All posts by z3u9t.icu

Well, it’s not as if we weren’t warned beforehand.

Perhaps the biggest talking point coming out of Leeds’ defeat to Millwall on Saturday, was the host’s first goal and the sending off of Gaetano Berardi in the process.

Whilst it may have looked like a bit of a soft one in the eyes of those associated with the visitors, perhaps Berardi’s past preceded him a little bit, because he’s not exactly the most disciplined of players.

The Italian defender had already been sent off seven times during his time at Elland Road, and that might have played a part in the referee’s decision to show the red card.

So when @LUFCData put up his history of red cards in a Leeds shirt, it gave a large part of the fan base a little something to think about, and it’s fair to say that they were less than impressed.

With this weekend’s card being his eighth, you wonder if those at Elland Road are just treating him like a cat, and now he’s on his final ‘life’ as it were before they decide to ship him out.

Here’s some of the comments that were shared about the Swiss defender on Saturday.

Although the vast majority of the reaction surrounded how bad Berardi was, there were a couple of fans who were somewhat sympathetic to his plight, given that they felt this latest one wasn’t entirely his fault.

Lots of Southampton fans have taken to Twitter to react to an emotional interview from Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.

The Saints captain opened up on his battle to achieve bonuses as a teenager to help pay for his dad’s cancer treatment and his relationship with his father during that difficult time – he also spoke about the birth of his first child, Rosa.

The Denmark international – whose interview has been translated from Danish into English here – has become a key cog in the Southampton side since his £12.8m move from Bayern Munich back in 2016.

Højbjerg has made 106 appearances for the Saints in total, scoring five goals and recording five assists, and appears to be a real fan favourite if the responses to his interview are anything to go by – one supporter below said that they think even more of the midfielder now after his emotional comments.

Let’s take a look at some more of the Twitter reaction from loads of Southampton fans…

Cristiano Ronaldo is a name well known to the entirety of the planet.

The 34-year-old superstar was a huge part of Real Madrid’s success and is regarded as one of the best players in the world and most likely one of the best players to ever play the beautiful game.

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But sadly for many Madridistas, the Portuguese forward decided to go for a change in scenery when he moved to Juventus in 2018.

Recently, Ronaldo achieved a great milestone, netting the 700th goal of his career while playing for his national side.

And seeing how he spent a big portion of his career in the Spanish capital, many Real fans felt like the club simply had to congratulate their legend on this huge achievement.

For that reason, loads of them were quick to swarm their club’s social media account, demanding that they recognise Ronaldo’s milestone.

You can see some of their replies down in the collection of tweets below:

Another day, another Samuel Umtiti injury.

The 25-year-old French defender simply can’t catch a break as of late and time might be running out for him due to his constant fitness issues.

Even though he made his first appearance of the season last weekend when Barcelona beat Eibar 3-0, Umtiti suffered a new injury shortly after that clash.

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Barcelona left Umtiti out of their squad for the trip to Slavia Prague due to a knee injury and many of the fans immediately swarmed their social media account with worried messages and panicked replies.

Many of them seem to think this was Umtiti’s last chance and that he should now definitely be sold.

One fan even compared him to Thomas Vermaelen, a former Barcelona defender who had similar issues with constant injuries while he was at the club.

At this rate, it seems that some of them are already giving up on Umtiti and will not give him another chance.

You can see some of their replies down in the collection of tweets below.

Check them out…

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…

It’s the problem that Nottingham Forest are struggling to find an answer for.

One former Forest man reckons he has the solution to that issue, and although it may sound simple, there are still a few risks attached to it.

What’s been said?

In his regular column for Nottinghamshire Live, Kenny Burns spoke about Nottingham Forest’s struggles in front of goal and how drastic they need to be as the January window approaches:

“Nottingham Forest need to sign a striker in January. If that wasn’t obvious before, it should be after Sunday. We could maybe even do with getting two. Either way, we need to sign a goalscorer. Goals win you games and that’s what puts you in the promotion mix. We need more goals in the team.”

