Leicester City defender Harry Maguire impressed as part of a three-man defence for England in their 1-0 win against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Friday night, and Arsenal fans have urged their club to sign the 25-year-old this summer.
The centre-back actually started the game against the Dutch on the substitutes’ bench, but following an early injury to Joe Gomez he entered into the fray and impressed with his quality and composure in possession as the Three Lions kept a clean sheet.
Maguire has been one of the Foxes’ standout performers in the Premier League following his move from Hull City last summer, and his displays for club and country mean that he may well have some more suitors at the end of the season, including the north London outfit with the Emirates Stadium faithful losing patience with Laurent Koscielny.
Arsenal supporters were quick to have their say on the 25-year-old’s England showing via social media, and while one said “would like to see him in an #Arsenal shirt”, another said he’s “better than both Kos and Mustafi imo”.
Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…
Which England players impressed you the most vs the Netherlands? Let us know below…
West Ham fans are absolutely loving Julian Dicks today, after the former player and coach said fans have every right to protest.
There’s only been one story around West Ham in the past few weeks, and it hasn’t been the awful performances on the pitch.
The pitch invasions during the loss to Burnley split the fans. Plenty were annoyed by the manner in which certain fans showed their frustration, but most would agree the message of the protest was spot on, even if the execution wasn’t.
Now, Julian Dicks, who made 262 league appearances for the Hammers, has echoed that sentiment, saying fans deserve to have their voices heard.
“I don’t agree with the fighting, the coin throwing and the violence — but fans must be heard. They are deeply frustrated with the way things are going and want to get their point across,” Dicks said.
“The Burnley incidents have been dismissed as mindless hooliganism. Yes, some of it overstepped the mark but some of it was more out of frustration than anything else.
“The guy who ran on the pitch with the corner flag was no yob.”
Dicks was first team coach under Slaven Bilic, but was dismissed in November along with the Croatian. He says fans feel distant from the club.
“At the moment, West Ham fans don’t like what is happening to their club and feel nobody cares what they think. They are making a point.”
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Fans were annoyed this week when Mark Noble issued a rallying cry to supporters asking them to get behind the team.
Hammers’ fans have been absolutely loving the quotes from Dicks though, and some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
Tottenham host Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday knowing the Wembley visitors are at the most vulnerable they’ve been this season by a considerable distance. Losing three games in a row is unfamiliar territory for not only the Etihad Stadium outfit but also Pep Guardiola, marking the worst run to date of his career.
The Lilywhites would love to make it four and put title celebrations on hold for another week. But can the previous encounters between these sides tell us anything about Spurs’ chances of doing so in Saturday’s 7.45pm kickoff? Here’s a look at the complete Premier League history of Tottenham vs Manchester City…
Head-to-Head
Tottenham’s dominance over this fixture, winning more than half of the 41 meetings and almost twice as many as City have, unsurprisingly harks back to the early years of the Premier League. Incredibly, City only won three of their first 27 Premier League encounters with Spurs, the Lilywhites at one point enjoying seven consecutive top flight wins over the Citizens.
But the balance of this tie flipped on its head in 2011, starting with a 1-0 win at the Etihad Stadium the season prior to City lifting their first Premier League title. That game included, City won eight of their next nine against the North Londoners – scoring four goals or more on four occasions.
Spurs though, will still take inspiration for the fact they’ve scored more goals and kept more clean sheets than City down the years, in addition to their impressive win rate on their own patch. City have only ever won four Premier League against Spurs in north London.
Top scorer – Sergio Aguero
Tottenham have boasted some fantastic strike talents during the Premier League era but it’s a modern Manchester City icon who has raked in the most goals in this fixture – somewhat unsurprisingly, Sergio Aguero.
To say the Argentine enjoys scoring against Spurs would be a bit of an understatement; throughout his entire career, he’s only scored more goals against Newcastle. That includes a famous performance in 2014 when Aguero scored past the Lilywhites four times.
Kevin De Bruyne, meanwhile, now boasts three goals and one assists in three outings against Spurs, after scoring in the reverse fixture earlier this season. If he bags a brace on Saturday, he’ll move on level terms with Tottenham fan favourite Robbie Keane.
The north Londoners’ top representative, meanwhile, is Jermain Defoe – he bagged his seven goals in 16 top flight outings versus the Citizens.
