All posts by h716a5.icu

Manchester United signed Fred for £47m last season and what have they got? A repeat of Eric Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson.When Sir Alex Ferguson signed terrible players, he made it work. Lest we forget, Gabriel Obertan has a Premier League medal to his name. Imagine if he was around now under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – we daren’t. And that’s the problem United currently have with their squad of overpriced and overpaid “stars.â€Last night, Michael Owen called Fred a “moderate player,†and we genuinely couldn’t agree more.There’s just nothing about him that screams ‘worth £50m’ – nothing at all.No goals (he’s scored just once in 31 appearances), no assists (he has just two to his name), no blistering runs up the pitch nor big tackles (he averages just 1.2 per game in all competitions). To put things into perspective, N’Golo Kante cost Chelsea £32m in 2016 and has produced 3.3 tackles so far this term.

After his performance against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday, the jury’s in on Fred and it’s not good news…

It seems like a bit of a coincidence.

That’s no to say that there is anything behind it, but it just seems weird that Joe Worrall sent out this message, and that he chose to word it in this particular way.

Worrall has been paid a little bit more attention than he’s perhaps used to in recent days.

With stories surfacing that Newcastle United could be set to make a bid for him in the January transfer window, it’s led to some speculation about whether or not a move is actually feasible.

Perhaps in a bid to calm folks down over the whole affair, the 22-year-old, who’s a boyhood fan of the Reds, sent out a tweet saying that he was ‘lucky to be living the dream’.

And it led to a number of Nottingham Forest fans showing not only their appreciation for what he has done in the past, but that hopefully he’ll be able to keep up that level of passion, commitment and play on the pitch for a lot longer.

Here’s how a select bunch of Forest supporters reacted to what might be seen as a cryptic tweet.

Although, when he says ‘his last’, does that mean his time at the City Ground is coming to an end? I’ll let you decide if there’s some ‘hidden meaning’ in there somewhere. This guy seems to think so.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, John Hartson has questioned whether Newcastle can truly rely on Andy Carroll this season, and spoke about the decision to sell Aleksandar Mitrovic.

As well as signing Joelinton in a club-record deal from Hoffenheim, the Magpies also succeeded in bringing Carroll back to St James’ Park this summer.

Having only made three appearances this season, and all of them coming off the bench, Hartson has voiced his concerns over Steve Bruce’s side relying on a centre-forward who has had a chequered history with injuries.

How much money could you make busking for a week as a freestyle footballer? Find out in the video below…

He told Football FanCast: “Andy’s a fantastic striker, you get him fit and you’ve got a real asset but how much can you trust him?

“I know Andy, he’s a great guy. He only came on a free transfer and his contract will probably be based on appearances so he’ll want to get himself fit, but you can’t really rely on having one centre forward who’s been injury prone.”

And with the club having sold fellow target man Mitrovic a year earlier, Hartson admitted he is a big fan of the Serbian’s talents.

He added: “He got sent off a few times and showed a bit of lack of discipline, but he’s thrived at Fulham. They went down last season but he was pivotal to them the year before (when they earned promotion), getting them into the Premier League, he scored an awful lot of goals.

“He’s big, strong, leads the line well and I think he’s got better with his discipline, so I was a big fan.”

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As Joelinton looks to adapt to the pace and intensity of English football, having a second-choice striker who can deputise when needed is a major necessity for Newcastle.

Add to that Mitrovic’s outstanding start for Fulham this season, in which he has scored eight goals in 11 games, and it really shines a light on Newcastle’s struggles up front.

The 25-year-old was hardly the most prolific of strikers for the Magpies, scoring just 17 goals in 72 matches, but his battle-hardened approach and strength at leading the line made him a valuable asset for the side – when he didn’t get himself sent off that is.

But on his day, Carroll can be a far bigger handful for defenders than Mitrovic, as proven by the fact he has won 6.2 aerial duels per game over his career, compared to the latter’s 3.7. However, as Hartson alludes to, his poor record with injuries means the Tyneside club simply cannot trust him to be firing on all cylinders for the entire season.

Tottenham Hotspur fans have hailed Dele Alli after the midfielder rescued his side a point against Watford on Saturday.

The attacking midfielder scored in the 86th minute to salvage a draw for Mauricio Pochettino’s men in north London against the team that are currently rooted to the bottom of the league.

Indeed, Abdoulaye Doucoure’s goal gave Watford hope of claiming their first win of the season but Alli was able to net late on, as he pounced on a defensive mix-up to beat Ben Foster and tuck the ball home.

There was some controversy over the goal, however, with VAR checking to see if the 23-year-old had handled the ball in the build-up.

The technology eventually gave the goal and Spurs claimed what could be a valuable point as the season progresses.

And fans have taken to Twitter to hail the goalscorer, who was actually left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the games against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, having struggled for form throughout the campaign. Indeed, Saturday’s strike was his first of the season.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

Many Crystal Palace fans have responded on Twitter to a tweet from the club about out-of-form striker Christian Benteke.