He then went on to talk about the man who replaced Grabban against Wigan Athletic, Rafa Mir and was fairly brutal in his assessment:

“Rafa Mir had a few chances, but he couldn’t hit the target. And it was too easy for their defence. Mir didn’t cause them enough problems. They had an easy day of it. Mir can still make an impact as a substitute, but I’m not sure I’d have him in the starting XI. I can’t see him being the prolific goalscorer that we need.”

Something has got to give

The problem with what Burns is saying is that not everybody is going to be happy with the arrangement.

Given that Sabri Lamouchi currently operates in a 4-2-3-1 formation, if they do end up buying two people in the window, that leaves them with three men fighting it out for one spot in the team.

That’s assuming Rafa Mir is happy with his role off the bench like Burns suggests, if not then you’ve got four trying to go for one.

Whilst it is clear that Nottingham Forest need some help to take the burden off of Lewis Grabban’s shoulders every once in a while, they need to be 100% certain they are going down the right path with the type of target they pursue.

If they bring in someone that wants to be a first choice, they’re going to end up causing a bit of a stir among the ranks if he doesn’t get regular minutes.

They need to look for someone who is willing to be a backup to Grabban, but how many players out there are willing to sit back and not play regularly?

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

He just can’t seem to get out of his own way.

It’s the debate that will seemingly go on longer than the Brexit negotiations. Patrick Bamford v Eddie Nketiah, and who should lead the line.

Speaking in his press conference yesterday, Leeds head coach Marcelo Bielsa broke down exactly why he prefers to start games with Bamford rather than Nketiah, and his words didn’t paint a flattering picture on the young Arsenal loanee:

“What I’m looking to achieve is that Eddie feels the needs of the team. If he doesn’t put the metres in for both things he’s going to have less chances to score.”

This may be the cynical view of looking at the situation, but that comes across as Bielsa saying Nketiah is rather lazy and selfish. Someone who is only interested in scoring goals rather than helping out the rest of the team.

But surely, scoring goals does help out the rest of the side.

This is something that is becoming more and more prominent in the modern game too.

At Manchester City, Sergio Aguero previously didn’t do enough defensively but he has since embraced that side of his game. In other words, he wasn’t doing things aside from putting the ball in the back of the net, and that’s the situation that Nketiah finds himself in now at Elland Road.

If the 20-year-old is beating the ‘keeper and scoring, does it really matter if he doesn’t track back every once in a while?

Why being the away goalkeeper at Leeds is the toughest job in football in the video below…

Plus it’s not as if it’s all down to Bamford that Leeds have got the best defence in the division. He is averaging just 0.5 tackles per game (via WhoScored) so is he really doing as much defensive work as Bielsa claims he is? Arguably not.

As previously discussed on FFC, Bielsa has a stubborn inability to adapt his style, insisting that his methods will prevail despite the fact that Leeds are 12 points off where they should be in the league table (via Experimental361).

This is why these comments about Nketiah and his perceived lack of effort carry not just a hint of irony, but a rather large dose of it.

Whilst Bielsa talks about putting the team first in Nketiah’s style of play, perhaps it’s time that he took a leaf out of his own book and start putting the club first rather than insisting on a system which is clearly holding Leeds back.

Social media is, more often than not, a very good indicator of how a particular set of supporters feel about their team, or indeed an individual player.

It was Roberto’s turn to go under the microscope on Sunday when West Ham United’s official Twitter account posted an interview from the Spaniard following the 1-1 draw with Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon.

The 33-year-old, who arrived on a free transfer over the summer, has featured in West Ham’s last four Premier League matches with Lukasz Fabianski on the sidelines.

Roberto has conceded five times in his last three starts for the club, including a strike from Lys Mousset against Sheffield United at the weekend.

And whilst there are some supporters who have seemingly been pleased with the Spaniard’s form since stepping into the spot vacated by Fabianski, that is not an opinion shared by everyone.

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A selection of the Twitter reaction from the West Ham fans can be seen below:

Sunderland’s defeat to Leicester U21s in the Leasing.com trophy has been met with a split reaction by fans.

Some are disappointed with yet another underwhelming performance and result to match, but others think it is a good thing, as defeat to Scunthorpe next week will see them exit the competition.

