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Wolves breezed past their Europa League opposition with a 4-0 victory over Pyunik in Armenia on Thursday evening, thanks to goals from Raul Jimenez (2), the returning Matt Doherty and set-piece specialist Ruben Neves.

But there was one notable absentee from the squad…

Yes. It does appear that a professional footballer failed to travel with the one thing that would allow him out of the country.

Wolves’ winger-turned-defender Adama Traore couldn’t travel with the team this week after forgetting his passport by instead bringing an ID card.

A number of the Molineux faithful took to Twitter to take a swipe at the 23-year-old.

Many blasted his lack of intelligence with one supporter stating that he’s always said Traore doesn’t have a brain and this incident proves it, whilst another added that this was the most Adama thing ever, calling him a bit dopey.

Others demanded that the Spaniard was heavily fined and one fan even wanted the club to ‘get rid’ of him.

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Traore has been enjoying a decent pre-season at right wing-back for Nuno Santo’s side and in the Europa League second-round qualifying first-leg victory over Crusaders he assisted one of their two goals from that very position.

Though any doubts over his future involvement at the club were firmly put to bed by the Portuguese manager as he said Traore would join up with the squad for the next game – a Premier League opener against Leicester City.

Here’s the best of the reaction…

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Despite only having a reported £45m budget for this summer, Arsenal were still able to smash their transfer record with the signing of Nicolas Pepe from Lille.

The Ivory Coast international cost the Gunners £72m, beating the previous highest fee paid for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

However, despite that, the 24-year-old is yet to start for Unai Emery’s team. Instead, he came off the bench in the season opener against Newcastle last Sunday. He played just 19 minutes in the end, and received a 6.08 WhoScored rating for his efforts.

Could Gabriel Martinelli become Arsenal’s star striker in the not too distant future? Deluded Gooner thinks so in the video below…

The club’s supporters had pushed for him to start that match at St. James Park, but they didn’t get their wish. Once again, they have asked for him to receive his starting debut for this week’s fixture at home against Burnley.

They have taken to Twitter to share their desire to see Pepe feature in the starting XI. You can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

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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…

It was evident in just 10 minutes at the Amex Stadium in Southampton’s last league outing against Brighton.

Moussa Djenepo, a man who came on in the 53rd-minute of that game against the Seagulls, was already causing havoc on his second Premier League appearance for the Saints and netted the opening goal with a stunning curled effort into the top corner.

However, when Sofiane Boufal came on in the 80th minute, those 10 minutes of action plus stoppage time in which the Moroccan and Djenepo were on the same pitch were enough to whet some Southampton fans’ appetite for the future.

The pair of them are both extremely exciting attackers.

Boufal registered 4.1 dribbles per game in La Liga last term and also completed more take-ons than Lionel Messi, whereas Djenepo recorded 3.3 dribbles per game at the Africa Cup of Nations this summer in just three appearances and was also fouled a huge five times per game, showcasing just how much trouble he causes opponents.

Quite how Ralph Hasenhuttl gets the pair of them in the same starting XI along with Nathan Redmond, Che Adams and Danny Ings remains to be seen, but the two wide men are that much of a thorn in the opposition’s side that they have to be deployed together.

Even if Hasenhuttl decides for a more defensive set-up in the next league outing against Manchester United, the duo’s creativity, attacking threat and overall pace could cause huge problems for the Red Devils on the counter-attack.

The Saints started the season a tad negatively with a 3-5-2 system that saw just one goal scored, which came as a result of Liverpool’s Adrian kicking the ball at Ings and rebounding into the net.

That much suggests the attack was suffocated somewhat by the tactical approach, but after Hasenhuttl switched to a 4-2-2-2 against Brighton, there are no excuses for not playing two of his most dangerous attackers in the same team.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen could make a shock move to Bayer Leverkusen before the European transfer deadline, per Kicker.

What’s the word?

The Belgium international has not played in any of Spurs’ first three games of the season, with manager Mauricio Pochettino instead favouring a partnership of Davinson Sanchez and Toby Alderweireld.

And Kicker now reports that the Bundesliga club have targeted a move for the 32-year-old.

