Jaylen Brown delivered another outstanding performance to lead the Boston Celtics past the Los Angeles Lakers, 111-89, on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.

Brown finished with a game-high 32 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals as the Celtics improved to 37–19. The Lakers fell to 34–22.

LeBron James has praised Brown’s performance this season, taking over for Boston amid Jayson Tatum’s continued absence due to an Achilles injury.

“He’s using the motivation of a lot of people who are saying they’re going to have a bad year because obviously, with JT being out, they’re losing Jrue (Holliday), Al (Horford) gone, (Kristaps) Porzingis gone, their entire championship team is pretty much new. He’s using that as motivation to keep them afloat. They’re playing great basketball because of him and all the other guys. He’s taking the next step,” James said in a video posted. C.L.N.S.

James said he and Brown did it stay civilizedEven if the latter criticized the former’s son Bronny James last year.

“We’ve had a very respectful relationship, other than what he said about Bronny in Summer League. But other than that, we’re OK,” the four-time MVP said with a smile.

“It’s all good. Bronny still has a long way to go, but that’s a different story.”

LeBron James on his relationship with Jaylen Brown:

“Our relationship has been very respectful. Other than that crap he said about Bronny in Summer League. But other than that, we’re okay.”

🤣🤣🤣

(via @celticsclns)

pic.twitter.com/rV9KrpCj4q

– ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) 23 February 2026

While watching Summer League at courtside, Brown was caught on video saying, “I don’t think Bronny James is a professional.” It quickly went viral and, of course, James took notice.

The young James has been widely criticized, with many fans sharing Brown’s views. However, he has shown improvement in his second season.

Meanwhile, the elder James said Brown is playing “great basketball,” adding that the Celtics star is not being talked about enough for the MVP award.