Manchester United have been linked with Tottenham Hotspur’s Toby Alderweireld all summer with the latest reports indicating that the Red Devils will have to wait until after the World Cup to land their transfer target.
Although the central defender has gained a reputation for being a reliable and consistent performer, United fans won’t have been particularly impressed by his latest showing in the World Cup, where Belgium emerged as lucky 3-2 victors thanks to a last minute Nacer Chadli goal.
Tottenham are reportedly seeking a huge fee for the 29-year-old, but his performance last night won’t have done Daniel Levy any favours as he struggled against an inventive Japanese side who punished Belgium for their complacency and were unfortunate not to progress.
Alderweireld didn’t make a single tackle in the whole 90 minutes and only managed to register one clearance and one block during the game.
In the Premier League last season, he averaged 3.6 clearances and 1.4 tackles per game.
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It is perhaps worth mentioning that Alderweireld has not yet returned to full match fitness as he was sidelined for most of last season.
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He has certainly shown enough over his last three seasons in the Premier League for Manchester United fans not to worry about their potential new defender.
However, it is worth mentioning that at 29, United will be forking out a lot of money for someone who has struggled with injuries when they could invest less on someone who could form the bedrock of their team for many years to come.
Tottenham Hotspur fans have cast doubt on a story linking them with a move for Paraguayan youngster Julio Cesar Torres.
Sport Witness have reported that Torres – whom reportedly plays for Blooming de Santa Cruz – could be set to link up with Spurs’ reserve squad.
Per the report, the player’s agent, Gonzalo Anciar, has claimed that the deal is initially a loan, with an option to buy at the end of the season.
A picture doing the rounds on the internet appears to show Torres signing a contract with the club, according to the Sport Witness report.
Anciar is also said to have claimed that a number of English clubs have made offers for his client, who has ultimately chosen to move to north London.
Fans, though, are doubtful over the deal, particularly given the obvious difficulty in Spurs obtaining a work permit for a player from South America, particularly one who does not appear to be playing regularly.
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Add to that the fact that Tottenham have not signed a new player since January 2018, when they secured the better-known Lucas Moura from PSG, and the picture appears all the fuzzier.
Take a look at some of the best reaction on Twitter below!
West Brom have had a disastrous season so far since returning to the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League, and despite sacking Valerien Ismael, very little has changed, with new manager Steve Bruce reportedly set to repeat a mistake of the past.
What’s the word?
Express journalist, Ryan Taylor, has reported that West Brom could make a move for free agent, Mbaye Diagne.
Bruce had reportedly opened to talks with Mohamed Diame, but the transfer became virtually impossible to achieve due to the complications surrounding post-Brexit international transfer policies.
The club has been exploring the free agent market over the last few months, signing Andy Carroll late into the transfer window, and now the new manager intends to continue to look for hidden gems in the free-agent market that he can snap up to bolster his West Brom side, who have gone from challenging for automatic promotion to falling out of the play-off positions in the last few weeks.
Bruce set to repeat mistakes
Diagne is no stranger to the Midlands club, as he was brought in on loan in the second half of last season with Sam Allardyce attempting to improve his squad’s chances of making the great escape from the relegation zone in the Premier League.
However, the signing fell flat and the Senegalese proved ineffective in his six-month stint at the club as they were relegated at the end of the season.
Despite scoring three goals and two assists during his time with the Baggies, after a good start the player was labelled “demotivated” and “poor” by West Brom journalist and podcaster Adrian Goldberg as the season drew closer to a conclusion.
The centre forward was released by Galatasaray earlier this month, following a long term femoral fracture injury, that he has been recovering from since December, just another reason why the ex-Newcastle manager should look elsewhere for solutions to his problems at West Brom.
Following a defeat this weekend, Bruce will need to get his squad ready for a quick turnaround as the side are set to take on Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening, in another must-win game for the Baggies away from home.
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The league table has not been kind to them already as they have now dropped into 11th position in the Championship, so the new manager must find a way to motivate and his inspire his players onto better results if he wants to have any chance of salvaging their season.
In other news: Adam Reach let down the team against Luton
Leeds United continue to monitor the situation of Ryan Kent ahead of this summer’s transfer window, and it’s thought that the winger would seriously consider a switch to Elland Road…
What’s the word?
That’s according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, who delivered a fresh update on the 25-year-old’s future at Rangers amid persistent interest from west Yorkshire.
Just last month, Football Insider claimed that the Whites had a long-standing interest in the Oldham-born talent, whose future in Scotland is in doubt as he enters the final 15 months of his current contract. He remains on Leeds’ radar, even despite the departure of Marcelo Bielsa.