Indeed, Vertonghen is reported to be keen to play first-team football, particularly with Sanchez and Alderweireld seemingly ahead him in the Spurs pecking order.

Madness

Chairman Daniel Levy simply cannot sanction this.

The Spurs chairman would be tearing out one of the club’s best players for a quick buck and with absolutely no opportunity to buy a replacement; the English transfer window, after all, is closed.

It would be tantamount to gross negligence, regardless of Vertonghen’s stance on playing regularly.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Spurs cannot expect Sanchez and Alderweireld to stay fit for the entirety of the campaign and the latter’s compatriot will be needed at some point, even if he isn’t playing regularly.

Selling him now would be madness.

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Times have really been tough for Barcelona’s 22-year-old superstar Ousmane Dembele.

The young Frenchman is slowly but surely heading into his third season at the Catalan capital but it still feels like everyone is waiting for him to fully emerge from his cocoon.

Sadly, this is mostly due to the constant injuries that plague him and that have him sidelined even as we speak. This has also lead to some changes within the squad.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Sport have recently come out with a report that suggests Dembele doesn’t really have a clear role in the team and that he might find it rather difficult to rejoin Barcelona on the pitch, especially with Carles Perez and Ansu Fati emerging from the youth ranks.

Upon reading the report, the fans quickly slammed the Frenchman as many seem to think he deserves this and that his time at Barcelona is slowly coming to an end.

They believe he will be benched once he returns and they believe he only has himself to blame.

Check out their replies in the tweets below…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

Denmark had a great opportunity to take control of Group D and improve their chances of qualifying for Euro 2020 – of which one of the host cities is Copenhagen – with a win over Georgia on Sunday, but they failed to deliver.

Their opponents had won one and lost three of their four fixtures before the visit of the Danes, but they ended up securing a goalless draw to keep alive their own hopes – albeit slim – of qualifying themselves.

It quickly became clear in the early stages that it was going to be a scrappy, well-matched affair, and it is at that point you look to the special players on the pitch to make a difference.

There is no question that Tottenham Hotspur star Christian Eriksen is the main one for Denmark given his exploits for club and country – he has 29 goals in 90 caps for his nation – during his career.

However, he failed to turn up despite the fact he should have had confidence from scoring two and assisting a further two in the comprehensive 6-0 win away at Gibraltar just a few days earlier.

According to SofaScore, the 27-year-old lost possession a remarkable 29 times against Georgia as he looked to make a difference, while he won just three of the seven on-ground duels he faced without having a shot on target.

The Spurs man, into the final year of his contract with the north London outfit, did show some glimpses of quality having made three key passes, but it wasn’t enough on a day when he looked to have the opportunity to take control of what was ultimately a poor encounter.

It is an all too familiar story with Eriksen too, who despite the clear quality and ability he has in his locker, does have a tendency to go missing on occasions – no Premier League goals until December 15 last term and no goals and one assist in a five-match winless top flight run in February and March of this year is testament to that.

In addition, his set-pieces – particular corners – were once again a disappointment on a day where they could have made all of the difference.

On viewings like this, you wonder whether Eriksen really would be that big of a loss for Tottenham if he does leave in January or next summer.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

Manchester United recorded a morale-boosting 1-0 win over Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

There was huge pressure on the Red Devils after a tough start to the 2019-20 campaign, but Marcus Rashford’s early penalty secured all three points.

Snapshot

United entered Saturday’s clash with the Foxes having recorded just one win in their four league matches at the start of the season.

Rashford’s early penalty gave the home side the advantage, but it was not all plain sailing as Leicester put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side under huge pressure.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

David de Gea had to make two big saves to keep out James Maddison and Ben Chilwell in the first half, with the hosts slightly fortunate to go into the interval with the lead.

It was also a difficult second half with Leicester enjoying plenty of the ball as they looked to level the scores at the Theatre of Dreams.

Solskjaer made a change in the 67th minute, though, introducing Fred for his first minutes of the campaign. And the Brazilian went on to play an important role for his team as the Red Devils came under pressure.

Off the bench

Fred’s contribution was telling.

