Category Uncategorized

[ad_pod ]

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Newcastle signed local lad Andy Carroll on Thursday, and the manager who once proclaimed “I’m not really into tactics” may now have all the tools to play the good old-fashioned 4-4-2.

On the chalkboard

It is not known what formation Bruce will play in his debut campaign on Tyneside. The former Sheffield Wednesday boss has varied his tactics in pre-season, testing a three-at-the-back similar to Rafael Benitez’s, while also deploying a 4-5-1, or effectively a 4-2-3-1.

However, looking back to an article from The Guardian way back in 2011, in which the famous “not really into tactics” quote surfaced, the Magpies boss is described as “unashamedly old school” and unable to influence the game tactically.

With that in mind, the arrival of the 6 foot 4 Carroll has us wondering if Bruce has his sights set on an “unashamedly old school” style of play, once Carroll is fully fit.

[ad_pod ]

The perfect partnership

A traditional target man and a skilful speedster, one little one large, it’s the classic centre-forward one-two punch.

Think Emile Heskey and Michael Owen, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch, or even Carroll himself together with Luis Suarez during their time at Liverpool.

In Sean Longstaff and Jonjo Shelvey, Bruce has two tough-tackling midfielders with good work rates and an eye for a pass. In Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron he has two wingers with the pace to burn past defenders and whip balls into the box.

And now, with the arrival of Carroll, he has the perfect target man to partner Joelinton in a 4-4-2.

The Brazilian won 2.3 aerial duels per game last term, which isn’t too shabby in itself, while Carroll averages a whopping 6.2 aerial wins each match throughout his career.

Joelinton also has uniquely well-rounded capabilities with and without the ball though, bearing a striking resemblance to Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino, dribbling, creating and dropping into space, as well as pitching in with goals.

Pairing the 22 year-old up with Carroll then seems a no-brainer. Carroll is power personified, while his new partner in crime does a little bit of everything, and both of them know how to get on the scoresheet.

We’ve had Wenger-ball. We’ve had Sarri-ball. Is it time the Premier League’s most “unashamedly old school” manager brings us Bruce-ball?

[ad_pod ]

[ad_pod ]

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…

David Gold and David Sullivan simply have to avoid the pull of signing Mario Balotelli this summer.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the former Manchester City and Liverpool striker has been offered to the club after his contract at Marseille expired.

Now, one feels that this might be a classic piece of Hammers transfer activity.

Balotelli is a recognisable name; he has played for major European clubs; he has Premier League experience; he would sell shirts.

And yet, quite frankly, he’s nothing short of a bad influence.

He has been through a laundry list of genuinely astonishing behaviour, from setting his own bathroom on fire with fireworks to allegedly paying a restaurant owner to drive a moped into the sea.

West Ham are desperate to sign a striker, of course they are. They have lost Marko Arnautovic to Shanghai SIPG and have allowed both Lucas Perez and Andy Carroll to leave the club. Javier Hernandez and Jordan Hugill are the sole striking survivors.

There is, of course, a case to be made for this deal but you won’t find it here.

Balotelli has had his chance in the Premier League and it was categorised by peaks – the majority of his time at City – and troughs – his four-goal spell at Liverpool.

Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

And Arnautovic’s departure should teach both Gold and Sullivan a lesson.

The Austria international was an equally controversial figure and twice asked to leave, doing so firstly in January.

Bringing in another firebrand, another figure who cannot be trusted to keep his name out of the headlines from one day to the next makes precious little sense.

The answer has to be a rather firm no to the representatives who have reached out to the Hammers; Balotelli cannot be allowed to bring his brand of controversy to east London.

أكد الدولي الأرجنتيني لياندرو باريديس لاعب وسط باريس سان جيرمان، أن النادي الفرنسي يسعى للتعاقد مع مواطنه ليونيل ميسي مهاجم برشلونة.

ليونيل ميسي ينتهي عقده بنهاية الموسم الجاري مع برشلونة، ويمكنه الاتفاق مع أي نادٍ خلال الفترة المقبلة، للانتقال له في الصيف المقبل.

طالع أيضًا.. تقارير: عرض خرافي من باريس سان جيرمان لضم راموس باريديس قال في تصريحات لصحيفة “كوريري ديلو سبورت” الإيطالية: “الأمر متروك لـ ليونيل ميسي في النهاية إذا أراد أن يأتي إلى باريس سان جيرمان، لكنني أؤكد بأن النادي يحاول التعاقد معه”.

