All posts by z3u9t.icu

Some Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to reveal that they think Roy Hodgson should’ve utilised Christian Benteke better against Manchester City.

The former England boss only subbed the Belgium international onto the field in the 76th-minute, giving him little time to truly make an impact.

In his 14 minutes on the pitch, Benteke forced Ederson into a world-class save with his first touch of the ball, coming on to head an effort towards the top corner, only to agonisingly see it tipped onto the bar by the Brazilian.

The 28-year-old also won three aerial duels, and some Palace fans below have highlighted the fact that City had two midfielders – Rodri and Fernandinho – at centre-back, a duo who may have struggled to deal with Benteke’s physicality.

As a result, some Eagles supporters on Twitter have been speaking about how the 72-year-old should’ve used his 6 foot 3 asset more effectively…

[ad_pod ]

Some Celtic fans have taken to Twitter to slam James Forrest for his performance in the 1-1 draw against Hibernian.

The 28-year-old was making his seventh league start of the campaign, having already netted two goals in the Scottish Premiership so far this season – Forrest has eight goals in all competitions for the Bhoys this term.

However, he wasn’t at his best against Hibernian.

The Scotland international was subbed off in the 84th minute of what was a disappointing draw, a result which has allowed Rangers to make up some ground in the title race.

Kristoffer Ajer’s own goal in the eighth minute opened the scoring, before Ryan Christie’s 11th goal of the campaign levelled things up on the scoreboard.

Unfortunately for Neil Lennon’s side however, they could not find a second goal, with some fans pointing the finger at Forrest.

One supporter said that the forward was “well off it” against Hibs, whereas another said that he should be dropped.

Let’s take a look at some more of the Twitter reaction…

Little and large strike partnerships have been a thing in football for many years, but there may not be any more iconic than Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe.Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The pair played together for Portsmouth, England and most memorably Tottenham Hotspur.

It may have been a number of years since the pair took to the pitch together, but they seemingly still have a good relationship with one another as they met up to film the latest instalment of Amazon’s Back of the Net series.

Seeing the two strikers standing next to one another will undoubtedly make a number of Spurs fans feel nostalgic for the days when they were leading the line.

Of course, with Spurs’ current predicament there will be a number of supporters viewing this period with rose-tinted glasses, but it has to be said that Tottenham could do with a couple of players like Defoe and Crouch right about now – the former is averaging a goal every 39 league minutes at Rangers.

[ad_pod ]

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.

Marcelo Bielsa may favour change when it comes to leaving jobs early, departing Lazio after just a matter of days, but when it comes to his team selection that certainly isn’t the case.

Leeds have used the fewest number of players in the Championship this term, a figure that stands at just 17 while by the time January had come around last term, they’d made the second-fewest starting XI manoeuvres of anyone in the division.

As of this season, he’s only made amendments to his selection four times.

It’s been easy to guess his team selections and the fact he even revealed what it would be before a clash against Wigan shows he has no problem with being predictable.

Just one change, a rather surprising one at that, was made against Barnsley. Jamie Shackleton came in for Adam Forshaw and put in an accomplished display.

Yet, after the impact of substitute Eddie Nketiah, he may now have to strive away from that habit of placing faith in players unless there is an injury or suspension.

Snapshot

Leeds didn’t have it all their own way against Barnsley as the hosts managed to test Kiko Casilla six times. The Spaniard was cool between the sticks as he kept his side in the game.

Patrick Bamford worked hard to fashion five opportunities but despite getting three on target couldn’t find the back of the net.

It meant he went goalless for a second successive outing in the Championship as Nketiah was introduced in place of him with 20 minutes remaining at Oakwell.

It was a performance that was rather typical of the Arsenal man since he arrived at Elland Road.

Off the bench

Nketiah has already got into the habit of popping up with goals for his loan club.

Since moving to Leeds on loan, he’s netted four times. Two of those strikes have now been vital late strikes too.

He became an instant hero in west Yorkshire by scoring in the Whites’ 1-0 win over Brentford and this time he was on hand with six minutes remaining.

