All posts by z3u9t.icu

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

Little by little he’s forcing his way back into the picture.

Tyler Roberts has sort of become the forgotten man at Elland Road this season.

There has been plenty of talk surrounding who should lead the line between Patrick Bamford and Eddie Nketiah, meanwhile, Roberts has been coming back from a knee operation that he undertook during the summer.

As a result, his contributions from last season, and what he can offer in this campaign have been pushed aside. Speaking after the Birmingham City game, Roberts spoke about his recovery so far and how important it is for him to be getting back into the swing of things:

“Coming on in the second half and getting some minutes it was great, it’s been a long summer, so I’m glad to be back and helping the team get up the table.”

On the chalkboard

Roberts is the perfect man for a Marcelo Bielsa team, because whilst he has predominantly spent his career as a centre-forward, he can play in so many positions across the front line as well as an attacking midfielder.

Bielsa has spoken about his preferences to carry a small squad, so for him to be able to fill in multiple roles makes him crucial.

He’s also very effective on the pitch as well, if you take a look at his record from last season, even though it was only three goals and six assists, he spent large parts of the campaign either on the bench, not in the squad or forced out wide (where his assists came from).

Whilst Bielsa has stated that the team will be unchanged for the game against Preston North End, he really needs to consider using Roberts a lot more going forward.

Whilst the 20-year-old may be the perfect utility man to bring off the bench if there is an injury to anyone in the front-line, it shouldn’t necessarily rule him out to start games either, especially when supporters loved his cameo so much last weekend.

After all, he did start 20 games under Bielsa last season, so it’s not as if he hasn’t had the chance to prove himself. Although his numbers weren’t amazing, perhaps if he got a more consistent run in the side, he might be able to get those numbers up and help the team like he’s talked about.

Either way, he’s returning at just the right time if you consider Leeds’ struggles in front of goal. Bamford has failed to find the back of the net for seven games so they definitely need an added attacking threat.

Just a couple of weeks after lighting up Old Trafford with a failed rabona, Marcos Rojo was given another opportunity to impress for Manchester United on Thursday night.Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave the Argentina international a starting spot in the clash against AZ Alkmaar, and the 29-year-old didn’t exactly vindicate his manager’s faith in him.The defender had been linked with a move to fellow Premier League side Everton for the second consecutive year in the summer transfer window, but failed to see a move materialise. And based on this showing, the Toffees may feel they have dodged a bullet.The 6 foot 2 man made no tackles, interceptions or blocks, and lost possession 13 times – the second-most of any United player on the pitch.After seeing Rojo’s poor display, United fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the Argentine’s performance.Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Many supporters of the Manchester side hammered him for simply not being good enough, with one fan in particular insisting that he is “League One quality at best”.

Some Red Devils fans questioned his technical ability, and pointed to his tendency to clear the ball when under no pressure at all.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

Manchester City seemingly have a big problem in their defence at the moment.

The Premier League champions are currently without their two first-choice centre-backs as John Stones and Aymeric Laporte have both been ruled out of action due to injury.

Watch Manchester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

It seems as if the club’s inability to bring in a player to fill the void left by Vincent Kompany has come back to haunt them, but ESPN’s pundits believe that the solution to replacing the Belgian is to bring in another player from the same nation.

Indeed, Steve Nicol believes that Man City should be moving for Toby Alderweireld to fill the gap in their backline.

With the 30-year-old entering the final year of his contract, Nicol believes that the Spurs star would be available for around £30m.

It remains to be seen whether or not the Manchester club pursue the defender, but if they do he would certainly provide some much-needed depth in a problematic spot.

Norwich City fans have taken to Twitter to show their love for inform striker Teemu Pukki.

Norwich striker Teemu Pukki unsurprisingly claimed the Player of the Month for the Canaries after the 29-year-old netted five goals in the four Premier League of August. [WhoScored]

The award comes two days after Pukki also bagged the EA Sports Player of the Month and became just the 10th player in Premier League history to score in his first three appearances in the competition, whilst also becoming the first Finnish player to win the award since Mikael Forssell in March 2004.

Indeed, Pukki has continued his breathtaking form from last season and has established himself as one of the league’s top scorers during the early stages, as Sergio Aguero and Tammy Abraham oneÂahead of him on seven goals each.

Most recently, although not in August, Pukki scored the third and decisive goal in the historic victory over Manchester City, and fans just can’t get enough of their main man right now.

Here’s how they reacted to his POTM award…

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Real Madrid defied the odds last weekend when they travelled to Sevilla and snatched all three points with a narrow 1-0 victory over their hosts.

By all means, this was a triumph worth celebrating.

