All posts by z3u9t.icu

Tottenham suffered a major dent to their hopes of finishing in the top four in the Premier League this season after falling to a 3-1 defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.

Ryan Mason’s side came into the game off the back of a morale-boosting 4-0 thrashing of Sheffield United last time out, with Gareth Bale netting a hat-trick in the process.

However, the Lilywhites looked completely toothless up in Yorkshire yesterday, managing just three shots on target in the entire 90 minutes and having Hugo Lloris to thank for saving their blushes with a number of top-class saves.

While Sergio Reguilon faced a lot of criticism for his performance, it was arguably Eric Dier who was Spurs’ worst-performing player on the day. The England international looked all at sea with the pace and movement of Leeds’ attack and was caught out by a near-post cross for Patrick Bamford’s goal.

That prompted Spurs journalist Alasdair Gold to remark on Twitter that Dier had fallen “asleep”, and his lack of understanding for when to track runners must have been deeply frustrating for Mason to watch from the technical area.

As per Sofascore, the 27-year-old won just two tackles in the entire game, with even Giovani Lo Celso winning more, and he triumphed in only four of his nine total duels.

It wasn’t just defensively that he struggled however, with the centre-back unable to keep calm when in possession, conceding the ball on 12 separate occasions and being hurried into going long by Leeds’ constant pressing.

Writing in his post-match player ratings for Football.London, Gold gave him a lowly three, saying: “A tough afternoon for the player up against Bamford and was at fault for his goal as he was caught watching the ball as the Leeds ace nipped ahead of him to net. Not a good game at all from the England international in front of Gareth Southgate.”

While Reguilon may shoulder a lot of the blame for his role in a couple of Leeds’ goals, Dier’s overall performance was arguably even worse. Here was an experienced head completely letting his rookie manager down.

Dier was a complete liability with his positioning at the back, and it must raise even more questions as to why Joe Rodon doesn’t start regularly for Spurs.

In other news, this manager could restore shades of Pochettino if Spurs choose him as Mourinho’s successor.

Everton manager Rafa Benitez needs to turn things around quickly at Goodison Park to avoid being sacked, according to Daily Star journalist Paul Brown.

What’s the story?

The Toffees got off to a sensational start under the 61-year-old’s tutelage, losing just one of their opening seven Premier League games to move into a European qualification spot.

However, significant injuries to key players sparked a dramatic drop-off in results and performances in recent weeks, with Benitez’s charges picking up just a single point from a possible 12 over the last month.

And Brown believes the Spanish tactician will have until the festive period to mastermind an upturn in fortunes before he gets relieved of his duties by the Everton hierarchy.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Unless Benitez turns it around quickly in the next couple of games, by Christmas, if they are at the wrong end of the table fighting and struggling, I don’t think the owner can allow it to go on for very long because it’s too big a season financially for them to be struggling.”

Everton fans may be worried

Although Benitez wasn’t a universally popular appointment amongst the Everton fanbase due to his previous connections with fierce rivals Liverpool, a large section of the club’s supporters may be worried about his potential departure if Farhad Moshiri takes the ruthless decision to axe yet another head coach.

Throughout his career, the experienced boss has showcased his ability to claim the sports most coveted prizes, claiming one Champions League crown, two La Liga titles, one FA Cup, one Italian Cup, one UEFA Cup, one Europa League, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.

Benitez’s success at Valencia, Liverpool and Napoli, in particular, have cultivated an enviable reputation and given time, he could achieve similar things at Goodison Park.

His fast start illustrated what could be to come throughout his reign, and with the lack of stability that Everton have experienced in the dugout in recent years, Benitez is likely to have a lot of supporters hoping he turns things around soon. Moshiri deciding to sack him after such a long managerial saga only a few months ago would surely only cause more worry at Goodison.

And, in other news…Brands could find Rafa’s next Pablo Aimar at Everton in “very clever” £22.5m-rated ace

A number of Wolves supporters have been enjoying footage of a wonderful pinpoint Jose Sa kick in the weekend victory against West Ham.

Wanderers enjoyed another productive day at the office on Saturday, winning 1-0 against the high-flying Hammers at Molineux. Raul Jimenez’s goal proved to be the difference between the two teams and it left Wolves sixth in the table, only four points adrift of David Moyes’ charges.

Sa enjoyed another good performance as he kept a clean sheet, his third of the season, and continued to show why he was such a strong summer signing from Olympiakos, having conceded just 12 goals in as many games so far.

