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Frank McAvennie suggests Danny Rose for West Ham United
Frank McAvennie has suggested to Football Insider that Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose would be a good signing for West Ham United. The former West Ham striker believes that Rose would push West Ham left-back Aaron Cresswell for a place in the starting lineup. Rose, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Newcastle United, has been left out of Tottenham’s Premier League and Europa League squads. The England international left-back is out of contract at Spurs at the end of the season, and there is a very good chance that the 30-year-old may have played his final game for the North London club already. Football Insider reported this week that Tottenham are planning to hold talks with Rose over terminating his contract and coming to an agreement over a pay-off, as covered on...
Report: Chelsea and Manchester United keen on Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria
According to Bild, Bayern Munich have joined Chelsea and Manchester United in the race for Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria ahead of next summer’s transfer window. The Switzerland international has impressed since joining the Bundesliga side from Young Boys in the summer of 2017, and the Premier League duo are keen on him. However, playing for the Champions League defending champions could be more attractive as that guarantees domestic silverware. Bayern are also the team to beat in Europe right now after kicking off their title defence with a 4-0 demolition of Atletico Madrid last night, and Chelsea and Man Utd will have to do a lot of job in convincing Zakaria to join them. The 23-year-old was also linked with Real Madrid and Liverpool earlier in the summer transfer wind...
Carlo Ancelotti confirms James Rodriguez will miss the Southampton game
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that James Rodriguez and Seamus Coleman will miss the game against Southampton this weekend. James Rodriguez picked up an injury early on in the Merseyside Derby after a tackle from Virgil van Dijk and Seamus Coleman will be out for two or three weeks. “Unfortunately, James had a problem during the game [against Liverpool],” Ancelotti said to Sky Sports. “He had a mistimed tackle with Virgil van Dijk at the beginning of the game and I think he will not be available for the game against Southampton.” The Toffees are already without Richarlison who was sent off for a reckless tackle on Thiago Alcantara and it will be interesting to see how the Everton attack copes with the absence of these players. Rodriguez has been in sensational form since his...
Real Madrid Suffer Shock Defeat To Shakhtar Donetsk
Real Madrid’s recent misery continued as they suffered a shock 2-3 home defeat at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk in their opening Champions League group game. The Spanish champions were undone by a Shakhtar team that was missing 13 first-team players due to Covid-19. So What Went Wrong? Zidane shouldered full responsibility for an ultimately “bad night” where Madrid were found wanting. Shakhtar were impressive for the most part and on the 29th minute they broke the deadlock. The full back, Viktor Korniienko, bumbled his way into the box before laying it off to Tete who finished into the corner with aplomb. Real Madrid soon found themselves behind again four minutes later. Tete cut in from the right and fizzed a shot heading towards the corner. With Courtois only able to parry it back out, V...
‘We are really sorry’ – Carlo Ancelotti reacts to Virgil van Dijk injury
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has claimed that Jordan Pickford is really sad after his season-ending tackle on Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman damaged his ACL and he is unlikely to feature again next season. Ancelotti claims that the challenge from the Everton keeper was unintentional. “To be clear, we are really sorry for the injury of Virgil van Dijk,” Ancelotti told Sky Sports. “Every one of us hopes he can recover soon and well. There was this contact with Jordan Pickford: it was mistimed contact. “But the fact the Premier League is so fast, it is not so difficult to arrive a little bit later. Jordan arrived a little bit later but his intention was to try to reach the ball. “It was not to hurt Virgil van Dijk. To say it was premeditated, and this and that, in my...
‘He will be out for a long time’: Guardiola confirms Fernandinho injury blow
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that midfielder Fernandinho will be out for a long time after picking up an injury against Porto in the Champions League last night. The Brazilian midfielder is a key player for City and his absence will be a major blow for the side. The Premier League giants are already dealing with injuries to Laporte, Mendy, Ake, De Bruyne and Jesus. Fernandinho’s versatility and experience makes him an even bigger miss. The Brazilian has been ever-present for Manchester City since his move to Etihad. He can play as a defensive midfielder as well as a centre back and it will be interesting to see how Guardiola’s side cope with his absence. Fernandinho came on with just six minutes left but he had to off almost immediately with a knock. Guardiola will b...