After all, this was Los Blancos’ first victory away at Sevilla in four years, which is an incredible piece of information in itself.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

But one other thing made it even more satisfying than it already was – the Galacticos finally managed to keep a clean sheet, their first one in the ongoing 2019/20 campaign, to the delight of supporters.

They quickly jumped to social media and Twitter to celebrate the achievement and many of them were seemingly over the moon about it.

And no one can really blame them, especially considering the venue and the opposition on the other side of the pitch.

You can see some of their replies in the collection of tweets down below. Take a look!

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Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after The Sun revealed that Gary Cahill is being considered as a late loan target for the Eagles, as Fulham eye a centre-back of their own in Scott Dann.

Dann has made just one appearance this season, playing 90 minutes in the FA Cup against Grimsby having made a full recovery from a serious knee injury suffered against Manchester City last season, although he is now struggling to dislodge James Tomkins and Mamadou Sakho from the starting lineup.

Fulham were keen on a deal for Cahill originally, as the 33-year-old is seemingly surplus to requirements at Chelsea under Maurizio Sarri, but the England international was not keen on a move to Craven Cottage.

No one is safe from the Playmaker FC’s American Soccer Fan. Check out what happened when he watched West Ham v Crystal Palace on Saturday in the video below…

Roy Hodgson’s Palace are supposedly eyeing a loan move with the potential to make the deal permanent in the summer, however eyebrows have been raised at the news of their interest as they are still in desperate need of a striker.

The south London-based side have seen just three goals scored between their senior striking options this season in Jordan Ayew, Christian Benteke and Connor Wickham – the former has two, Benteke none, and Wickham one.

Understandably, Palace fans aren’t too happy about the club’s reported interest in Cahill…

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

Aston Villa’s playoff-winning honeymoon in the Premier League has been far from the perfect marriage.

It started with a Saturday evening trip to north London to face the Champions League finalists, Tottenham, who were baying for blood after defeat to Liverpool.

They then finished just before the international break with a controversial loss just north of Croydon – not the most glamorous holiday, mind.

The angry scenes at Selhurst Park weren’t helped by the referee nor from winger Trezeguet, who was sent off for two silly yellow cards – but that in itself epitomised what appears to be a problem out wide for Villa boss Dean Smith.

The aforementioned Egyptian plus Jota and Anwar El Ghazi have managed just a goal and one assist between them in four Premier League matches, per WhoScored, which isn’t good enough and considering they’ve lost three of those games, something has to change.

On the Chalkboard

One solution may lie in a slight tweak to the system, one that could be made a serious reality because of the options Smith has at his disposal.

The squad has a wealth of talent in central midfield – if you consider that Jack Grealish and John McGinn are certainties to start then you’ve also got the summer signing pair of Douglas Luiz and Marvelous Nakamba on top of Conor Hourihane and Henri Lansbury.

Currently, only one of those four are going to get a start alongside the boss’ regular duo – both played 34 or more games last season and have started all four games this campaign.

Even then, it is usually a defensive-minded midfielder so that rules out Lansbury to some extent.

But the 48-year-old should utilise another one of them in what could be a diamond midfield spearheaded by McGinn or Grealish.

Hourihane did no wrong in the opening game against Spurs, scoring a rating of 7.06 before being dropped for Luiz ever since.

Meanwhile, Lansbury has shown he could prove to be an unlikely rotation option gong forward after his brace in the Carabao Cup.

Considering the wingers have struggled in the Premier League, moving to this system and making use of their strength in depth in midfield would be a viable alternative. It could just allow them to finally thrive in the Premier League.

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Transfers expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed the latest information regarding Wolverhampton Wanderers’ pursuit of signing young Portuguese forward Chiquinho.

What’s the story?

According to Romano, Wolves are close to making the 21-year-old winger their second signing of the January transfer window.

The transfers expert tweeted: “Wolves are closing on Chiquinho deal with Estoril, final details to be completed next week. Portuguese striker’s set to join on a permanent move for €3.5m fee plus €1.5m add ons.”

Valued at £900k by Transfermarkt, is set to depart Primeira Liga side Estoril, who are flying in the Portuguese top-flight this campaign as they currently sit sixth, and join up with his fellow countryman Bruno Lage at Molineux.

The Portuguese youngster has scored four goals and provided six assists in 18 appearances across all competitions in what has been his breakthrough campaign in top-flight football after Estoril were promoted last season.

According to The Athletic, the 21-year-old is set to be part of Wolves’ first-team group. Moreover, the West Midlands club have done business with Estoril before, signing defender Toti Gomes from the Portuguese outfit in September 2020 who was handed a shock debut on Saturday in the 3-1 win over Southampton.

Wolves fans will be buzzing

Although not a household name, Chiquinho offers a great deal of potential and, for a small fee in today’s market, the deal appears low risk, something that will no doubt delight supporters.

