Manchester United boss David Moyes has been warned by Sir Alex Ferguson’s old assistant coach that missing out on Champions League football could be costly in the club’s pursuit of new players.
The Premier League champions have endured a difficult opening to the season, which has left them 11 points adrift of the top four and completely out of the title race.
With a number of areas of the Red Devils’ squad in serious need of strengthening – which will be further highlighted when experienced stars such as Nemanja Vidic leave in under six months’ time – a major summer spending spree at Old Trafford has been mooted.
Moyes is said to be looking at a number of top players, but with rivals from both England and abroad also interested in their targets, it may become difficult for United to get in the calibre of player the need.
Phelan feels that his old club still have pulling power, but that getting into the Champions League could be decisive in who they can sign this summer:
“It might turn into a situation where David Moyes has two shopping lists, he’ll have one for being in Europe and one for not,” he is quoted by The Metro.
“Playing in the Champions League is always an issue. You’re always going to be in competition with other football clubs for big players, whether you’re in Europe or not.’
“The big players want to go to the big football clubs and Manchester United certainly is one of those.
“The attraction to play for Manchester United will still be there though. They’re making the sign that they’ll plough money into the market this summer and pay big salaries, so it’s an interesting time.”
Click below to watch the Capital One Cup final for FREE
Andy Carroll is set to make a miraculous return to action next week after defying West Ham medical staff, according to The Daily Mail.
The England international forward was substituted in his debut for the Hammers, and it was revealed that he has suffered a hamstring strain.
The burly forward was expected to be on the sidelines for up to six weeks, but Carroll has responded to rehabilitation better than expected, despite only picking up the ailment 12 days ago.
Carroll has reportedly targeted a return to action in West Ham’s game against Sunderland at Upton Park a week on Saturday, in what would be a massive boost for the newly-promoted side.
Carroll played a part in all three goals in the 3-0 win over Fulham on his debut, and has a point to prove after being frozen out by Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Roy Hodgson will also welcome Carroll’s return as England are short of options up front due to Wayne Rooney’s injury.
Because the Premier League tends to be that bit more physical and feisty than many of its continental counterparts, it often appears that English clubs are left at something of a disadvantage in the Champions League. Not only are those from particularly La Liga and Serie A of a far more theatrical nature, drawing fouls with overly exuberant tumbles to the turf, but few referees allow Premier League teams the same aggression and power when making challenges that they’re accustomed to domestically.
Ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final with Real Madrid then, Liverpool fans are likely fearing the worst. Not only is Milorad Mazic indeed a foreign referee, one that hasn’t actually officiated any games involving English clubs this season, but he’s also got a bit of history with the Reds. He officiated the second leg of Liverpool’s Europa League clash with Manchester United in 2016 and controversially awarded Anthony Martial a penalty for a challenge from Nathaniel Clyne, which the Frenchman calmly converted.
But statistically speaking, the Croatian is actually one of the more balanced referees to work in Europe’s top competition this season. Out of the 37 to have done so, he ranks pretty much in the middle of the table for fouls per game, fouls per tackle and yellow cards per game. Compare that to the Premier League’s very own Michael Oliver for example, who ranks in the top three for fouls per game, fouls per tackle and yellow cards per game in the Champions League this term.
That suggests it won’t be a final in which an English club is continually punished for essentially being an English team, although Liverpool have averaged more fouls per match than Real Madrid in Europe this season. Nonetheless, Los Blancos still give away over ten per game and only Porto have scored more goals from set pieces in the Champions League than Liverpool, so winning a few in the right areas could prove to be decisive. That’s actually something the Reds need to improve on overall though – their average of 8.6 fouls won per match is the second-lowest return in the competition this season.
The other potential boost for Liverpool is the fact Mazic is yet to award a penalty or a red card this term; in other words – he’s due one. And looking around both teams, if there’s one player liable to a sending off, it’s definitely Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos. The Spaniard has already incurred seven red cards throughout his career, including one in the Champions league, and just like Saturday’s referee is due one – still awaiting his first this season. Could it come at a key moment for Liverpool?