The Brazil midfielder replaced Nemanja Matic, who had only boasted a 68% pass success rate during his time on the field.

Fred, however, ended with passing statistics of 86%, whilst he also made three clearances, one interception and one tackle during his 23 minutes on the field.

At the time, it appeared that the change had not altered too much. Fred helped United keep the ball during a period of the match where they needed it most, though, and his energy was also imperative as Matic’s legs had tired.

Solskjaer’s failure to use Fred this season has been a talking point, but the former Shakhtar Donetsk ace proved on Saturday that he can certainly play an important role, particularly with the team needing to improve their use of the ball in the middle.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Ezgjan Alioski, also known to many at Elland Road as Gjanni, is an interesting character.

Often seen posing in front of the cameras, the North Macedonia international seems to conjure up a moment of hilarity whenever he’s about.

Before their outing against Barnsley a week prior to their draw with Derby, he was seen teasing former Leeds man Aapo Halme in the tunnel.

It was something that summed up the comical nature of the 27-year-old who sometimes seems more intent on causing a laugh than he is on his performance.

Rather surprisingly, Alioski can also be serious. That was in evidence during his pre-match press conference ahead of last weekend’s encounter.

Speaking about this season, he commented: “I don’t want to speak about last year, so let’s focus on this year and play it game by game.”

It was a sense of perspective from the versatile performer but he put in a relatively disappointing display as an old habit died hard on Saturday afternoon.

Alioski is tremendous going forward and the fact he netted seven times in the Championship last season tells you all you need to know.

But he is suspect defensively and that was where he was caught out again against Phillip Cocu’s team.

He was dispossessed a colossal six times while also registering three unsuccessful touches. It was a woeful effort in that regard from the left-back who displayed some harmful characteristics.

So far this term, he’s been dispossessed of the ball 1.4 times every outing. That adds to the one dispossession last season and the 2 times he’s managed for his country, via WhoScored.

On a similar level, his touch also proves to be extremely poor. For North Macedonia he managed 2.6 unsuccessful touches during their Nations League campaign, averaging 1.6 in the league this term.

For someone who’s been playing the majority of his football at the back, this isn’t ideal.

In fact, when you want a pillar of solidity in your defence, Alioski offers the polar opposite.

One aspect of his play that was impressive against Derby was his vision, playing seven long balls. He sprayed a wonderful cross-field pass in the first half which Patrick Bamford should have scored from.

But that summed him up. For all of his defensive ineptitude, he has a moment of brilliance in him.

Alioski is a whacky personality but this was not one of his finer performances as he failed to make a single tackle.

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To put things into perspective, the 2018/19 Premier League Golden Boot winner was declared more important to Klopp’s side than Mohamed Salah by Anfield legend Jamie Carragher at the end of last season, who said he’d rather lose Salah in the transfer window.

And it seems his loving sentiment towards the tireless forward is shared by many, including Watford winger Sarr, who recently made his admiration for his compatriot public…

According to The Telegraph, it is ‘business as usual’ at Tottenham Hotspur and manager Mauricio Pochettino retains the full support of chairman Daniel Levy despite a frustrating start to the season.

The pressure on the Argentine was ramped up following the shock 7-2 defeat at home to Bayern Munich on Tuesday – the first time they have conceded that many goals at home in a competitive fixture in their history.

It followed on from disappointing performances against Olympiacos, Leicester City and Colchester United – who knocked them out of the Carabao Cup – while they were also beaten at their new stadium by Newcastle United, who were thrashed 5-0 on their travels against Leicester at the weekend.

Nevertheless, The Telegraph report that the 47-year-old will continue to receive the full support of Levy, who is confident he can turn things around and qualify from their Champions League group, and secure a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Verdict

Tuesday night may have been a shock and Pochettino has got quite a few decisions wrong so far this season, but he has also been working in difficult circumstances given the contract situations of some of the players who have been so key for him over the years.

Things aren’t great at the moment, but the former Southampton boss has surely earned the time to turn things around given how far he has brought the north London club forward since his appointment in 2014.

That said, a poor performance and result against Brighton on Saturday could be interesting.