وأضاف: “بالتأكيد ستكون فرصة عظيمة أن ينضم لنا ميسي، والنادي يسعى للتعاقد معه، بجانب أن هنا ماوريسيو بوتشتينو أرجنتيني آخر، لذلك أتوقع أن ميسي سيكون سعيدًا”.

واختتم: “آمل أن يحدث ذلك، التدرب على يد مدرب من بلدك سيكون أمرًا رائعًا لـ ليونيل ميسي”.

في نفس السياق، أكد منذ أيام قليلة، المدير الرياضي لنادي باريس سان جيرمان، ليوناردو، أن ناديه يضع ليونيل ميسي ضمن أهدافه في فترة الانتقالات الصيفية المقبلة.

[ad_pod ]

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Real Betis midfielder Giovani Lo Celso this summer, per the London Evening Standard.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have not signed a player since January 2018, when they secured Lucas Moura from PSG.

This summer, though, they seem set to invest in their squad, with the Standard claiming that Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele of Lyon are both targets.

The former scored 16 goals in 2018-19 from midfield but he has an £88million release clause and the report claims that Betis will not sell him for a lower amount.

However, BBC have since reported that the Lilywhites have opened the bidding at £53m, so should Spurs splash the cash? How high should they go? Football FanCast’s writers give their verdicts on the Lo Celso saga below!

Billy Meyers

“Lo Celso is a player of real quality and is definitely worth a fee in the region of the £53m that Spurs have already offered. However, if Real Betis want closer to his £88m release clause, Tottenham should forget it. A lot of positions need strengthening this summer, so Pochettino shouldn’t put all of his eggs in this one basket.”

Matt Dawson

“I’m personally a big fan of Lo Celso and he’d be a wonderful addition to Spurs’ side. If they’re willing to meet his £88m release clause, which I very much doubt, then it would be a remarkable signing. His goals record this season speaks for itself and he’d be a dream replacement for Eriksen should he depart this summer. At 23 years of age, the Argentine still has his best years ahead of him. It would be a tremendous capture.”

Ben Goodwin

“It really depends how much money Daniel Levy has set aside for this summer because there’s no question that Lo Celso would walk into Tottenham’s starting XI. The young midfielder is a clever passer, press resistant, reads the game well, shields his defence and pops up with loads of goals. However, the Lilywhites need a new right-back and a deputy for Harry Kane so he doesn’t have to play so many matches, so £88m may simply be too much for a 23-year-old unproven in the Premier League.”

[ad_pod ]

Liverpool fans are going berserk on Twitter after owner John W. Henry said the Reds will spend again in the transfer window this summer to try and win the Premier League.

Not too long ago, more than a small minority of Liverpool fans were growing infuriated with owners Fenway Sports Group.

Just a few seasons later, and FSG, led by Henry, have helped bring Jurgen Klopp and countless fantastic signings to Anfield, leading to the phenomenal campaign the Reds have enjoyed this term.

And while a sixth Champions League title for the club would feel like the cherry on the cake, Henry is not planning on slowing down.

He told Sky Sports that beating Tottenham in Madrid on Saturday will not make up for missing out on the long-awaited Premier League title, and that the club will invest again this summer to ensure they challenge domestically next year.

Fans are understandably freaking out at the owner’s admission, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

[ad_pod ]

Leicester have made some huge transfer blunders in recent years. Signing Islam Slimani for a club record £29m and Kelechi Iheanacho for £25m are both right up there.

However, they also made a questionable call in selling Andrej Kramaric, which judging by the striker’s form for Hoffenheim this season, appears to be coming back to bite them.

At the moment he’d represent the perfect man to take some of the heat off Jamie Vardy, but unfortunately for the Foxes, he no longer belongs to the Midlands outfit.

After an article surfaced on The Leicester Mercury, the King Power faithful reflected upon what now looks like an awful call to get rid of him.

One fan went as far as describing it as potentially one of the biggest mistakes in Leicester’s history whilst another claimed he’d take the Croatian back tomorrow.

A further supporter suggested the 27-year-old should now be playing up front with Vardy. Another member of the Leicester fanbase labelled him better than Iheanacho.

Kramaric has been in fine goalscoring form in Germany this season, scoring 22 times in all competitions at club level. That included five strikes in the Champions League. Last term he found the net on 13 occasions in the Bundesliga.

Here’s the best of the reaction.