Ian Wright gives verdict on Mesut Ozil situation at Arsenal
Ian Wright has taken to Twitter to give his reaction to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta deciding to leave Mesut Ozil out of his Premier League squad. Ozil was earlier omitted from Arsenal’s Europa League squad, and Arteta has decided to leave him out of his Premier League squad as well. The German attacking midfielder has been on the books of the Gunners since the summer of 2013 and is out of contract at the North London club at the end of the season. Arsenal legend Wright has given his take on Ozil’s situation, and he has admitted that he is disappointed that the 32-year-old is not going to play for the Gunners. Football will never stop surprising me. The fact that whatever has gone on couldn’t be resolved between the club & Mesut is sad. Sad for everyone involved and I can only se...
Marcelo Bielsa says Aston Villa ace Jack Grealish ‘very good player’
Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa has raved about Aston Villa attacking midfielder Jack Grealish, as quoted in Leeds Live. Grealish, who can operate as an attacking midfielder or as a winger, is set to start for Villa in their Premier League game against Leeds at Villa Park in the Premier League on Friday evening. Ahead of the match, Bielsa has spoken highly of the England international, and believes that the 25-year-old is going to grow as a player. Leeds Live quotes Bielsa as saying about Grealish: “He’s a very good player. It’s normal for a player once he’s been called up for the national team that he’s going to be confident and grow.” Jack Grealish is on fire Grealish has been superb for Villa so far this season, and has played an important role in Dean Smith’s side winning all fo...
Europa League Match Preview, Team News and Predicted Line-up: Tottenham Hotspur vs LASK
Tottenham Hotspur host Austrian side LASK tonight as the 2020-21 Europa League campaign kicks off, and Jose Mourinho’s men will look to quickly put Sunday’s disappointing 3-3 draw with West Ham United behind them. [embedded content] The Portuguese won the Europa League with Porto in 2002-03 and with Manchester United in 2016-17, and he will be keen to do it with Spurs. The North Londoners have been drawn alongside LASK, Ludogorets and Royal Antwerp in Group J, and they are huge favourites to top the group and progress to the round-of-32 with some games to spare. A convincing victory is expected at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tonight, but the hosts can’t afford to belittle any team after some of the experiences they had during the qualifying rounds. Spurs have a decent squad depth after d...
Liverpool star slams Jordan Pickford for his reckless tackle on Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk picked up a knee injury against Everton over the weekend and the Dutchman is set to be sidelined for several months. It seems unlikely that the player will return to action again this season and his teammate Gini Wijnaldum has now hit out at Jordan Pickford whose reckless tackle resulted in the long-term injury to Van Dijk. During the pre-match presser for the Ajax game, the Dutch midfielder revealed that it was a stupid tackle and the Everton player did not bother to think about the consequences when he went into the challenge. Wijnaldum also claimed that reckless tackles like this have been quite common from Everton players in the derby games. Wijnaldum on van Dijk’s injury: “Of course we are upset. The way Pickford went in was completely stupid. I don’...
Is This The End Of VAR?
The subject of VAR continues to divide fans as Liverpool were denied a goal and a penalty in the 238th Merseyside Derby. With David Coote, the then VAR official, unaware that Pickford’s challenge could still command a red card despite the offside flag, Liverpool fans no doubt will feel further aggrieved. Even the most ardent of opposition fans would agree that Pickford’s actions merited a sanction. Klopp On VAR Following the final whistle, Jurgen Klopp echoed the feelings of most neutrals alike, when asked to comment on Henderson’s disallowed goal. When speaking to Match Of The Day, Klopp went on to say: “I don’t know where the line is where you can do offside.” The adage of LIVARPOOL does not seem to hold any weight in light of the recent decisions against Liverpool. VAR C...
Ferdinand thinks Solskjaer will be frustrated with Man Utd’s transfer failings
Former Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be frustrated with the club’s failings in the transfer market this summer. Ferdinand said (via Express): “I would say if I was sitting in his shoes I would be very frustrated. “I said earlier I was filled with optimism at the end of last season. Got the team into Europe, the Champions League, which I’m sure would have been part of what was on the tin to do. “But I feel in terms of acquisitions in the transfer market he’ll be frustrated because he hasn’t got what he wanted. “I don’t feel that whatever they’ve got in this window has improved the first 11. That’s the problem.” Manchester United failed to sign some of their top targets including Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. Solskjaer would have wanted...