Kalvin Phillips swung in a free-kick from the left and the 20-year-old found space to prod home from close range.

The striker has found himself in brilliant form after also scoring for England U21s during the international break so with that in mind, it may finally be time to bring him into the starting XI next week against Derby.

This would go against Bielsa’s habits as Bamford hasn’t done a great deal wrong but Leeds cannot keep relying on late goals.

After all, they create plenty of chances and managed 13 key passes before Nketiah came on. Perhaps if he’d been on the pitch from the start Leeds would have won more comfortably.

[ad_pod ]

Of West Ham United’s defenders, it is understandable that Aaron Cresswell was the man to get the most attention following the victory over Manchester United.

The 29-year-old scored a sublime free-kick that beat David de Gea despite the Spaniard getting his hand to it, having not played a single Premier League minute since the opening day of the season, as per WhoScored.

However the full-back on the opposite side, Ryan Fredericks, also made an impact on the game before being replaced by Pablo Zabaleta in the 80th minute.

Fredericks worked well defensively, making 1 tackle, 2 interceptions and 2 clearances, as he came up directly against Daniel James for large parts of the game, with the Welshman having already scored 3 goals before this encounter.

It was important that the 26-year-old was defensively sound, as Issa Diop often struggled whenever he was pulled out into wide areas, as shown by the moment he toppled over James, having let the 21-year-old get in round him to nip the ball away – Fredericks’ impact ensured the Frenchman wasn’t put in this awkward situation too often.

He was also effective on the ball, completing 1 dribble and 81% of the passes he attempted throughout the match, which included some good link-up play with Andriy Yarmolenko.

The Hammers put in a brilliant performance against Man United, so there were various unsung heroes in this match, with Fredericks certainly being among those.

West Ham fans, how do you think Fredericks has started this season? Join the discussion by commenting below…

[ad_pod ]

Tottenham Hotspur yet again refused to make a single signing in the January transfer window.

Spurs went through the month without adding a player, having also opted against adding personnel in the summer, with mooted interest in Michy Batshuayi, per Sky, proving fruitless.

On the chalkboard

Football FanCast reported on Thursday that Batshuayi was pushing for a move to Tottenham amid interest from West Ham United.

His wage demands – worth £170,000-per-week – proved prohibitive for both clubs, despite his desire to join Mauricio Pochettino’s squad. Chelsea were also far less willing to send the striker to a major rival, unsurprisingly.

Instead, he has moved to Crystal Palace, his third loan move in as many years.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

He has spent time with Valencia and Borussia Dortmund in recent seasons, despite joining the Blues with major billing in 2016 after some impressive displays at the European Championships that summer.

The BBC report that the deal was worth £33million, with the striker going on to score just 19 goals for the club in 53 appearances, per Transfermarkt.

His spell at Valencia – three goals in 23 appearances – hinted at stalled development, though he did score nine goals in 14 outings at Dortmund.

Just not good enough

At the end of the day, the deal just didn’t make sense for Spurs.

They have Fernando Llorente as a perfectly serviceable deputy to Harry Kane and it seems as though Mauricio Pochettino eventually opted against any deals.

The Spurs boss said on Friday, per BBC (13:43): “Yesterday there were reports and rumours. The media got more info than us.

“I cannot talk about that rumour but we were open to adding quality to help us achieve but we couldn’t add that quality. I was open to it.”

Batshuayi has yet to prove his worth in the Premier League and if Spurs are in the market for short-term reinforcements, they need players with genuine top-flight pedigree.

Batshuayi, quite simply, does not have that, and although chairman Daniel Levy has taken plenty of stick for the lack of signings, this was undoubtedly the correct decision.