[ad_pod ]West Bromwich Albion recorded a 1-0 win over Aston Villa in the second leg of their Championship playoff semi-final at the Hawthorns on Tuesday night.The Baggies lost the resulting penalty shootout, though, and are now facing another season of Championship football.It will be a very interesting summer transfer window for the club, with a number of players expected to depart and indeed arrive.One of those who could leave is Ahmed Hegazi.The 28-year-old has had an impressive season for the Baggies and he was brilliant on Tuesday night.Indeed, according to WhoScored, Hegazi made eight tackles and won three aerial duels against Villa, with on-loan Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham struggling to make his mark for the visitors.

It was a frustrating finish to a good performance from Albion, and a number of their supporters were keen to pay tribute to Hegazi.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

أبدى كريم يحيى لاعب الأهلي والمنتقل حديثًا لصفوف الاتحاد السكندري، سعادته باللعب تحت القيادة الفنية لحسام ولإبراهيم حسن.

وقال كريم يحيى في تصريحات تلفزيونية بفضائية “تن” عبر برنامج “البريمو”: “الاتحاد السكندري ناد كبير وعريق ويمتلك جماهيرية كبيرة، ولم أحصل على فرصة في الفريق الأول للأهلي”.

طالع | تقارير: فايلر يقترب من العودة للتدريب في الدوري البلجيكي

وأضاف: “تركيزي مع الاتحاد في الفترة المقبلة ولو الأهلي احتاجني سأكون متواجدًا”.

وأردف: “حسام وإبراهيم حسن كبار في عالم الكرة المصرية وأي لاعب يتمنى اللعب معهما، فهما يرفعان من خبرات اللاعب”.

واختتم: “كان لدي عروض ولكن فضلت الانضمام للاتحاد السكندري بسبب تواجد حسام حسن وجماهير الاتحاد العريقة”.

[ad_pod ]

Wolves haven’t drawn too many blanks in the Premier League this season but they were halted in their tracks by Brighton last weekend, playing out a 0-0 draw against Chris Hughton’s relegation-threatened men.

Nuno Santo’s team had all of the possession but couldn’t break down a stubborn Seagulls side fighting for their lives.

However, despite the action on the pitch being anything but entertaining, it did conjure up a fascinating statistic, as revealed by Opta on Twitter.

It provoked a fair amount of fan engagement but one supporter called the stat pointless and took issue with the fact the tweet had called their side tame.

Another fan made reference to the fact that Brighton had set up to defend all game, posing the question of how you were meant to foul a fleet of buses.

Other individuals claimed they didn’t need to make any fouls considering Wolves had all of the possession.

The Midlands club are currently on a three-match run without winning as they appear to be suffering from a Wembley hangover.

However, they have the chance to get back to winning ways when they face Arsenal on Wednesday night.

Here’s how fans have been reacting to the stat.

أكد قائد فريق مانشستر يونايتد هاري ماجواير إنهم حققوا فوزًا مستحقًا، في مباراة الأمس، على فريق نيوكاسل في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وتلاقى الفريقان في الجولة الخامسة من البريميرليج، حيث فاز الشياطين الحمر بأربعة أهداف مقابل هدف.

وجاء فوز مانشستر يونايتد بعد خسارتهم في الجولة الماضية من توتنهام، بستة أهداف مقابل هدف.

وقال ماجواير، في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “بي بي سي” العالمية: “لن أقول إننا نجحنا في الرد على المنتقدين، إنه أمر مضحك، لم نخض سوى ثلاث مباريات في الموسم آنذاك وبدا الأمر كأننا في أزمة كبيرة، فزنا في مباراتين وخسرنا اثنتين، هناك طريق طويل لنقطعه، علينا التحسين”.

وأضاف: “عندما تلعب لهذا النادي وتتعرض للهزيمة في ملعبك، تُطرح الأسئلة، نعمل بجد في التدريبات، إنها مجموعة رائعة وعرفنا أنه يتعين علينا العودة من جديد، شعرت أنه سيكون من الصعب حقًا إذا خرجنا بمجرد نقطة، فوز كامل مستحق”.

وواصل: “كل مباراة في الدوري الإنجليزي نريد أن نكون في القمة، بعض المباريات لن نكون في أفضل حالاتنا ولكن علينا أن نؤدي الأساسيات بشكل جيد وفي المباريات التي خسرناها لم نقم بالأساسيات بشكل جيد”.

وأردف: “كنا نعلم أننا بحاجة إلى الحصول على ثلاث نقاط وتمكنا من القيام بذلك، لدينا جولة صعبة قادمة، ما زلنا فريقًا شابًا ولكننا لن نستخدم ذلك كذريعة، كان من المحبط أن نبدأ بتلك الطريقة ولكن حققنا الأداء الرائع الليلة عندما كنا في حاجة إلى ذلك”.