All posts by h716a5.icu

Midfield creativity has been a huge issue for Liverpool this season as their over-reliance on their fearsome front three has seen them stumble in recent weeks in the Premier League.

Following the departure of Phillipe Coutinho last year to Barcelona, boss Jurgen Klopp has used the money recuperated to bolster the club’s defensive options by signing the likes of Alisson Becker, Fabinho and the excellent Virgil Van Dijk.

As a result of these purchases, the Reds have clearly shown a marked improvement at one end of the pitch yet in doing so have sacrificed a fair share of their attacking abilities. The failure of securing a deal to bring in Nabil Fekir last summer from Olympique Lyonnais has left Klopp’s side clearly lacking a spark at times in the Premier League this season.

Goalless draws on their travels at Everton and Manchester United in the last month has emphasised the chasm in midfield options between Liverpool and Premier League leaders Manchester City. Whereas Guardiola’s side has the luxury of choosing between the likes of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva, the Reds’ lack of squad depth may make all the difference in this year’s title race.

In order to address this issue next season, Klopp has to give up on the failed project of trying to get Adam Lallana back to his best.

Having moved to Anfield for a fee reported to be in the region of £25m by the Guardian in 2014 following an immensely successful spell with Southampton, the midfielder seemingly had all the hallmarks of becoming a world class talent.

Yet despite impressing initially in his first two seasons at the club, Lallana’s development was hampered by a myriad of injury problems which saw him miss 18 games for the Reds. The England international’s habit of spending far too much time sidelined has continued in the last three years as he has been unavailable for selection for a further 49 matches.

However, even when fit and playing for Liverpool, Lallana has been very inconsistent with the play-maker only producing glimmers of his talent during his five year spell at Anfield.

In terms of this season, it is clear that Klopp has a decision to make in the summer as the former AFC Bournemouth star has been incredibly underwhelming having yet to register a goal or assist in 15 appearances in all competitions.

If the Reds are to build a squad that can dominate both in the Premier League and in Europe over the next five years, they simply have to get rid of some of the deadwood in their squad. Unfortunately for Lallana, his form this season means that he has to be one of the players to depart in the upcoming transfer window.

The sale of the midfielder could suit both parties as for Liverpool, they can use some of the funds to bring in a young, exciting creative player whilst Lallana could also benefit from a new start elsewhere which could allow him to re-build his career.

What do you think Liverpool fans? Should Klopp give up on Lallana? Or does the England international still have what it takes to perform at the top level? Let us know below.

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Leeds United looked to have pulled off one of the signings of the summer when they brought Barry Douglas to Elland Road from Wolverhampton Wanderers in July, but eight months later his Whites career looks to very much be in serious doubt thanks to one man.

On the chalkboard

The 29-year-old certainly made an impressive start to life with the Yorkshire club having provided three assists in the opening eight Championship fixtures of the season, and it seemed as though he was going to form a strong partnership with Ezgjan Alioski on the left-hand flank.

However, some injury issues and subsequent loss of form saw the Macedonia international take up the left-back spot in January, and he hasn’t looked back since.

The 27-year-old has scored four goals and picked up two assists from that position in the league, and his stock continued to rise when he also netted in the same role for his country on Thursday night.

Douglas in trouble?

He may well be.

Are Leeds set for another spectacular fall from grace? Ingood Nick believes so in the video below…

The Scot has largely had to settle for cameo roles from the substitutes’ bench in recent weeks, and there is no doubt that as things stand Alioski is deservedly way ahead of him in the left-back pecking order.

There are also no signs of the Macedonian maestro slowing down as he appears to be improving game by game, and he looks to have the attributes and quality to make the position his own at Leeds for year to come.

That of course causes big issues for Douglas and despite being a great signing for the Whites at the time, in general he has turned out to be a disappointing addition and his Elland Road career may already be over less than 12 months after he joined.

With the new stadium now open for business, all of you Tottenham fans must be in boisterous spirits right now as the future looks extremely bright, so long as you can bring some quality players to the exciting new ground.

It’s all well and good spending a lot of money on a fancy new stadium but Tottenham fans will also be wanting to see their team possess some top talents on the pitch as well. Right now, no matter how good some may say their team is, the fact is that Tottenham have still not won everything and that must be something that changes next season,

The future of Tottenham looks to be extremely bright and it must continue in that fashion. The most efficient way in which that can be achieved is if Spurs look to invest in the game’s next best players.

For example, Lille striker Rafael Leao looks to be the complete striker and if a deal was configured, could progress on to being a real hero for Tottenham.