The shared villain – Emmanuel Adebayor
A former star both sets of fans will have largely mixed feelings about. Emmanuel Adebayor had an incredible knack of starting life at new clubs with a blaze of form, slowly petering out and quickly becoming a burden for the rest of the team.
At the Etihad Stadium, the Togo striker enjoyed one eventful season of decent form, most famed for his overzealous celebrations upon scoring past former club Arsenal, before plummeting down the pecking order and being loaned out to firstly Real Madrid and then Tottenham Hotspur. And upon moving to White Hart Lane, Adebayor once again sought to impress his new employers with 18 goals during his debut season. But as soon as the deal became permanent, the African’s form quickly soured.
He went on to spend another three seasons in north London without truly holding down a role in the first team before being eventually released in September 2015. For both clubs, Adebayor served a purpose but eventually outstayed his welcome.
Classic contest – Man City 3-2 Tottenham (2012)
The importance of this match was only truly evident at the end of the season, when City beat Manchester United to the title on goal difference alone. That could have panned out incredibly differently, had Roberto Mancini’s side not dug deep to find a winner in quite literally the last second of stoppage time through a Mario Balotelli penalty – leading to a typically iconic pose from City’s one-time badboy.
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Incredibly, four of the game’s five goals came in the space of just ten minutes in an explosive second half. First City struck twice through Samir Nasri and a Joleon Lescott tap-in at a corner; but just as the home side had finished celebrating, Harry Redknapp’s boys hit back – Jermain Defoe halved the deficit before Gareth Bale notched up an equaliser moments later.
Eventually then, it came down to Balotelli to break the deadlock – why always him?
With the summer transfer window only a few months away, football fans up and down the country will be scouring the internet and newspaper back pages for gossip on which players their clubs are targeting.On this occasion, some Liverpool fans are convinced that Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is on his way to Anfield solely because he did an interview with a certain journalist.Melissa Reddy is a senior football correspondent forÂJOE.co.uk, and predominantly covers Liverpool.This week sheÂconducted an interviewÂwith Ndidi, discussing his career and upbringing in Nigeria.https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/klopp-excuses.mp4Last month, reports emerged suggesting that Liverpool are interested in signing the midfielder, who moved to Leicester from Genk last year.African journalist Alpha BaldeÂclaimed on his Twitter account that the Merseyside outfit had approached Leicester regarding a deal.
Due to the ongoing uncertainty over Emre Can’s future, manager Jurgen Klopp could be in the market for a new midfielder this summer.
Can’s current contract expires at the end of the season and there are no indications as yet that he will sign fresh terms.
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Liverpool fans believe that Ndidi could be a target, simply because he carried out an interview with Melissa Reddy.
As reported by The Daily Mail, Rangers are set to sign former goalkeeper and current Hull City man Allan McGregor this summer.
What’s the story?
McGregor left the club for Besiktas in 2012 after financial meltdown at Ibrox but had made over 275 appearances for the Light Blues prior to that, winning seven trophies with the club.
Now it appears he’s set to make a stunning bargain return this summer.
That’s according to The Daily Mail, who say the player is considering a two-year offer from the Ibrox side, with his current deal at Hull City set to expire despite being number one.
The paper say the acceptance of any deal hinges on his willingness to take a pay cut or not.
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A worthwhile signing?
Now 36, his return to Ibrox could raise a few eyebrows, especially considering Rangers already have a competent goalkeeper in Wes Foderingham.
McGregor though has much more experience than the current Gers shot-stopper, playing at a higher level for longer and also winning many trophies in Glasgow.
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It’s not as if the Hull City man is past it either, making 43 appearances in the Championship this season for his current club, ahead of another excellent goalkeeper David Marshall.
Despite leaving the club in acrimonious circumstances, McGregor’s time at Ibrox previously is remembered as a massive success and his return could only benefit the club. He’s not only a fine shot-stopper but a dressing room leader and they undoubtedly need more of them next season if they’re to challenge Celtic in one off games or across the course of a Scottish Premiership campaign.
West Ham United’s official Twitter page is fairly difficult to manage at the moment.
Indeed, tweets on topics related to absolutely anything will almost certainly be met by the club’s supporters revealing their displeasure with the club as a whole.
On Tuesday, West Ham posted an interview with 18-year-old Sead Haksabanovic, who has made two first-team appearances for the Hammers this season.
