All posts by z3u9t.icu

Tottenham Hotspur must regret it. The player must certainly regret it. Perhaps the north Londoners missed a final piece of the jigsaw this summer transfer window…

What was the word?

There is an argument to be made that Spurs are yet to fully replace Christian Eriksen following his departure back in January.

Yes, we’re finally seeing a breakthrough for Tanguy Ndombele but neither he nor Giovani Lo Celso looks to be the complete creative threat from attacking midfield. The Dane scored and assisted goals for fun in N17, contributing to a total of 158 goals in 305 appearances, per Transfermarkt.

Perhaps they were looking at his ideal successor in former Ajax sensation Donny van de Beek, who subsequently joined Premier League rivals Manchester United in a £40m deal.

According to the Mirror, the Red Devils succeeded with a last-gasp bid to clinch the 23-year-old ahead of Spurs. There were even claims that Dutch teammate Steven Bergwijn tried to convince him to sign.

One that got away?

Van de Beek seemed to be the ideal player to fill that creative void.

Lo Celso has only scored four and assisted three, failing to average over 1.4 key passes per game in any competition, since arriving last summer whilst Ndombele has contributed to eight goals, managing no more than 1.3 key passes per game in any league.

For the Eredivisie champions, the 23-year-old scored at least eight goals and assisted at least five goals in every Dutch top-flight campaign since 2017/18, via WhoScored.

This is very much in the same ilk as Eriksen, who never six goals in any Premier League campaign and only dipped below nine assists twice, per Transfermarkt.

During his final season at the Johan Cruyff Arena, van de Beek averaged 1.8 key passes, a career-best number.

Amid interest from Juventus, former youth coach Brandon Roy waxed lyrical over his talents, and said: “Physically he has always been devastating, since he knows how to attack and defend with the same skill. He was very shy but already smart on the playing field. He is a total footballer, offensive runs are one of his great specialities.”

Spurs have relied heavily on the exploits of Heung-min Son and Harry Kane already this season – the pair have combined for 13 goals in the Premier League already, which is a new record.

Someone like van de Beek in the hole would have been absolutely perfect for Mourinho. Instead, he’s slaving away on the bench at Old Trafford.

Not only should Daniel Levy rue the late steal from United, but the player too as he was never going to start ahead of Bruno Fernandes.

AND in other news, £80k-per-week Spurs star was absolutely anonymous vs Burnley…

Trouble could be brewing at Elland Road after talks of a potential exit for Pablo Hernandez have emerged. The midfielder didn’t take Marcelo Bielsa’s decision to substitute him off during their Leicester clash very well. Following his outburst, he was left out of the Leeds side that faced Crystal Palace, despite Bielsa confirming he is fully fit.

Gabriel Agbonlahor spoke to Football Insider about this situation and feels that it would not be surprising if the manager opted to sell Hernandez because of his behaviour.

“If you cross Bielsa it looks like he will get rid of you like he got rid of Jansson,” the former Premier League player said. “Hopefully that’s not the case with Hernandez because he’s a good player and he can add to their team. But from what we’ve seen, we’ve seen a ruthless manager.”

What axing Hernandez could mean for Leeds

Should Bielsa go down this route and teach Hernandez a lesson, it will be a very abrupt wake up call for the rest of the squad. Indeed, the Argentinian very much has a no-nonsense approach when it comes to player attitudes and performances. With Leeds not living up to expectations at the moment, Bielsa has already shown he will make cut-throat decisions to ensure his side wins.

One decision he made was to drop Jamie Shackleton, who has rapidly rose into the limelight and won the hearts of the fans. He is currently out injured, but should Bielsa axe Hernandez, there’s space for the 21-year-old to return to the action and prove himself.

The rising star, currently earning £15,000 per week on his current contract, was hauled off the pitch at half-time against Leicester and was left out completely for the Palace clash. However, Shackleton did show glimpses of his attacking threat against Aston Villa. According to Sofascore, he completed 100% of his attempted crosses and made one key pass. Additionally, he contributed to the defence by putting in two interceptions and one tackle.

The work rate is definitely there to be admired and should he be given a second chance to prove himself, he won’t let Bielsa down this time round.

In other news, Leif Davis could make huge statement with performance against Nicolas Pepe…

Having made just five first-team appearances for Aston Villa, Callum Robinson struggled to translate his success at academy level into the senior side.

The versatile forward was a shining light for the club’s U23s, playing 42 times and scoring 19 goals and providing a further seven assists too.

But despite that, he didn’t get much of a look-in at Villa Park, instead spending most of his time on loan at Preston North End and Bristol City.

And it was with Preston that he really made his mark, impressing enough to earn a permanent move to the club in the summer of 2016 – reports have suggested that they paid just £170k to prise him away from Villa.