“If Leeds were to meet that [his £20m release clause], I’m sure it’s something that Ryan Kent would seriously consider, moving back down to England and to the Premier League at this stage of his career,” the reporter told GIVEMESPORT.
Summer boost?
With uncertainty over the futures of Raphinha and Jack Harrison, who both have been linked with interest from Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, it would make sense for Leeds to remain keen on Kent.
The £12.6m-rated left-winger has continued to impress north of the border, delivering 19 goal contributions across 36 appearances this season, building on his efforts of 13 goals and 15 assists during their title-winning campaign last term, via Transfermarkt.
In 164 games for the Teddy Bears, Kent has delivered 30 goals and 44 assists, averaging a direct contribution once every 177 minutes.
Such form has seen him lauded as a “magician” by Gers teammate Leon Balogun, whilst journalist Andrew Dickson described him as “completely unplayable” on his day only a few months ago.
It seems more likely than not that the Brazil international leaves Elland Road in the summer, though things are less clear for Harrison, so paying £20m for Kent would surely be fantastic business for the club and they have been boosted by these comments from transfer expert O’Rourke.
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Whilst it would be painful to see Raphinha – who is in “advanced talks” with the LaLiga outfit – leave, they can soften the blow with the arrival of the former Liverpool graduate this summer, and that should leave many around west Yorkshire absolutely delighted.
AND in other news, Orta could truly kickstart the Marsch era at Leeds by signing £75m-rated “big talent”…
It is still possible for Guti to join Blackburn Rovers this summer, according to the Real Madrid midfielder's agent.
Sam Allardyce has expressed an interest in the player and it has been confirmed that preliminary contact has been made between Rovers and the Spaniard's representatives.
Rovers have also been linked with moves for James Beattie, Benjani, Frederic Piquionne and Kris Boyd recently, although they are not expected to launch a bid for Burnley striker Steven Fletcher.
The 33-year-old's agent, Zoran Vekic, said of the chances of Guti moving to Ewood Park: "It is possible. Little talks have gone on and, while there is nothing happening at the moment, it is possible."
Meanwhile, Galatasaray are being linked with Australia international midfielder Vince Grella who has endured an injury-ravaged two-year spell with Rovers.
Fellow Australians Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill are already at Galatasaray, and it is believed Grella is keen to join them in Istanbul.
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The 30-year-old moved to Rovers in August 2008 on a four-year deal from Torino but has started only 25 Premier League games in his two seasons with the club.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
The boys discuss England’s abject failure at the World Cup and ask themselves how and why, and what next for the Eng-er-land. They also have some advice for Fabio Capello and reveal their surprise choice for the next England Manager – Gazza. Genius!
Having lulled us into a false sense of optimism after beating the mighty Slovenia, England were totally humiliated by one of our greatest rivals and basically played like a pub team. The boys blame Capello for a poor use of players and the wrong system rather than what should have been Super Frankie Lampard’s first World Cup goal for England.
We think that Capello should take the fall for not getting the best out of the so-called Golden Generation, but who to replace him? The usual suspects are mentioned, but in a moment of inspiration Chidge makes the point that if Argentina can achieve success with a troubled and crazy genius in Maradonna, then why can’t England? Gazza must therefore be the only choice for next England manager. At least the players will have a laugh and be able to enjoy a beer. It could hardly be worse than what we’ve got!
With the World Cup effectively out of the way, the Chelsea FanCast can now get back to what counts: Chelsea. The boys preview the pre-season tour of Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Hamburg and errr…Crystal Palace. Only 2 weeks to go!! We also look at the latest transfer gossip and ‘Moody Blues’ a great Chelsea book following the 2007/2008 season written by James Clarke.
No Dr Mart this week, but fear not, Ross answers your questions in “Dear Mart” including the lack of gratuitous TV shots of fit women during the World Cup, decent USA players and media bias against JT and Chelsea players. Finally Chidge reads out the best posts from the website and facebook group in “You’re on CFFC”.
The Chelsea Football FanCast: Gazza for England Manager!
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I was shocked to read that Aston Villa won the first division title in 1980/81 using only 14 players for the whole season (see here). If we compare that to Manchester United’s 2008/09 triumph where Alex Ferguson used, unbelievably, 33 players we can see the vast changes to the game that have occurred over the years. My question now is, given the anomalous depth of talent of the Spain squad, is squad rotation applicable in a World Cup?