[ad_pod ]Sky Sports is never off-air and because it’s never off-air that gives it an omnipresence that – like it or not – means it is a constant fixture in our lives. It is also – admit it or not – largely very good at what it does and because what it does is focus on the 21st century religions of sport it means in its 28 years of existence the channel has accrued a cultural significance.All of which adds up to another two undeniable truths. Firstly, with so much content to create mistakes will inevitably be made from time to time. And secondly, because of its popularity – in terms of numbers at least – those mistakes are highlighted above and beyond errors made by lesser digested rivals in their field.So when Stephen Warnock insisted this week that Red Star Belgrade are a semi-professional side it’s easy to let that one go. It’s mildly troubling that a pundit could be so remiss but such gaffes will occur during 24 hour rolling coverage, especially when it involves a large and varied volume of personnel.

But that wasn’t the only mistake Sky Sports made this week. And the other was utterly unforgivable.

Last Tuesday was high noon for Bolton Wanderers and Bury with each club having until 5pm to satisfy the EFL that ‘credible plans’ were in place to rescue the debt-strewn institutions. Failing this, expulsions were to follow.

The footballing world crossed its fingers. Regardless of affiliation genuine and heartfelt concern was ubiquitous. The last club to drop out of the league pyramid was Maidstone United in 1992 having endured liquidation. Now two others faced a similar, awful fate.

Yet staggeringly from all of the above what most seemed to pique Sky Sports interest in determining how they were going to report on this was not the imminent demise of two clubs who together share 279 years of history within English football – not to mention the winning of six FA Cups. It was the dramatic nature of the deadline.

So it was that some bright spark within Sky’s editorial set-up decided it would be a good idea to place Jim White standing in front of a running clock, thus mimicking their famed coverage of each transfer deadline day. See below.

It was crass in the extreme. It was an unedifying example of the increasingly Americanised, soulless media we are subjected to that pertains to care but is really only interested in keeping us hooked past the next commercial break. It rightfully – and entirely unsurprisingly – drew heavy flak from disgusted viewers.

What was on the line that day wasn’t the potential move of Ryan Sessegnon to Spurs: it was the future existence of two football clubs, each with a community who have grown up with them as a bedrock; each with hundreds of employees tended for.

Mistakes by the vast juggernaut that is Sky Sports can be excused. Editorial decisions such as this cannot.

RIP Bury. You will be greatly missed.

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is interested in a deal to appoint Jose Mourinho as the Toffees’ next manager.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Kaveh Solhekol, with the Sky Sports journalist revealing on The Transfer Show that the AS Roma boss is one of the names under consideration for the vacant managerial position at Goodison Park following the sacking of Rafael Benitez last weekend.

Speaking about Everton’s shortlist of candidates, the transfer insider said: “This is a story that has just come in from our North West office. They are saying that Jose Mourinho is now under consideration to become the next Everton manager.

“An official approach has yet to be made to Mourinho’s current club Roma by the Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, but he is contemplating the prospect of bringing the former Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs manager to Goodison Park.”

Fans will be livid

Considering the fact that Everton have just parted with a manager whose best days are quite clearly behind him, the prospect of appointing a new head coach in exactly the same mould is undoubtedly something that will leave the Goodison Park faithful livid.

Indeed, while Mourinho has enjoyed a remarkable amount of success in the game, winning a plethora of trophies throughout his career – including two Champions Leagues, one UEFA Cup, one Europa League, three Premier League titles, three LaLiga titles and two Serie A titles – it is an unavoidable fact that the last trophy the 58-year-old lifted was back in 2017, five years ago.

Furthermore, while the Portuguese manager has always had something of a reputation for rubbing people up the wrong way, this trait appears to have been exacerbated in recent years – with Tottenham Hotspur sacking Mourinho just 17 months into the job after reports of a players’ revolt against the management style of the former FC Porto boss.

This also appears to have been reflected on the pitch, with Jose only being able to guide Spurs to sixth in his first season in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as well as leaving the club languishing down in seventh place after 32 fixtures in 2020/21 – prior to his sacking.

Yet still, another reason against the appointment of Mourinho is the fact he would more than likely demand an extremely hefty wage to take the job at Goodison Park, with the 58-year-old earning around £10m-per-year during his time in North London – a figure which is just shy of £200k-per-week.