After bagging a total of 41 goals at Deepdale, Robinson joined Sheffield United, before heading on loan to Villa’s fierce local rivals West Brom in January (he sealed a permanent move there in the summer).

The Hawthorns has seen his develop into a first-team star at Premier League level under Slaven Bilic’s management, featuring in every single top-flight game this season.

His stand-out performance no doubt was his brace in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Chelsea.

Given Villa are seeing the fruits of their labour in giving young academy talents a genuine chance in the first-team in Jack Grealish, it’s no doubt a huge disappointment that they let Robinson slip through the net.

It’s even more galling that he’s doing the business for the enemy too.

Roberto Di Matteo may have not lasted long at the club, but ultimately, he was in charge when Robinson completed his permanent switch to Preston.

And now Villa are paying for his mistake.

Celtic were linked to a move for Utrecht superstar Gyrano Kerk during the summer and talks have recently resurfaced amid a crisis at Parkhead. A question mark hangs over the future of Neil Lennon as the club’s manager after a run of poor performances this season.

The Hoops haven’t registered a single win in their last five matches, which is an alarming return for the reigning champions of the Scottish league. They are out of the Europa League having banked just one point in the group stages and they currently sit second in the Premiership table, with a 13-point gap between them and leaders Rangers.

Both Lennon’s attack and defence has been questionable through this season and there isn’t one quick-fix answer that can solve it. But if the Hoops don’t explore their options in the January window then they will just be shooting themselves in the foot going into the new year.

Kerk could be ideal Celtic signing

One man Peter Lawwell and Nick Hammond must look into is their summer target Kerk. At the moment, Celtic don’t have a recognised right-winger on their senior roster and the Netherlands international could fill a huge gap in Lennon’s squad.

Mohamed Elyounoussi has been a revelation signing, even if he is only at the club on temporary basis. His loan move from Southampton has been a huge success as he is leading the way as Celtic’s top scorer for the season, ahead of Odsonne Edouard (via BBC Sport).

The latter has been linked to a move away from Celtic Park, which could cause further problems for the Glaswegians. Although, club veteran Leigh Griffiths is on-hand to replace the Frenchman if he leaves, but he will need support on the wings.

Signing £5.8million-rated Kerk potentially wouldn’t cost Lawwell too much and it would seriously improve the quality of Celtic’s attack. He has received a lot of attention recently, whether that’s been from interested clubs or professionals impressed with his form. Indeed, fellow Dutchman Robin van Persie recently stated that Kerk “has everything” as a player, which is a huge compliment for the 25-year-old.

It’s a move that Celtic must seriously consider if Lawwell wants to claw his club out of a major hole after this season.

In other news, Why Neil Lennon must unleash Mikey Johnston vs Lille…

Leeds are prepared to face an old rival this evening as they make the long-awaited journey to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United. Both teams head into the fixture off the back of a win and neither will be willing to let their guard down even for a second tonight.

The questionable defence of Leeds will need to defend hard against the threat of the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford, but Marcelo Bielsa will undoubtedly have a plan to thwart the Reds on their turf.

Here’s how Football FanCast has predicted the Whites to set up against United this evening…

With both summer signings Robin Koch and Diego Llorente out with injuries, Bielsa is low on centre-back options. He has recently been starting Luke Ayling in a more central role, but he must make sure his defence is the best it can be against an attack like Man United’s.

The boss has Pascal Struijk at his disposal and he should consider giving him just his fourth Premier League start of the season. The £25,000 per week defender has slipped down the pecking order recently, but a natural centre-back is a much safer option than Ayling, no matter how well he has been playing in the makeshift position.

This will allow the Englishman to return to his natural right-back role, with Stuart Dallas on the opposite flank. Kalvin Phillips will, as usual, help defend the backline by lying deep in the midfield.

Although Rodrigo had a great game last time out against Newcastle, Pablo Hernandez made a dream substitute appearance by bagging himself two assists off the bench. Because of this, he may have earned himself a spot in the starting lineup to help Patrick Bamford threaten Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s backline.

A win on the road will be a huge result for the Whites who are looking to climb the table, against an old nemesis no less.

In other news, Raphinha could cause Alex Telles a lot of problems on Sunday…

When Raul Jimenez was stretchered off against Arsenal with a fractured skull, you didn’t necessarily fear the worst for this Wolves attack.

After all, it’s one that possesses the effervescent figures of Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence, one that can lay claim to the vibrant Adama Traore. In the grand scheme of things, Wolves shouldn’t have problems in the final third.

Add their record signing in Fabio Silva to the equation and things should be rosy at Molineux. Unfortunately, they are not.