On Monday, Wolves’ official Twitter account shared footage of the Portuguese spraying an inch-perfect long ball straight to Daniel Podence, starting a counterattack for his team in the process. It was one of five accurate long passes from the ‘keeper on Saturday, the joint-second highest figure among Lage’s team (SofaScore).

Wolves fans laud Sa’s brilliance

These Wanderers fans took to Twitter to show their appreciation for Sa’s moment of “unreal” quality.

“His distribution is superb”

Credit: @SteveHermon

“What a keeper this guy is, the best we’ve had in a while”

Credit: @Pembswolf

“Jose Sa has created more chances than most outfield players”

Credit: @Elcapitann_

“Wow”

Credit: @wwfcglover

“I fully hold my hands up. This guy is such an upgrade on Patricio it’s unreal!”

Credit: @robbowwfc

“Absolutely love it”

Credit: @SteC9911

In other news, a Wolves target has hinted at a move to the Premier League. Find out who it is here.

Crystal Palace have joined Newcastle United in the race to sign Atletico Madrid right-back Kieran Trippier, 90min report.

The Lowdown: Trippier’s situation

Trippier, labelled as ‘outstanding’ by Gareth Southgate, made the move to Spain from Tottenham back in 2019 in a deal worth just shy of £20m.

Since then, he’s made 83 appearances under Diego Simeone, helping Atletico win La Liga last season.

He’s out of contract at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in 18 months’ time and wanted a return to the Premier League in the summer, and it seems as if he won’t be short of options in 2022.

The Latest: Palace name-checked

90min shared a story on Wednesday afternoon, suggesting Newcastle are set to offer the 31-year-old a club-record contract.

They then go on to add that Trippier is still keen on a Premier League return, with Palace, Aston Villa, Everton and Manchester United ready to make a move, should Atletico be open to selling the England international.

The Verdict: Freedman would need to smash club-record

90min suggest that Atletico would demand a fee in excess of £39m from Newcastle for Trippier. Should Palace be the ones to make their move, you’d expect there would be no change to that fee, meaning Dougie Freedman would need to smash Palace’s club-record in order to bring Trippier to Selhurst Park.

Patrick Vieira currently has three right-backs to choose from, with Joel Ward a regular and winning the club’s Player of the Month award for October.

On that basis, if Palace are willing to go big in January, then perhaps they should look at bolstering other areas of the pitch, with just one left-back and no right midfielders at the club. [Transfermarkt]

In other news: ‘I will flip’ – Many Palace fans react as ‘class’ transfer news emerges. 

After a disappointing 0-0 draw against Wolves last time out in the Premier League, Aston Villa will be hoping to return to winning ways when they take on Newcastle tonight.

Dean Smith’s side are in a bit of a rut at the moment, having won just once in their previous five games in the league, and their hopes of a surprise European finish this season has taken a major dent.

A clash against the Magpies, who currently sit 16th in the table, offers them the perfect chance to bounce back; but after the draw against Wolves, Smith may look to freshen things up a little by making some key changes.

With that in mind, below is a look at how Villa might line up.

In goal, Emi Martinez will keep his place in between the sticks after yet another standout display for Villa last time out against Wolves – the Argentine pulled off a couple of point-blank saves to preserve his clean sheet, including a stunning one at the feet of Conor Coady.

Villa were handed a major injury boost before the game with confirmation from the manager that summer signing Matty Cash is fit and raring to go, and that should see Ahmed Elmohamady drop back to the bench after he deputised for the former Nottingham Forest man recently.

In midfield, Morgan Sanson could drop out of the starting XI after making his first start in the Premier League last week, with Jacob Ramsey surely pushing for a recall to give Villa something extra in attack.

Further ahead, the £78,000-a-week earning Bertrand Traore hasn’t been in the greatest of form in recent weeks and is surely in need of being dropped, and that could see Anwar El Ghazi potentially make his return after his comeback from injury.

Throwing Cash and El Ghazi back into the line-up after only just making their way back from injury would be some big calls to make from Smith, but they could inject a sense of much-needed energy and freshness to the side amid their recent dip in form.

Predicted XI: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett; Nakamba, Luiz; Trezeguet, Ramsey, El Ghazi; Watkins.

Meanwhile, Villa should unleash this “sensational” star tonight…

Glasgow Rangers fans have been reacting after it was suggested the Gers supporters were responsible for a recent spike in positive coronavirus tests in the Glasgow region.