Squad rotation is still a much derided concept by many supporters and the media. The problem is that the general public don’t understand why 90 minutes of football twice a week is too much to ask from professional athletes. This isn’t a completely fair rendering of the circumstance that top managers face when competing in up to four competitions simultaneously. Playing to 100% intensity is more the issue than simply being able to last the 90 minutes so maximising players’ outputs remains the key issue. When United last won the title Ferguson did not name an unchanged XI in consecutive matches. Guardiola employed a similar concept for large portions of last season before injury (and tension) forced his hand in the latter stages. So why is Ferguson/Guardiola not admonished in the public sphere for ‘tinkering’ when the infamously dubbed Tinkerman (Claudio Ranieri) or restless Rafa Benitez had to answer for their changes?
The obvious reason is success. When there is a glaring gulf in quality between first team regulars and squad members squad rotation becomes a dangerous exercise. But Ferguson has repeatedly proven that the idea of rotating players in a domestic league is imperative. Whilst Aston Villa won the league in 1981 with seven players playing each of the 42 games, United won the league in 2009 with only Ronaldo and Vidic playing more than 30 games (no one being an ever present, whether it be through suspension, injury or rest).
So after such a long season for so many World Cup players can squad rotation actually be employed in a knockout tournament? I would say in Spain’s case, probably. At the moment they’re losing 1-0 to Switzerland so talk of favourites is evidently premature. But in terms of players coming back from injuries (Iniesta, Fabregas, Torres) these group matches were supposed to provide an opportunity to manage his stars. Does Del Bosque know his best XI? I think the starting team against the Swiss was what he thought to be his strongest team. But with the natural width of Navas and the direct threat of Torres coming off the bench to positively influence the Spaniards’ chase, Del Bosque has some difficult decisions to make.
In theory it would have seemed that the only team who could realistically manage some sort of squad rotation system would be the Spanish. But as I’m writing this I’m being proven wrong.
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Who will Johan Cruyff be supporting come Sunday? It’s definitely an interesting thought considering the emotional and ideological ties he finds himself caught in for both nations. On the one hand he embodies every quixotic notion that Dutch football has to offer and, on the other, he is very much responsible for the current Spanish contingent’s obstinate adherence to a possession-based philosophy.
It’s also a strange thing to hear such a polarised view about the Spanish national team. A majority of publications deal in terribly opaque rhetoric extolling the guile and craft of the Spaniards (failing to offer any insights on the actual football played and focussing more on the literary value that Spain’s precepts beget) whilst a small but vocal minority lament the ‘boring’, ‘death-by-a-thousand-cuts’, strangulating style that the team implements. I think that, much like the general tactics at this World Cup has proven, there is a blander middle ground being exhibited far closer to the truth – and Cruyff goes some way in representing it, whether he realises this or not.
For Dutch football there are few who can claim to be more influential than Johan Cruyff and I have spent far too many lines in the past few months dedicated to a man who I didn’t even have the good fortune to witness play. And in that admission lies the great danger of anything so widely recounted, reconfigured, and retold; my knowledge and experience of the early 70s Ajax team and Holland’s 1974 World Cup run is rooted in the aftermath of the event. The fact is forced, by the laws of physics and space/time, to be secondary to the interpretation of that fact. So everything I know, every facet of my understanding, is (at least) once removed from the actual event. And it is in this wall of mirrors that the truth becomes incalculably convoluted.
So imagine how Cruyff must feel? Constantly quizzed on the national team, he has been at pains to distance his own belief system from that on show at this World Cup – from the formation chosen to the players deployed; there is a tangible reticence in his dealings. But why do we, 36 years on, burden the weight of the gloriously unfulfilled past on the present Dutch team’s shoulders? It’s not only because there is an unresolved trauma surrounding the ’74 final for Dutch people but, more than that, there is a sordid and deeply romantic enjoyment to the epitome of the World Cup’s nearly-men in the wider football consciousness. We discuss them so widely, so heavily, and so passionately because they never won the ultimate crown. And on Sunday they have the chance to end this, to effectively trump Cruyff.
Germany have starred in seven World Cup finals and been serial iconoclasts in their toppling of Hungary in ’54 and Cruyff’s Holland in ’74 yet we never attribute anything near the cultural kudos to them. But with Holland, well, books have been written and many tears shed at the cosmic heartache felt at that team and that style’s captivating and almost-complete domination. Sneijder, Robben, Van Persie and co resemble the only universal truth in football and in life; it continues. Through tragedy or victory, it continues. Why do the Dutch play a 4-2-3-1 instead of three forwards? It’s because 2008, despite the same criticisms being levelled at Van Basten before the tournament, saw them beautifully entertain before being tactically outfoxed by Russia’s attacking fullbacks. And because, unlike club level (or the anomalous talent pool of ’74 and similarly this current Spain team), you are dealt your hand in the national team. I don’t think it’s a disrespect to say that this Spanish team possesses greater potential and talent than the Dutch but, equally, I don’t think it’s a disrespect to say that van Marwijk’s pragmatism has carved out a team of mental strength and discipline. It comes down to a single match on one day and there is a palpable chance here for victory but I fear that, instead of making history, this team will succumb to it.