Despite beating Arsenal and Chelsea in recent weeks, they have suffered disappointing losses to both Aston Villa and Burnley. It seems that when the Midlanders take on claret and blue, they forget how to play.

Silva notched his first Premier League goal from the penalty spot against Sean Dyche’s men but it spoke volumes that a man signed for £35.6m wasn’t entrusted to start.

Instead, they relied on Owen Otasowie in forward areas, someone who traditionally plays as a holding midfielder. It was a bizarre decision and despite showing promising signs, it clearly didn’t pay off.

Thus, you have to look at the decision making in the summer from both Nuno and Jeff Shi. Evidently, paying such a large sum of money for Silva was not a great idea in the short-term, but in hindsight, they shouldn’t have got rid of Patrick Cutrone.

The Italian, who is now valued at £14m via Transfermarkt, didn’t exactly have the greatest of first seasons at Molineux but he is still a presence in attack, one that had a decent track record in 2019/20.

Last term, Cutrone netted three times for Wolves – more than Silva has – before he lost trust with Nuno and departed for Fiorentina on loan in January. He contributed to six goals in 19 Serie A outings before staying on for the 2020/21 season.

The Italy international is still technically on Wolves’ books and is having another turgid campaign, failing to start for Fiorentina. Therefore, we wonder how much use he could have been to the manager, especially at a time when their only senior striker in Jimenez is out injured.

Yes, the relationship between player and head coach is fragile but he wasn’t a disastrous signing for the Midlanders. After all, Conor Coady rated him highly.

Speaking about Cutrone in December 2019 after a match with West Ham, the skipper said: “His finish was brilliant but it’s not just that – he works so hard for the team. He’s like Raul – he works his socks off and he brings so much to the team, so it’s brilliant that we had him to come on.”

One quote stands out there; “like Raul.” How Wolves could do with someone of that presence now.

AND in other news, Wolves liability who LOST 83.4% of his duels will have Nuno fuming…

When Chelsea travelled to the Emirates Stadium on Boxing Day to face Arsenal, the worst was expected for the Gunners.

They were just a game away from equalling their worst run in Premier League history and they were devoid of confidence and quality.

The Gunners hadn’t won in the top-flight since early November when they beat Manchester United with grit, determination and solidity. Those three qualities had been sorely missing over the last seven weeks but they were back in abundance against Chelsea, winning 3-1.

Mikel Arteta had to contend with issues to Gabriel, David Luiz and Willian which meant there was a renewed freshness to the Gunners’ starting XI.

Starting in attack was Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe, three young players who injected pace and fluid movement into Arsenal’s attack. For weeks now their play in the final third has been turgid, slow and to put it bluntly, boring. However, this time it was completely different.

Martinelli and Saka were rampant down the wings but it was the man in the middle, someone “who could find space in a telephone box” according to former Huddersfield manager Danny Cowley, that was the real star.

Of course, wer’e talking about Smith Rowe, a midfielder who stole the show playing in a number 10 position. Arsenal’s creativity has been a problem all season and without Mesut Ozil in the squad, it has been a contentious issue.

Though, given a platform against Chelsea to be the main provider, Smith Rowe took it with both hands. His low centre of gravity was exceptional, nutmegging N’Golo Kante on his way to creating two key chances.

The 20-year-old has struggled with injuries in the last few years but his potential is now starting to be realised as he turned in a superb all-round performance. Smith Rowe won 75% of the duels he was involved in, completed 79% of his passes and was successful with half of the dribbles he attempted.

Arsenal supporters have become accustomed to seeing tiresome displays from Willian this season, so it was a huge relief to see someone with such vibrancy and desire playing ahead of him.

The Brazilian has managed just three assists all term but Smith Rowe equalled that this weekend. He simply has to play more often.

AND in other news, Edu can deliver an Arsenal masterclass by signing “very rare” £36m wizard…

Liverpool transfer target Jadon Sancho showed that he’s well worth his significant price tag with an exceptional display against RB Leipzig last weekend.

The Borussia Dortmund winger has been linked with the Reds recently following a failed move to Manchester United during the summer transfer window and based on his recent performances for the Black and Yellows, he would surely prove to be a superb addition to Jurgen Klopp’s side, no matter the price.

As per SofaScore, the England international picked up a 9.5 rating for his performance against Leipzig on Saturday, which comfortably ranked him as the best player on the pitch.

During the 90 minutes Sancho, who reportedly earns £160,000-a-week, would score and assist, whilst 34/39 of his passes would find a Dortmund teammate.

He was also successful in 2/3 of his dribbles and won 4/5 of his duels during his time on the pitch, suggesting that he regularly had the better of the Leipzig defenders.