Wolves have become a hub for Portuguese talent with the likes of Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Jose Sa and Nelson Semedo some of the names who hail from Portugal that have been lured to Molineux in recent years as well as former manager Nuno Espirito Santo and current boss Bruno Lage.

The 21-year-old mainly operates as a left-winger but is flexible and can also play on the right-hand side of a front-three, ideal for Wolves who tend to operate with a 3-4-3 setup.

Compared to the other wingers in Lage’s squad, Chiquinho would boast the most league goals so far this season, although the Premier League is a significant step up from the Portuguese top-flight. Currently, Adama Traore is the only wide man to have netted in the league this campaign.

There have been murmurs of the Spaniard departing Molineux in the near future and therefore the Portugal U21 international could prove to be a long-term replacement.

Moreover, Lage is yet to welcome back the injured Pedro Neto, who has been out since April with a serious knee injury.

He may be an unknown name, however, the stats back up the suggestion that Chiquinho could be an exciting prospect for Wolves. Seeing a Portuguese talent excel at Molineux isn’t unheard of.

In other news – £33k-p/w Wolves gem, who created two big chances, stars in victory over Southampton

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly now begun talks to sign Hugo Ekitike this summer.

The Lowdown: Breakthrough season

Ekitike is having somewhat of a breakthrough season with Reims in Ligue 1, where he has managed nine goals and pitch in three assists in total in the division so far (Transfermarkt).

So much so, that the likes of Newcastle United and West Ham came knocking in the January transfer window, and more clubs are now set to follow suit in the summer.

The Latest: Tottenham talks

As per Calciomercato, Spurs have begun to build talks with Reims over Ekitike, along with North London rivals Arsenal, FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

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Marseille, Lyon and PSG are also thought to be in the mix for his signature, which is thought to cost in the region of €20m (£16.7m).

The Verdict: Bargain

Considering that a £33m deal for Ekitike to go to St. James’ Park fell through on deadline day, to get him for essentially half the price would prove to be a bargain.

The 19-year-old has had no shortage of praise, as his manager Oscar Garcia called him a ‘very special’ player earlier in the campaign, while many in France believe that he could be the ‘next Mbappe’.

There are similarities to how Kylian Mbappe broke onto the scene as a French teenager at AS Monaco, and if Ekitike turns out to be anything like the player Mbappe is now, then the Lilywhites would have a real gem on their hands.

In other news, find out what injury ‘worry’ is now a ‘real problem’ for THFC here!

Leeds United will need to pay a club-record fee if they are to secure Ben Brereton Diaz this month…

What’s the word?

That’s according to TEAMtalk, who claim that Blackburn Rovers want to see more than £30m before they would even consider selling their leading talisman.

The 22-year-old only has six months to run on his current contract but it’s believed the Lancashire outfit have an option to trigger a one-year extension.

Several teams have enquired over the possibility of signing the Chile international before the January 31st deadline, including the Yorkshire giants, West Ham United, Brighton and Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

United paid a record £30m to Manchester United for Daniel James in the summer. Meanwhile, only three players have commanded a larger fee when transferring out of the Championship – Nathan Ake (£41m), Ollie Watkins (£33m) and Moussa Sissoko (£30m).

Bielsa needs him

Given the fact that Rovers can keep him until the summer of 2023 without any fuss, it seems likely that Leeds will need to spend big bucks to land a player that Bielsa is noted to be really keen on.

And ultimately, he’s someone that the Argentinian head coach badly needs.

As we’ve seen throughout the bulk of the 2021/22 campaign, Bielsa and his squad have sorely missed top goalscorer Patrick Bamford, with the England international regularly facing time on the sideline through injury.

Only five other teams in the Premier League have scored fewer goals than United this season and no player aside from Raphina (eight) has found the net more than twice.

Diaz, meanwhile, is having a standout and breakthrough year for Blackburn. He has bagged a whopping 20 goals in just 25 appearances in the Championship this campaign, adding to his seven goals and five assists last term.

As a result of his fine form, the 6 foot 1 frontman has been dubbed a “goal machine” by The Sun journalist Alan Nixon, whilst his manager Tony Mowbray has regularly waxed lyrical about his star at Ewood Park.

“Brereton with the ball at his feet is an extraordinary talent,” he once told reporters (via LancsLive). “He’s a wonderful footballer who can dribble with both feet, take people out of the game.”

In another interview, this time with the club’s official website, he said: “Brereton’s like a beast now, and he can score goals. I see it every day in training. He’s a brilliant lad and all our lads absolutely love him.”

On the above evidence, it could be a wise and shrewd investment, even if it’ll cost chairman Andrea Radrizzani another club-record fee

AND in other news, Orta could save Bielsa millions with Leeds’ rarely-seen £8.4k-p/w “runaway train”…