Leao, (who is valued at £10.8 million on Transfermarkt) has impressed in his debut season in France, so much so, that other top European outfits will be interested in his signature as well. With seven goals coming in 15 Ligue 1 starts, it’s clear to see exactly why.

At just 19-years-old, Rafael Leao – touted as a potential Spurs target by Calciomercato last week – is showing all the credentials that he will become a far better player with a top club.

Tottenham could be one of the better clubs for Leao to opt for, with first-team opportunities sure to be a lot easier to come by playing as back-up to Harry Kane and the wingers as well.

It could be a costly initial investment but one that looks like a bargain in a few years time when he’s at the peak of his game.

Tottenham fans, would you love to see a wonderkid of this stature brought in? Join the discussion by commenting below… 

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Loads of West Ham fans have been running the rule over their torrid performance against Everton.

West Ham put in arguable their worst display of the season on Saturday evening, showing not a single ounce of fight as a bang average Toffees team walked all over them.

Marco Silva’s side had only kept three clean sheets away from home in the league this season, but you can make that four after the Hammers didn’t even threaten their guests at the London Stadium.

Kurt Zouma gave the visitors an early lead, and Bernard grabbed a deserves second 15 minutes before half time.

Nothing changed after the interval either, and Lukasz Fabianski is probably the only Hammer who doesn’t feel ashamed of his performance.

Plenty of fans are claiming they saw it coming though, crucifying Manuel Pellegrini’s team selection.

Marko Arnautovic was terrible again and the decision to select Lucas Perez over Javier Hernandez was bizarre to say the least.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, look away now Manuel…

It has been a fascinating automatic promotion race in the Championship this season, hasn’t it?

In what has developed into a three-way battle for the top-two positions, Leeds United, Sheffield United and Norwich City have all swapped places in recent months yet it is the Canaries who now find themselves five points clear of their rivals.

Nevertheless, with seven games left this season, there is still a lot to play for and so there should be no reason why Marcelo Bielsa’s Whites cannot win the title in May, especially if they embark on a long-winning run.

21 points from their remaining fixtures would see Leeds reach a total of 97 points which has been enough to finish in first position for the last twenty seasons in the second tier. Although this would be an almighty ask for Bielsa’s side, even five victories and two losses should see them challenge Norwich. The Canaries’ run-in includes tough fixtures against Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa who are both challenging for a play-off position whilst an away trip to relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic could prove to be a potential issue for Daniel Farke’s side.

If they do slip-up, Leeds should be prepared to take advantage and could use the goal of winning the title to avoid any complacency in the coming weeks. With Sheffield United just two points behind the Whites in the league, Bielsa’s men will need to be on top-form to fend off their Yorkshire rivals and so they could use this pressure to keep tabs with Norwich which will in-turn create a fascinating crescendo to what has already been a season to remember in the Championship.

Lifting the title in May has over the years traditionally resulted in the side maintaining their Premier League status for the following campaign with the only exceptions in the last six years being Cardiff City in 2014.

What do you think Leeds fans? Can your side still launch a late bid for the title? Do you think it matters how you achieve promotion? Let us know below.

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Tottenham Hotspur have the perfect opportunity to embrace the pace against Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

Harry Kane picked up a potentially serious ankle injury in the second half of the encounter before Son Heung-Min scored the winner at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

On the chalkboard

Spurs, of course, have been forced to deal with a Kane layoff before this season.

The England captain tore his ankle ligaments in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Wembley and subsequently missed encounters against Fulham, Watford, Newcastle United and Leicester City in the Premier League.

They won all four of those games, with Son scoring in each one, including the winner against the Magpies.

Kane was also absent from the Champions League last-16 first leg tie against Borussia Dortmund and Spurs won 3-0, with Son scoring the first goal.

In that game, Mauricio Pochettino lined up with Lucas Moura and Son as his forwards, with Christian Eriksen in behind.

Both players offer the one attribute that Kane lacks; pace.

There is also the possibility of moving Dele Alli into a more advanced role but one feels as though Tottenham need to embrace the fluidity offered by the more attacking duo further forward.

Flexible and fluid

Son and Lucas playing together may well bamboozle Pep Guardiola’s side.

Both are adept at featuring on the flank, but they each have the ability to play through the middle as well.

City do not have a great deal of pace in the centre of defence and there are myriad options afforded to Pochettino by playing the duo.

Each player could start on their respective flanks and drift inside, swapping with each other and a false nine – potentially Alli – to confuse the City defence.

One feels that Spurs need to score at the Etihad to progress, so difficult is it to keep a clean sheet against them when they are at home.

Playing both attackers together increases the chances of doing just that.

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Leeds fans have taken to Twitter to thank Garry Monk after Birmingham City drew with Sheffield United to aid the Whites’ promotion chances.