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
According to reports in the Shields Gazette, Newcastle United are hopeful of securing loan moves to bring Everton winger Aaron Lennon and Leicester City striker Islam Slimani to St James’ Park before the January transfer window slams shut.
What’s the word, then?
Well, even though Magpies boss Rafa Benitez said last month that he wanted all of his business done and signings through the door by January 20, he is yet to get a single one with no progress in a potential takeover.
Benitez may be forced to look at the loan market unless he is given significant funds by owner Mike Ashley, and the Shields Gazette says that the Spaniard is keen on Lennon, who is out of contract at Goodison Park in the summer, and out of favour Foxes centre-forward Slimani.
The report adds that the Tyneside outfit are able to sign two players on loan from other Premier League clubs, and they have also been heavily linked with a move for Chelsea’s Kenedy.
How have Lennon and Slimani done this season?
The former barely featured under previous Everton boss Ronald Koeman, but under caretaker manager David Unsworth and now Sam Allardyce he has been something of a regular, although the majority of his Premier League appearances in recent weeks have come from the substitutes’ bench.
The 30-year-old has picked up two assists in 19 outings in all competitions, but the return of Yannick Bolasie from injury and the addition of Theo Walcott from Arsenal is likely to push him further down the pecking order, and he looks unlikely to be offered a new deal.
Meanwhile, Slimani has featured a little more in recent weeks when Jamie Vardy has been absent, but the Algeria international – who has netted five times in 17 games this season – has still only started one Premier League match since September, and Foxes boss Claude Puel admitted that he could leave this month on Thursday.
Would they be good signings for Newcastle?
They certainly could be yes.
Lennon would provide some pace and much-needed experience to the Magpies frontline, while Slimani could be the goalscoring centre-forward that they are missing right now.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Having only netted 21 goals in 23 top flight games Benitez certainly needs to strengthen his attack, and both players would have a big point to prove in the second-half of the campaign if he moved to St James’ Park.
Marouane Chamakh got his second goal in two games to help Crystal Palace to a 2-0 win over Cardiff.
Having helped Palace to a win on Wednesday against West Ham, Chamakh’s header was the final nail in the coffin for Cardiff who offered little at Selhurst Park. The victory made it three wins from four games for Palace.
With both sides at the bottom end of the Premier League table today’s match was worth more than just three points. Palace went into the game 19th, four places below Cardiff, but were the quick out of the blocks.
Cameron Jerome got the hosts ahead when he headed home a cross from Jason Puncheon after just six minutes, his physicality proving too much for the Cardiff defence to handle. Palace were quick to pile on the pressure with Barry Bannan, who curled a right-footed shit just wide of the Cardiff goal. Apart from a half chance from a free-kick from Peter Whittingham, Cardiff’s efforts were limited.
Whittingham helped lead the charge for Cardiff after half time with a delicate cross which nearly picked out Jordan Mutch, but the Palace defence stood firm. It was only a matter of time before Chamakh scored, having shown great confidence throughout the match, and his time came on the 58th minute when he volleyed his strike home with the outside of his boot on 58 minutes.
Peter Odemwingie nearly got Cardiff back into it 5 minutes later but his header went just over the bar from six yards out.
Cardiff substitute Peter Odemwingie should have reduced the arrears five minutes later, heading over when just six yards out.
From then on it was all Palace, as Jerome, Chamakh and Bannan continued to torment the visiting defence.
Palace continued to pile on the pressure until the final whistle and are now within a point of Cardiff in the Premier League table.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Check out our minute-by-minute commentary from our expert pundits right here
Former Liverpool star Luis Garcia believes that his old side can make a serious push for this season’s Premier League title.
Despite few having given them any chance of competing for the title before a ball was kicked, the Reds are currently just four points off of leaders Chelsea with ten games to go.