Perhaps most impressively, the former Manchester City man would play as many as seven key passes during the game, whilst also creating two big chances.

Considering how Liverpool have struggled in front of goal in recent Premier League fixtures, it could definitely be argued that they are missing someone of Sancho’s obvious quality, as he showed in his performance against a strong Leipzig side just how influential he can be in the attacking third.

Bayern Munich manager Hans-Dieter Flick has clearly been impressed with the impact Sancho has had since moving to the Bundesliga, as he sung his praises in 2020, saying:

“He is a great talent and has enormous qualities. That’s why you simply have to acknowledge that Dortmund has a very good player there.”

Therefore, even though the 20-year-old is currently valued at £90 million by Transfermarkt, Michael Edwards and the Liverpool board must consider bringing him to Anfield in the near future, as he has proved himself to be a world-class player in his time with Dortmund, having registered 40 goals and 54 assists in 119 appearances for the Bundesliga side.

And, in other news… Klopp must ruthlessly axe LFC ace TAA dubbed “world class”; he was abysmal vs AVFC

Before this weekend, Sunderland hadn’t really reached top gear under Lee Johnson quite yet.

That changed, though, when they travelled to face Wimbledon. A 3-0 victory was the scoreline as Charlie Wyke took his former employers to the cleaners.

The tall striker was in terrific form as he found the net three times, taking his tally for the campaign in League One to ten.

It was a bustling display from the Black Cats, who will take a great deal of confidence from this game. After all, they are now three points behind Charlton, Doncaster and Peterborough in the play-off positions. Importantly, they also have two games in hand over the Addicks.

With Wyke bang in form, there’s certainly no reason why they can’t start rising up the table in double-quick time.

However, they will need the enigmatic Aiden McGeady to discover some consistency.

The Irishman bagged late on from the penalty spot in Sunderland’s Papa John’s Trophy victory over Port Vale but when he started against Wimbledon on Saturday, he was nothing short of abject.

Chronicle reporter James Hunter typified his display with the following post-match review: “Gave the ball away time and again, offered little threat, and it was no surprise to see him subbed.”

Indeed, McGeady was brought off after 73 minutes having surrendered possession a mighty 15 times throughout the clash.

For context, no Mackems player in the final third gave the ball away as regularly as he did. Disappointingly, though, was his lack of end product.

The former Celtic man was unsuccessful with all three of the dribbles he attempted while he didn’t provide a single cross from the left-hand side. For someone with so much individual quality, this was a very average performance, one that let Johnson down.

Of course, Sunderland still won but it will be concerning that even during a good team performance, he looked anonymous.

McGeady was stopped well by the wall of Shane McLoughlin at right-back for Wimbledon. He won four out of the five ground duels he contested while he also didn’t make a single foul. That shows just how much the Sunderland winger struggled against him on Saturday.

With Jack Diamond coming on and having an instant impact by hitting the post, McGeady will have to be careful of he could lose his place in the side. If performances like this continue, the manager will have little choice but to get red of him from his starting XI.

Johnson won’t have walked away from London very impressed with the 34-year-old.

AND in other news, Forget Wyke: Sunderland star who won 7 aerial duels on Sat was Johnson’s true hero…

Leeds United could find a long-term successor to Gjanni Alioski in MK Dons starlet Matthew Sorinola.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that Marcelo Bielsa’s side are one of a number of interested Premier League clubs in the 19-year-old, and that they have made checks on him since the start of the season.

Football League World have claimed in recent days that Leeds could face added competition from the likes of Brighton and Swansea, with the Seagulls seeing him having the same potential as Tariq Lamptey.

Bielsa’s Alioski successor

With Alioski’s contract coming to an end in the summer, and reports even linking him with a move to Galatasaray, the 28-year-old’s long-term future at Elland Road is very much unclear.

In Sorinola however, Bielsa’s concern about losing the versatile Leeds full-back would be eased considerably.

The MK Dons gem has really burst onto the scene this season, making 24 first-team appearances for the club, predominantly at left midfield, but with stints at left-back too.

Much like Alioski has transitioned into a full-back from when he was originally used as a more attacking winger, the same could be done with Sorinola.

His manager at MK Dons, Russell Martin, spoke highly of the teenager’s impressive aptitude for defending despite it not really being his natural strong suit. He said: “He’s technically right up there with anyone in the squad – he wants to play. I love his calmness too – for a young lad, he’s so composed. He defended really well. People may question his size but when you’re as brave as he is to play with the ball and get in people’s faces and shut them down, he has so much ability and potential.”

The fact that he’s a winger right now would make him a perfect option for Bielsa to slowly move him back slightly, but allow him to really be a marauding presence from full-back. Orta could strike gold for Leeds by landing Sorinola ahead of the competition.