As such, while the legendary Portuguese coach may well be a “heavyweight” name, as Hayley McQueen suggests, should Everton wish to build towards a brighter future at Goodison Park, they should not be considering the appointment of a manager whose best days are in the past.

In other news: Everton urged to appoint “unbelievable” Big Dunc alternative, fans would surely fume

Sunderland are set for a huge injury lift this week over defender Danny Batth… 

What’s the latest?

According to the Sunderland Echo, the centre-back is hopeful of being back fit and available for selection against Gillingham this weekend in League One.

Sunderland Echo quote the player as saying: “It’s been a niggly injury so we’ve kind of had to let it build up and obviously I’ve been working hard off the pitch in the gym and physically.

“The injury was pretty unfortunate, it was in a blocked tackle. I’ve won the ball and the guy has put all his weight into my ankle. There was no massive damage on the scan, it has just been niggling and niggling so hopefully that’s behind me now and I can crack on.“I’ve just been using the international break to get up to speed.” Buzzing

This update will surely leave Alex Neil buzzing, as having the 31-year-old back will be a major boost to the Sunderland squad heading into the final weeks of the campaign.

The Black Cats are vying for a place in the play-offs and need as many of their best players available as possible to give themselves the greatest chance of making the top six. They are currently seventh and two points off sixth in the table, so Batth’s return will be a timely boost.

He has already proven himself to be a reliable option at a higher level. The defender averaged a superb SofaScore rating of 7.10 for Stoke as he won 68% of his duels and made 2.6 tackles and interceptions per game in the Championship this season.

This shows that he has the quality to be an outstanding performer in the second tier as he delivered brilliant displays for the Potters. His statistics prove that he is playing below his station at the moment, and Sunderland supporters can look forward to seeing him hit top gear in the coming weeks.

Therefore, he should be able to replicate that form whilst playing at a lower standard of football. His experience and ability as a centre-back should make him an excellent player for Neil to call upon between now and the end of the season, as he could be able to have a huge say in their campaign if he can get back to the form that he showed for Stoke in the Championship.

This is why the 40-year-old will be buzzing that the defender is on his way back from injury and could be in contention to face Gillingham next weekend.

AND in other news, Sold at £9m, now worth £720k: Sunderland played a blinder with “unit” whose career has flopped…

Now that the 2022 January transfer window has opened, this will allow a wide variety of clubs to make some transfer deals to help them strengthen their squads.

One deal that Aston Villa and Steven Gerrard should be looking to complete would be to move Trezeguet out and potentially bring in a new winger to replace him.

Since joining the Midlands club back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Turkish club Kasimpasa, the winger has made a total of 64 appearances for Villa across all competitions but has only managed to score nine goals and provide five assists along the way.

His latest appearance for the Villans came during their recent 2-1 defeat against Brentford where he came off the substitutes bench to replace Bertrand Traore in the final ten minutes of the match to try and grab a positive result for the travelling side.

Instead of that, the only notable thing Trezeguet did during his short spell on the pitch was an eye-catching attempt to win a penalty for his side which did not go down well on social media, as he threw himself to the floor after no contact.

Prior to the serious knee injury that has kept him out of action for a considerable amount of time from April to October last year, Trezeguet, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £47k-per-week according to Salary Sport, was on the end of some criticism from former Villa attacker Gabby Agbonlahor who had previously described him as a “frustrating” player to watch.

In addition to this, there have been reports in recent weeks and months that the Egyptian could be one of a number of Villa players that Gerrard could look to move on in January, as well as there being a number of different attacking players linked with a move to Villa Park in January.

Taking all of this into account, it could be worth Villa getting Trezeguet off their wage bill this month if Gerrard thinks he isn’t capable of delivering the sort of performances he wants to see from his players and isn’t likely to be playing regularly, especially if they’re able to bring a new player into replace him.

After all, after his horrendous bit of play-acting last weekend, it would be a surprise if we saw him in the claret and blue again.

In other news: Lange could solve Gerrard’s big AVFC issue with swoop for “complete” £24.3m-rated gem – opinion