The Gers’ status as Premiership champions was confirmed the Sunday before last after Celtic could only manage a 0-0 draw with Dundee United. That led to thousands of jubilant fans pouring into the streets of Glasgow to celebrate – breaking coronavirus regulations in the process.

There has been a recent spike in cases in the Glasgow area in recent days, and Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith has suggested the large gathering of supporters could have led to the increase (planetradio.co.uk) – even though clinical director Jason Leitch has revealed it is far too early to tell whether the celebrations had an effect on the numbers (The Scottish Sun).

The Gers fans, clearly, are far from happy with suggestions they are to blame. They took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the Rangers fans had to say below

“At Xmas they said it would take weeks to see the spike from Christmas gatherings. It suits their narrative and agenda to make the comparison here”

Credit: @g_trader_

“Big bad rangers but no spike in December when thousands went to hampden”

Credit: @DavidMo44520864

“I think it’s scandalous, never heard this narrative after the bheasts lockdown behaviours”

Credit: @TidRangers

“All very predictable I’m afraid. They will ramp up the numbers again in the coming days when they work out the true timescale of exposure to symptoms presenting, to testing, recording results and inclusion in the data being provided for daily briefings.”

Credit: @ElPedro1872

“It’s really scary the way this country going, basically nearly every news media is running with a story that’s so unbelievable if thought out but it’s Scotland where the media is only too willing to print lies especially if it’s about Rangers and it’s fans.”

Credit: @Theprovocateur2

“Anybody else think that the news that Rangers fans caused a spike in covid is just a complete fairytale? So if we consider cases rose on Tuesday which was 2 days after the celebrations in George Square, symptoms (if any) would not have presented so soon”

Credit: @joe_black1509

In other news, Rangers fans slam this Union Bears statement.

An exciting Newcastle United claim has emerged regarding their plans for the upcoming transfer window…

What’s the talk?

Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie has hinted that PIF will be looking to spend more than £50m in the market this summer, whilst not going overboard with their dealings.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “I think their plan is to run it like a business and I think their plan will be to keep costs as low as they can.

“I very much doubt they will manage to keep it to £50million, but I do think what they’ll try and do is bring money in, in terms of player sales as well.”

Supporters will be delighted

Newcastle supporters will surely be delighted with this claim.

Last summer, the only senior addition to the squad was the signing of Joe Willock from Arsenal for a reported £25m. He joined on a permanent basis after spending the second half of the 2020/21 campaign on loan and was the only player brought in by Mike Ashley to bolster Steve Bruce’s squad.

The lack of investment in the team came back to bite the Sports Direct supremo as the Toon became just the fourth team in Premier League history to not win any of their first 14 matches in a top-flight season.

In the last 14 games in the top flight, however, Newcastle have picked up 31 points and are third in the form table behind Manchester City and Liverpool.

The difference between these two stretches of games? The appointment of Eddie Howe and the January transfer window. PIF came in to take over the club from Ashley and invested in the squad by bringing in Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Matt Targett, Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood in the winter market.

Their work in January gave Howe the ammunition he needed to fire Newcastle to safety and that is exactly what he has done, with the Magpies currently sitting 14 points clear of the bottom three. This suggests that the signings earlier this year gave the club a massive lift, and that is set to save them from relegation.

Therefore, supporters will be excited by the prospect of PIF dropping more than £50m on further signings, as it means that Howe will be backed again and given what he needs to take the Toon to the next level. He will not be hung out to dry like Bruce was by Ashley, which is why fans will be delighted with the owners’ plans.

They will also be buzzing with the claim that PIF still want to run the club like a business and are not going to risk the financial future of Newcastle. The consortium are not looking for instant success which could lead to irreversible financial damage further down the line, and this measured, thought-out approach will surely go down well with the fanbase as it shows ambition and clarity over what the owners want to do.

AND in other news, Journalist reveals two names on Newcastle’s transfer “list”, Eddie Howe will be excited…

Speaking exclusively to FootballFanCast, Steve Howey has suggested Leeds United re-sign Eddie Nketiah from Arsenal in this January transfer window.

The England U21 international of course spent the first-half of last season on loan at Elland Road, where he made 19 appearances in all competitions and notched five goals, before returning back to Mikel Arteta’s side in January.

The £18m-rated ace hasn’t quite kicked on in this current Premier League campaign however with just one goal in 12 top-flight games, and Football Insider claim that a second loan move for the forward could be on the cards for Leeds, although it isn’t a priority at this stage.