The @CPFC account tweeted a picture of Benteke playing on Saturday night in Palace’s 2-0 loss to Manchester City with three angry emojis.

The Belgian international didn’t start for the seventh league game in a row for Palace but came on with 14 minutes to go against Man City while they were 2-0 down. With his first touch of the football, his powerful header was excellently saved by Ederson and touched onto the crossbar.

Many Palace fans replied to the tweet with a variety of responses. The main response seemed to be one of confusion, with many Palace fans not really working out why the club tweeted this and what it exactly means. You could assume that it could have been about his header being narrowly denied, or potentially just his frustration about the result – but it isn’t particularly clear.

Here are some of the responses from Palace fans below…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

It was all going so well for Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. The naysayers had been having a gem of a time since the club’s dismal loss to Newcastle a couple of weeks prior, and already the eulogies were being drawn up for another Red Devils humiliation – this time at the hands of arch-rivals Liverpool.

But often with these games, form goes out the window, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side remarkably led the reigning Champions League holders, and a team that had enjoyed a flawless start to the Premier League campaign, by a goal. However, as the pressure built up, United’s otherwise impressive defence creaked, and allowed Adam Lallana to snatch a demoralising equaliser with just minutes left to play.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Before the match, United may well have taken a draw. But having led for so long, not to come away with all three points would have been doubly frustrating. And whilst Solskjaer can take a lot of the credit for the way they stifled the visitors and hit them on the break in the first-half, his poor judgement call in the second period cost his team dearly.

The Red Devils had completely rattled Jurgen Klopp’s side with the decision to go to a 5-3-2 formation, with Marcus Rashford and Daniel James causing all sorts of problems, and the opening goal came as a result of that. But instead of committing to what had worked so well for him in the first-half, Solskjaer appeared to fold just when the pressure began to crank up a notch.

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Make no mistake, Liverpool appeared to be edging back into the contest, but that should have been no surprise, considering how woeful they were in the opening period – as per Sofascore, they lost possession 68 times and completed none of their attempted crosses. At the first sign of Klopp’s men raising the temperature, the United boss called his players to retreat onto their own penalty-box, and moved to a 5-4-1 formation.

It was a switch designed to help soak up the pressure better, but in truth, it only invited more of it. Rashford, and then Martial, became isolated and couldn’t hold the ball up – the latter had just three touches of the ball in the 13 minutes he was on the pitch. The decision created more problems than it solved, and after looking so comfortable defensively from crosses out wide, United conceded their equaliser from an Andy Robertson delivery.

Having got things perfectly spot-on before the game, Solskjaer undid a lot of his hard work by making a disastrous tactical call during the game.

On Tuesday, James Morrison announced that he would be retiring from professional football with immediate effect.

The 33-year-old had been available on a free transfer after leaving West Bromwich Albion at the end of the 2018/19 campaign.

Morrison has decided against continuing his career with another club, though, and has officially hung up his boots after 15 years in the professional game.

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The midfielder spent nine years with Middlesbrough before joining West Brom, where he made 341 appearances over the course of 12 seasons.

Morrison is returning to the Baggies in a coaching capacity, however, having accepted a position with the club’s academy system.

Find out what happened when a world-record-holding freestyler attempting skills with the worst pair of boots available on eBay in the video below…

As expected, many WBA fans took to social media on Tuesday afternoon to offer their views on the announcement, and a number have lavished praise on the versatile midfielder, who also made 46 appearances for Scotland during his playing career.

A selection of the Twitter reaction is available to view below:

If anything is letting Leeds United down at the moment it’s their shocking record in front of goal.

The league table for expected goals indicates the Whites should be dominating the Championship this term, but due to the fact that they’ve underperformed their xG by 9.3 goals.

That’s a huge figure at this portion of the season, and it makes you realise that Leeds need to improve up top.

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Sometimes the best solution is the simplest one, and it seems as if the Yorkshire outfit may be set to dip into the transfer market in order to bolster their frontline.

Football Insider have reported that Marcelo Bielsa has had a change of heart in recent weeks – stating that the Argentine wants to sign a new striker in January.

Is this the right move for Leeds or should they show more faith in Patrick Bamford and Eddie Nketiah?

We asked our team of writers to give their views on whether or not Leeds should sign a new striker in January.

Billy Meyers

“I think Bielsa should definitely bring in a forward. His only real potent striking option so far this term has been a 20-year-old in Eddie Nketiah, and reports suggest he has a recall clause in his deal from Arsenal. Somehow, the youngster hasn’t started a Championship game yet this season.

“Usually starting ahead of him is Patrick Bamford, a man who has just one goal more in the Championship than Nketiah’s three despite starting all 14 league games.

“Even if Nketiah isn’t recalled, Leeds must definitely look to sign a striker as their forward ranks are looking pretty slim right now, which is not what you want over the course of a gruelling 46-game league campaign.”