Pundits and former players have been talking up Brendan Rodgers’ sides chances of glory in recent weeks, particularly now that the Merseyside club are the division’s top scorers thanks to the prolific Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez.
Liverpool also have home advantage for upcoming clashes with big sides such as Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City and have already thrashed fellow contenders Arsenal 5-1 at Anfield.
Garcia – who was a big player for the club during their Champions League-winning 2005 campaign under Rafael Benitez – feels that his former side have a good chance of lifting the trophy, but only if they really push between now and the end of the season:
“Why not?” He responded when asked by talkSPORT if Liverpool can win the Premier League.
“I watch every game that I can, they’re playing very well and even when they’re not they’re still getting result – that’s the most important thing when you want to get a trophy.
“I think a lot of Liverpool people think finishing fourth is good enough, but they’re only four points away from the top, so all they’ve got to do is make sure they don’t get too far away and take it all the way until the end with Chelsea.
“If they do that they have a great chance at winning the title.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
“It’s not going to be easy, we know that, there are still a lot of games to play, but I certainly think it’s possible.”
It’s that time of the year again, the transfer window is open and the rumour mill is in full flow, but who should Everton sign this summer?
Last season was a major disappointment for Everton fans, as the summer transfer window that was supposed to push them towards the top six only pushed two managers out the door.
Sam Allardyce replaced Ronald Koeman and did exactly what he was asked to do by keeping the Toffees up, but at the expense of his relationship with the fans.
Big Sam has of course now left the club, but the lack of a new manager appointment isn’t stopping the constant flow of transfer rumours.
Marcel Brands joined the Toffees last week, which could hopefully mean a new dawn for the club, with the Dutch transfer wizard looking to fix the mistakes of last summer.
[ad_pod ]
Brands has an excellent reputation for spotting talent on the cheap, so with a larger budget than his previous clubs he could work wonders, but who should the Toffees actually target this summer?
Links to Stoke’s Xherdan Shaqiri and Watford’s Richarlison seem to suggest the Toffees are after a new winger, perhaps no surprise given the form of Yannick Bolasie. Brands would be much better served looking to his former club though, with the electric Hirving Lozano, who has 19 PSV goals this season, a far superior player to the other linked wingers.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
One would have to think the new manager will want a new central midfielder as well, with Sporting CP’s William Carvalho one of the names linked with a move to Goodison.
So, Everton fans, who do you want to sign this summer? Let us know by voting in the poll below…
Alexis Sanchez’s form has been pretty dire this season as the Chilean prepares to run down his contract with Arsenal before leaving the club on a free transfer.
The majority of Arsenal fans seem to have accepted that Sanchez will leave, but the situation surrounding a certain Mesut Ozil is a little bit more complicated.
Ozil, who is valued at £45m by transfermarkt.co.uk, has been impressive for the Gunners in recent weeks, and he scored the only goal of the match in the team’s 1-0 win over Newcastle United in the Premier League last weekend.
Manchester United have been strongly linked with the German international, but it does appear that he could yet sign a new contract at the Emirates Stadium.
Ozil, like a number of his teammates, paid tribute to the retiring Tomas Rosicky on Wednesday with a message on his Twitter account.
As expected, the talk among Arsenal fans was whether Ozil would indeed sign a new contract with the Gunners.
He has been urged to do so by a number of the club’s supporters, but it seems that an awful lot still has to fall into place for that situation to occur.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
A selection of the Twitter reaction in relation to Ozil’s future can be seen below:
The sale of Steven Caulker to Cardiff City saw the most promising Tottenham academy star in recent times leave the club. A deal that appeared strange by way of exposing the bare bones of an ailing Premier League defensive line; it also begged serious questions about the faith the club places in its youth setup. Do Spurs take their academy system seriously?