And speaking to FootballFanCast, Howey delivered his verdict on a potential Elland Road return for Nketiah.

He said: “It’s clear he’s not really in the team (at Arsenal). (Bukayo) Saka seems to be the man who’s kind of getting everybody’s attention at the moment. Nketiah certainly, was one that was, but it’s an opportunity for him to go there.

“We all know how exciting Leeds are under Bielsa. What a force they are going forward, they’ve shocked everybody. I’ve watched them a couple of times this season and I’ve absolutely loved watching them.

“Again, for Nketiah, from now until the end of the season, and he’s been there before and knows what it’s about, absolutely. Why not?”

Whilst his loan spell may have end up being cut short, Marcelo Bielsa was always quick to hail Nketiah’s talents.

Speaking after the English starlet’s return to the Emirates, the Leeds boss said: “He’s a specialist great player with a lot of resources and our play is a collective way of playing and one player needs to adapt to this style. For this reason when we felt he was part of the team we thought that we were going to feel the same and that he would continue with us.

“He didn’t take this decision but he is a great player, an excellent professional and he had very good behaviour, he is a gentleman in every sense.”Whilst it may not have ended the way anyone would have wanted, Leeds could land a superb alternative to Patrick Bamford were they to bring back Nketiah this month.

Many Everton fans have been left to flock to an update from the Goodison Park faithful on Francis Jeffers.

As per the official website of the Merseyside club, Jeffers has left his role as coach of the U23s to take up a new position with Ipswich Town.

He joins the EFL League One side as a first-team coach and will work with their current manager Paul Cook.

The update certainly caused some stir among several Toffees supporters, given Jeffers’ controversial past with them, as he famously rejected a lucrative contract with his boyhood club in the hope to join Arsenal, where he would earn more money (BBC Sport).

Nonetheless, some Blues seem to be more than happy to see the back of him as he continues his coaching journey with the Tractor Boys.

Everton fans on Jeffers update

These EFC fans flocked to the update as it was shared on Twitter to give their thoughts on Jeffers:

“Good!! He shouldn’t have been near the place”

Credit: @andyunz

“Good.”

Credit: @lukeWilko1878

“Made up”

Credit: @gwladysmattEFC

“££££££££££££”

Credit: @johnmcpartlan16

“Jumping ship again”

Credit: @carlofantasico

“Good riddance”

Credit: @TopBalc

In other news, find out what transfer update Toffees have flocked to here!

Glasgow Rangers have been dealt a fresh injury blow ahead of this afternoon’s Scottish Premiership encounter with Hamilton.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has confirmed that Jermain Defoe is suffering from a calf injury and may undergo a scan to determine the extent of the damage.

The 38-year-old centre-forward only played for 28′ minutes against Ross County after replacing Alfredo Morelos in the second half and has been absent from the last two matchday squads.

The result started the 54-time Scottish champions’ latest three-game winning streak which they will look to extend when they travel to New Douglas Park to take on Brian Rice’s side on Sunday.

However, they will have to do so without the injured Defoe, who was the club’s top goalscorer in the league last season, which leaves Gerrard with a dilemma upfront after Morelos’ stamp on Ryan Porteous means he’s suspended.

Kemar Roofe started against St Johnstone having made a full recovery from injury, yet he looked rather short of any real confidence in front of goal, whilst it doesn’t seem Cedric Itten is trusted to lead the line and the least said about Greg Stewart, the better.

Indeed, the three-cap Swiss international has made top-flight 19 appearances in the Scottish Premiership this season and has four goals and one assist to show for his efforts, but the majority of those appearances (17) have come by way of brief cameos off of the bench.

Last season, Defoe scored 13 goals in 20 league appearances to help Rangers mount a title challenge, only to see Gerrard’s side fall short at the final hurdle.

The striker has scored two goals and provided one assist in eight Premiership appearances in this campaign and Gerrard will no doubt be hoping that the veteran will be available for their clash against Kilmarnock as Roofe himself faces a two-match ban.

The 28-year-old has been hit with a notice of complaint by the SFA after his tackle on Saints midfielder Murray Davidson and he could soon find himself on the sidelines.

This could mean the relatively inexperienced Itten is thrown in at the deep end at the top of the pitch for only his seventh start of the season at some point.

AND in other news, Rangers may rue not re-signing Billy Gilmour from Chelsea…