Vijievan Jeevathayalan

“Despite lying in third place in the Championship, Leeds have found it a major struggle to find the back of the net this season. Marcelo Bielsa’s side have shockingly only scored 17 times in their opening 14 league games – the joint-lowest with Nottingham Forest out of the current top ten.

“Patrick Bamford has endured a difficult time, striking just four times, whilst Arsenal loanee Eddie Nketiah continues to be under-used – the England U21 international has not played more than 45 minutes in the Championship.

“Goals win you games, and Leeds’ apparent aversion to scoring them could cost them dearly. It’s exactly why they need attacking firepower in January, and it could well turn out to be the catalyst for finally achieving promotion.”

Kealan Hughes

“Scoring goals is vital to any promotion campaign so it was unsurprising that Leeds missed out on the automatic spots after scoring 73 last term, with their highest league scorer Kemar Roofe getting just 14, which isn’t enough for a team looking to go up.

“It seems like history is repeating too as Patrick Bamford is often guilty of missing chances and he’s currently experiencing a run of nine league games without a goal, and whilst Nketiah has contributed on occasion, it seems he is yet to win the trust of Marcelo Bielsa.

“As a result, they should be looking to add another face, particularly as they have failed to sufficiently replace Roofe, both in terms of his goals and his all-round play, so another forward like him would be ideal.”

Charles Jones

“The Whites should be going after a new striker in January.

“They’ve struggled in front of goal, particularly Patrick Bamford, who hasn’t scored in nine games, and even if their current strikers hit some form Eddie Nketiah will be heading back to Arsenal at the end of the season when his loan deal ends, so they should have a contingency plan for when that happens.

“Finishing chances is what cost the Whites last term as they had the worst conversion rate in the Championship, but they don’t seem to have sorted those issues out as they’ve only scored 17 goals in 14 games.

“A new striker could be just what the doctor ordered.”

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

It’ll all come down to what’s more important to Chris Wilder.

According to a report from Football Insider, Sheffield United are looking into the possibility of signing Jack Rodwell. The 28-year-old is a free agent having been released by Blackburn Rovers in the summer, and has recently been on trial with AS Roma.

Although he has spent most of his career as a midfielder, the report states that Blades boss Wilder is intending to use him as a central defender. But just how does he shape up in comparison to the rest of his potential future teammates?

Find out which Premier League newcomer is a future England boss in the making in the video below…

On the chalkboard

If he is going to be brought in as a centre-back rather than a midfielder where he has spent the majority of his career, the first port of call should be his defensive capabilities.

The current backline at Sheffield United consists of John Egan, Chris Basham and Jack O’Connell, but given their ages, it’s more than likely that Basham would be the one to make way for Rodwell should the deal go through, so we’re going to focus on that, just as we did when the Joe Rodon rumours were circulating.

Rodwell averages 1.3 tackles a game, 0.7 interceptions and 0.4 blocks per game, via WhoScored.

If you compare those numbers to those of Basham’s averages of 2.3, 1.6 and 0.5 and you can see quite clearly that Rodwell falls well short when put up against him.

The one area the three-cap international does come up trumps against the incumbent defender though is his passing ability, with a career passing percentage of 80.2%, which is far and away better than Basham’s 68.2% so far this season.

So if the deal goes through, Wilder will be given a bit of a conundrum to deal with. Will he sacrifice Basham’s defensive capabilities in order to accommodate Rodwell’s ability to keep the ball, or will he prioritise keeping the ball out of the back of the net?

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…

West Ham United goalkeeper Roberto has struggled while filling in for Lukasz Fabianski during the Poland international’s absence through injury.

This can be highlighted by his performance against Newcastle United, a game in which he looked nothing short of calamitous for the Magpies’ second goal.

He also failed to cover himself in glory for the other two he conceded, as shown in the highlights video on the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel.

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Performances such as this won’t fill the West Ham faithful with confidence and it doesn’t seem as though David Martin will be called upon.

With this in mind, Manuel Pellegrini should consider using 19-year-old academy goalkeeper Joseph Anang until Fabianski can return.

The Ghanaian has been an integral part of the U21s team that has been so dominant in Premier League 2 this campaign, playing all 10 of their games, conceding 11 goals and keeping 4 clean sheets, as per Transfermarkt.

He has also spoken confidently to the club’s official channels in the past, relishing his opportunity to be the main stopper in the academy while Nathan Trott is out on loan: “It’s all about hard work. When you are the first-choice goalkeeper, it’s very different from being a back-up.

“It’s much more difficult being a back-up and waiting for your opportunity when the first choice is not around.”

It could be considered a risk to allow him to fulfil the same role for the first-team, even on a short-term basis, but it could pay dividends for the Hammers.

From a personal point of view, playing in the Premier League would be superb experience for Anang, as he continues his development.

For the team, they have already been playing with a goalkeeper who has made mistakes, contributing to a run of six games without a win in all competitions, while Anang will be full of confidence as he hasn’t lost a single league game all season.

With Fabianski expected to be back in January, it is worth Pellegrini giving the teenager a try in the meantime.