Signed last summer from Swedish club Halmstads BK, the attacker has been in decent form for West Ham’s Under-23 team this term, and does look a talent.
The West Ham fans were not too interested in Haksabanovic’s interview, however, with many reacting negatively on social media.
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The Hammers have a huge game against Leicester City in the Premier League this weekend, and a defeat against the Foxes would leave David Moyes’ side in a very tough spot indeed.
A selection of the Twitter reaction from the West Ham supporters, who are extremely frustrated in general at the moment, can be seen below:
Newcastle have been linked with a move for relegated West Brom defender Craig Dawson, but fans are completely against signing the 28 year-old.Newcastle fans would be pretty happy if you told them six months ago they’d be sitting well clear of the relegation scrap at this point, discussing which players they want to take, but it seems they’re not too happy about the latest links.According to the Daily Mail, the Magpies are interested in a £15m summer swoop for West Brom’s Craig Dawson, although they do face competition from Celtic.Dawson’s teammate Jonny Evans is likely to spark a transfer scrap over his bargain £3m relegation clause, but the report suggests he won’t be the only one on the move as the race for Dawson heats up[ad_pod ]Newcastle fans are of course happy with their current centre back pairing of Jamaal Lascelles and Florian Lejeune, both of whom have gone from strength to strength as the season hit crunch time.However, Dawson can play either right back or centre back, which makes the 28 year-old an interesting proposition for clubs looking to buff up their defensive ranks.The Toon Army certainly aren’t interested though, calling for their club to show some more ambition this summer.Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
Liverpool fans will head into Saturday’s Champions League final against Real Madrid as underdogs due to their opponent’s recent success in the competition.
The Reds last played in the showpiece more than 10 years ago, while Los Blancos are hunting for their third consecutive crown in the tournament.
Jurgen Klopp’s side should not be underestimated, though, as they have reached the final in Kiev on merit due to impressive displays throughout the competition.
The Merseyside outfit obliterated Porto, Premier League champions Manchester City and Roma in order to secure a spot in the showdown against Madrid.
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Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane are a force to be reckoned with, and even though Real boast the prolific attacker that is Cristiano Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane’s side play a system that will give Liverpool opportunities.
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However, former Spain national team manager Vicente del Bosque thinks that it will be a walk in the park for Madrid, and has predicted a 4-1 triumph in Ukraine.
West Ham United winger Michail Antonio is reportedly a summer target for their London rivals Crystal Palace, according to reports in The Sun earlier this month, and it is a rumour that Irons fans will have had plenty to say on.
The 28-year-old, rated at £16.2m by Transfermarkt, has endured an injury-hit campaign and missed the last few weeks of the season with a hamstring injury, having failed to replicate the fine form he showed in 2016/17 when he was on the pitch for 21 Premier League appearances.
Loanee Joao Mario and Manuel Lanzini shone in the positions behind Marko Arnautovic in the closing stages of the season, and with Antonio perhaps not having the defensive abilities to play in a wing-back role in the 3-4-2-1 formation that was preferred this term, he could struggle to get a spot in the XI in the future if that system continues to be used.
We asked West Ham supporters to vote on our poll to see whether they thought the club should sell the attacker to Crystal Palace or not, and 51% said they should move the England international on.
It would certainly be a ruthless decision – especially to sell to the Eagles – given Antonio has been one of their most important and influential players in the last few years, but if his injury problems continue and he isn’t doing enough on the pitch, then it could be the right time to let him go.
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Arsenal fans are showing the love for Emil Forsberg, after a report named the Gunners as one of three clubs chasing the Leipzig playmaker.
According to Swedish outlet Expressen, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Juventus are all eyeing a summer swoop for Emil Forsberg.
The Red Bull Leipzig star broke onto the scene in 2016-17 as part of the German club’s rapid attack, alongside the likes of Timo Werner and Liverpool bound Naby Keita.
Following on from that incredible 19-assist season, the Swedish international only managed five goals and four assists this season, as he struggled with injuries.
The 26 year-old would be a perfect fit for Unai Emery’s high tempo press thanks to his experience in Ralph Hasenhüttl’s incredibly fast paced Leipzig system, and adding more creativity to the likes of Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan could make the Gunners a real force again.
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It would reportedly take at least £40m to bring the Swedish international to North London, but Arsenal fans are completely behind the move, as a whopping 84 per cent say they should take the plunge.