Monk has been a hated figure at Elland Road since he resigned as manager of Leeds after the conclusion of the 2016/17 season having guided the Yorkshire club to seventh place in the league.

The Birmingham City boss has finally won over the United fanbase by giving them a helping hand towards a top two finish.

The Blues took points off of Sheffield United to put Leeds back in the driving seat in the race for automatic promotion.

Leeds fans have taken to Twitter to sing the praises of Monk after disparaging their former manager on social media for the past couple of years.

It seems that the supporters’ hatred for Monk has come to an end after Wednesday’s result at St Andrew’s has put Leeds’ destiny back in their own hands.

Here’s what Leeds fans had to say on Twitter…

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Tottenham Hotspur supporters on the Spurs Community forum have been discussing the starting XI they would pick for the Premier League clash against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The north London outfit will look to retain their spot in the top four against Pep Guardiola’s men, whom they beat 4-4 on aggregate on Wednesday to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

With Moussa Sissoko picking up a groin injury against the Cityzens, and with continued doubts over the fitness of Eric Dier and Harry Winks, one fan believes that Mauricio Pochettino should rotate his side and start centre-back Juan Foyth as a defensive midfielder at the weekend.

The positives

The 21-year-old looks to be ready-made for the role.

He is decent in possession of the ball, loves a tackle and an interception and isn’t particularly slow.

Given his centre-back background he should conceivably be disciplined from a positional sense, and that would certainly help him if he was coming up against David Silva, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne.

Of course, he should also be more reliable than the attack-minded duo of Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, who would otherwise have to be trusted to perform more defensively against the Premier League champions.

The negatives

On WhoScored the Argentine’s weaknesses are listed as his concentration, his discipline and his ability to win aerial duels.

All of those can be crucial traits in a defensive midfield position, and those shortcomings would certainly be a worry against City.

Three yellow cards in 706 minutes on the pitch in the top flight this term is a particularly worrying stat, as he will be coming up against tricky players that could easily get the better of him at the Etihad.

Verdict

So what should Pochettino do?

While it may be tempting to give Foyth a go in this position in the future, he shouldn’t do it against a team that will surely be out for revenge as they bid to win the Premier League title.

Playing Victor Wanyama flanked by Alli and Eriksen would still be a safer bet than blooding the South American youngster in such a big game – experience is key.

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Celtic beat Kilmarnock in fairy-tale fashion on Saturday afternoon, but Neil Lennon’s use of one January signing is driving fans crazy.

Celtic picked up yet another win on the road to their eighth consecutive title on Saturday, but this one came in truly wonderful fashion.

In a week when the club lost their greatest and most iconic player, captain Billy McNeill, Jozo Simunovic headed in the only goal on 67 minutes to give the Bhoys all three points.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

Simunovic of course dons the same number five that McNeill won 23 major trophies in, and 1967 was the year McNeill guided the Lisbon Lions to the European Cup.

It wasn’t all plain sailing in the match though, and the drab performances with little creativity are starting to become a serious mark against Lennon’s chances of becoming permanent manager.

His use of Oliver Burke in particular is infuriating fans, as the dynamic winger once again warmed the bench and watched on as the Hoops struggled to crack open the Killie defence.

The January loan signing has mustered four goals and three assists in 16 appearances, and the Twitter reactions down below are bemused by Lennon’s decision not to include him on Saturday…

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Newcastle will be without record signing Miguel Almiron at Brighton on Saturday, but how will Rafael Benitez set his side up?

The Magpies are now officially safe from relegation thanks to their victory over Southampton and Liverpool’s win against Cardiff, but there is still plenty to play for.

Whether Rafael Benitez is still in charge or not, there are plenty of players with a lot to prove between now and the end of the season, and some of them could get their chance to do so with top flight safety now secured.

One such player is Yoshinori Muto, who has missed most of his debut campaign through injury and international commitments. We expect him to feature as one of two changes to the side that beat Southampton.

The Japanese international has scored once in 14 Premier League appearances, and surely deserves a chance ahead of the woeful Christian Atsu despite flopping since his move from Mainz.

Ayoze Perez and Salomon Rondon are pretty much nailed on up front, but could we see a change in midfield?

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals why Tyne-Wear is a more intense derby than anything London can offer – check out the video below….

Mo Diame’s contract situation leaves him needing two starts to earn an extended deal, so Benitez may well be tempted to give him the nod over the want-away Isaac Hayden.

A midfield pairing of Ki Sung-yeung and Diame offers a perfect balance of work rate, power, vision and perhaps even the odd goal, something the Magpies have not had from midfield in quite some time.