If that happens, they will only have the league and FA Cup to focus on, and that could enhance their chances of reaching their ultimate goal this season – promotion back to the Championship.

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The squad isn’t lacking players to rotate and keep things fresh – with 24 part of the first-team – but it is possible that last year’s participation in the FA Trophy, which saw them finish as runners-up, may have increased the fatigue of their players.

After all, a return of five points from their last five league games last season was a big factor in missing out on automatic promotion, and without such a distraction this time around fans hope it will increase their chances of being consistent until the end.

That is what is required for promotion, and since some fans only care about returning to the Championship, and eventually the Premier League, they have urged the club to concentrate solely on League One this year.

Here are some of the reactions from fans who hold that belief.

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…

Charlie Eccleshare, of The Athletic, has suggested that things are stagnating at Tottenham Hotspur after their 1-1 draw against Sheffield United.

What did he say?

There was plenty of frustration among Spurs supporters following the draw against the Blades, a result that means they have still won just three Premier League games this season.

In a Q&A after the 90 minutes’ conclusion, one fan asked Eccleshare whether he felt this Spurs team has given up, to which he replied: “I don’t think they’ve consciously given up. I just think some of them are a bit tired of getting the same old instructions and doing the same old things. It’s been five years for most of them with very little change.”

A stagnating side

Spurs didn’t make a single signing last season, and while it didn’t impact the team immediately, as they reached the Champions League final, it could be making a difference now.

They have also not been helped by the fortunes of their latest recruits, with Tanguy Ndombele making 7 Premier League starts but being taken off in 6 of those, Giovani Lo Celso only making his full league debut against Sheffield United and Ryan Sessegnon getting just 16 minutes of football so far.

Eni Aluko has previously written for The Guardian that stagnation was inevitable with the club’s transfer policy: “They say the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing while expecting different results, and there is some truth in that, but in football it is also true that you cannot keep doing the same thing while expecting the same results.

“Every member of Tottenham’s starting XI for the Champions League final was in the squad who came so close to a league title two years earlier and although Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon have arrived the team are largely unchanged.

“Going into this season the same people were expecting the same players under the same manager to reach the same levels or even improve on them. It was never likely to happen.”

While it can be said that Sheffield United were resolute, the statistics of Spurs’ draw against the Blades point towards a team that is running out of ideas: despite having 60.9% of possession, they only had 1 more shot on target, as well as the same number of dribbles and corners as their opponent.

The indication is that Spurs are in need of a series freshening of their playing squad if things are to improve.

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 on Match of the Day 2 (as quoted by The Manchester Evening News), Alan Shearer has insisted Manchester United will simply have to “accept” inconsistent performances and results this season.

What did he say?

The Red Devils pulled off a comfortable 3-1 victory over Brighton on Sunday afternoon, with the win pushing them into seventh in the Premier League table and nine points off fourth-placed Manchester City.

And, after seeing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men produce one of their better attacking displays of the campaign – they registered 11 shots on target – Shearer revealed their inconsistency is to be expected what with their young squad.

He said: “I thought they were brilliant today. In terms of when they got the ball they are going for the kill, we’re going to hit you right through the middle. Although I thought Brighton played right into their hands at times, they exploited it perfectly. When they won the ball first, they got it forward.

“You have to accept this because of how young they are. I felt it was slightly unfair to put the burden on those (young players) as well with those being so inexperienced and young. That might change in January. You will get performances like last weekend (at Bournemouth) but you also get ones like today. I thought they were excellent.”

Rollercoaster

What a journey United have experienced so far. After getting their season off with a bang with a 4-0 thrashing of rivals Chelsea, the Red Devils fell into a miserable run of form that saw them hover in the bottom half of the table. But since their 1-1 draw with Liverpool, Solskjaer’s side have pulled off five wins in six games across different competitions, and appear to be finding their groove again with their performances.

As Shearer quite rightly points out, when you have a young squad who have been thrust into the spotlight with huge responsibilities on their shoulders, it is likely to cause some teething problems. But in the long-run, it will no doubt be of major benefit to them to have come through such a period, and the Red Devils are beginning to see the rewards of taking such a process.