“I am Dutch”, Cruyff writes in a Catalan newspaper, “but I support the football that Spain is playing.”
Spain enter Sunday as favourites but I also sense a greater confidence from them; one rooted in realising something which has been two decades in the making. Cruyff transformed Barcelona with four successive La Liga titles and a maiden European success and this Spain team adopts a similar approach to the game (and it’s plain to see that he loves it). It’s both creative and stifling, causing the mixed reviews from football fans. Some fall too easily by saying they are the creative apogee of football but 1-0 victories against Germany, Paraguay, and Portugal debunk this (statistically speaking).
And the other extreme is that ball retention is actually the reconfigured catenaccio. What’s so bad about that? I don’t think it’s a coincidence that having taken the lead, Spain have performed far better and thus systematically shut out the match. So the truth is a middle ground: they remain a supremely talented, perhaps unparalleled, creative group (watching Alonso has been a personal enjoyment at this tournament) who have not ‘clicked’ as many would have expected. But not compromising their style has led them to the final and to unexpected praise (or condemnation, depending on your outlook) as being defensively sound when in the lead – but this is the same ethos serving a dual function.
I think Spain survived a mini identity crisis. There was a period of a few matches where the balance of the team was certainly not right and an over reliance on Villa cutting in from the left materialised. But, in the game where it mattered most, Del Bosque proved his allegiance is with the ideology that has propelled Spain to something close to greatness; only one more match remains. And as for Cruyff, I think it’s far more interesting to note that his own national team distance themselves from everything he stood for (because it has become a burden) whilst he simultaneously associates himself with the team they face – a team who he believes he has much more of an ideological bond with.
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Click on image below to see the PORTUGAL babes at the World Cup
I for one have never understood the mentality of football clubs that fail to improve their squads in pre-season, so to give new signings ample time to settle into their surrounds and build up some chemistry with their teammates ahead of a new campaign. It is surely counterproductive and does little to help the manager.
I’m certainly not going to criticise Daniel Levy as he has done an incredible job with the football club, however when it comes to transfers we do tend to drag our feet somewhat and more often than not we do miss out on players as a result. I know there is the school of thought that the longer you leave it the greater chance you have to secure a better deal, but the way I see it is that to ensure greater success on the pitch it is vital you move early to secure the targeted players early and more importantly give them a better chance to be fully prepared for the up and coming season. Look at the problems Pavlyuchenko faced in settling in; what chance did he really have to succeed given he was just thrown straight into the team?
The general feeling is that it is a slow market and other clubs are also struggling to secure players. That maybe true but if your manager has pinpointed the players that you wish to sign then why not make every effort to secure these deals early? Harry has hinted on occasions that we can’t buy players until we generate some funds, but shouldn’t a club that is on the brink of the Champions League group stages, and the riches it will bring, be looking to perhaps take the financial hit upfront and look to recoup it later in the transfer window, or in January? Shouldn’t Harry be given every opportunity to build on last season’s success? It seems to me we are subsequently going to get dragged into last minute deadline deals in order to improve the squad, which is (as history has proven) hardly the best preparation for a new season.
Written By Matt Wright
With the PL season nearly upon us, let’s see the WAGS that will be keeping the players on their toes. Click on image to VIEW gallery
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Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti expects Frank Lampard to be fit for their next Premier League game against West Ham United.
The midfielder was forced to miss England's Euro 2012 double-header against Bulgaria and Switzerland following hernia surgery.
Lampard was substituted during the 2-0 victory over Stoke City on August 28 after reporting discomfort.
The Chelsea medical staff decided to send the 32-year-old for surgery during the two-week international break and Lampard is now expected to be fit for their next match on September 11.
"For sure, Frank will be fit for the West Ham game," confirmed Ancelotti.
However, the Blues boss has denied suggestions that it was always their plan to send Lampard for surgery during an international break.
The Stamford Bridge club have been accused of undermining England's Euro 2012 qualifying bid.
"No, we didn't decide at the start of the season to do this now," Ancelotti told the Daily Star Sunday.
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"After the Stoke game, Frank was in a lot of pain.
"So he decided, after talking to the club doctor, to resolve and remove the problem immediately."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email