Spurs’ academy appears to be in the best shape in recent memory. A recent move to the state of the art Hotspur Way has provided the ultimate proving grounds for the next crop of talents. A U-21 Premier League final and an impressive run by the U-18s in the European NextGen series would suggest that prospects are very much on the rise. But if you look back at the last 10 years who has really ever made it? Club legend Ledley King appears to be a one off, and currently the only player to be retained beyond their early 20s is Jake Livermore. Hardly the class of player to get fans pulses racing is it?
The issue for me is either that the academy simply isn’t good enough, so in that case scrap it, or that it just simply isn’t being utilised in the right way. It would be unfair of me to pass judgement on the current pool of players’ futures because they are all at early stages in their careers. However, what I do know is that Spurs have a long history of seeing future talents placed on the lower league scrapheap. The likes of Johnnie Jackson, Dean Parrett and Lee Barnard are names that are never likely to be heard again at the summit of English football.
My view is that in general the academy players just simply aren’t used or integrated properly. Too often a loan to lower league opposition is deemed sufficient, but in my mind there comes a point where this stops being effective. Players like Jon Obika and Adam Smith appear to just be on a continual cycle of loans, when will their time ever come?
This isn’t a dig specifically at Spurs because I believe the majority of academies are guilty of the same failings. In an era where instant-gratification dominates club policy, it is easy to see why that multi-million pound instant hit is the more enticing ahead of an academy graduate who may take a number of seasons to grow into a role. The hope is that the inception of FFP may go some way to changing the onus back towards an academy focus, but I believe the willingness must be there from clubs as well.
Or perhaps the perception of an effective academy needs to be changed? Do players necessarily need to make the first team squad to be deemed a success? A number of players have made their name for other clubs having graduated from Spurs and the Caulker transfer just represents the most financially fruitful of the lot. Personally I don’t see the financial or footballing benefit to the club being enough to justify the investment as it stands. So what can be done to help encourage academy players into the first team?
It would be ridiculous to suggest that 18-year-old academy players should be fielded for 90 minutes in games, as that would probably do more harm than good for their future. What I do think is pragmatic is a phasing in of prospects over a number of years. Currently the academy just looks like a road to nothing apart from maybe a career down in League 2.
I think it will be interesting to see how the career of Tom Carroll progresses in this regard. Probably the most promising that remains of academy graduates, his first team opportunity has been on the increase in the last few years. My worry is that he will eventually hit a wall where he becomes no more than a second string squad player. For a man of Carroll’s ability this would be a waste and would no doubt see the young Englishman move on.
So no of course Spurs do not take advantage of their academy, millions of pounds invested to see only a tiny return on that investment is actually quite bizarre. It sometimes occurs to me that an academy is just a PR requirement of any football side these days, but its use is not a necessity. The rumoured link-up with Swindon Town could be curious in this respect. Would having Swindon Town as a feeder club act as a replacement to an academy if the relationship were to grow?
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Spurs along with the majority of top English clubs fail to capitalise on the plethora of talents their respective academies afford them. As much to do with the environment as individual club beliefs, the current situation is a sad indictment of our game.
Should Spurs be making better use of their academy system?
Mauricio Pochettino has always seemed completely committed to the project he has built on a slender budget at Tottenham Hotspur, even in the absence of trophies at present.
That has been a major factor behind the willingness of both players and fans to buy into the as yet potless project under the Argentine but following the 2-1 Wembley defeat against Manchester United in the FA Cup, the mask began to slip for the very first time.
Pochettino’s comments that Spurs need time “under him or another” to further their progress belied for the first time the previously unthinkable prospect of the former Southampton manager walking away from the project he appears so committed to.
[ad_pod ]
In the wake of that, French outlet Presse Ocean have reported that former Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri, 66, has emerged as a contender to replace Pochettino, following his departure from Nantes.
So, that’s why we’re asking Spurs fans a question that would have been unthinkable a month ago; should Ranieri replace Pochettino?
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Let us know by voting in the poll below and look out for the result in the days around Spurs’ meeting with the Foxes on the final game of the season…