Category Uncategorized

The West Brom manager situation is an utter mess, and one that could, and should, have been, handled much better.

Sacking a manager in March, while your team is still comfortably in the play-off positions, and having only appointed him on a permanent basis in the summer, seems like a strange decision.

But to do it, seemingly without a contingency plan is unfathomable.

Rumours have been rife about Slavisa Jokanovic being spoken to, or Alex Neil being considered, but the fact is, no one really knows.

We now sit 10 days on from Darren Moore’s sacking, and the Albion fans are no nearer knowing the next man in charge than they were when the announcement of his departure was made.

To make the best of a poorly handled situation, would have been to have the next boss in place prior to this international break, giving him time with the majority of his squad, allowing them all to get to know each other and have two weeks to work on what is expected.

But that is not the Albion way.

An interim boss was mooted, to the dismay of many fans, who must have been united in the ‘been there, done that’ mindset.

With time running down on the season, fans now seem resigned to a short-term appointment, with a consensus agreeing that there is simply not enough time for a new regime to get his staff in place and influence the remainder of the season.

It’s a sorry state of affairs for the loyal fans, who show up week in, week out, and deserve an appointment that can match their commitment and ambition.

A Baggies fans’ Twitter account asked the simple question “who does everyone want as the next Albion manager?”.

Here are some of the replies:

Interestingly, a new name cropped up in the replies, Swansea City manager Graham Potter. His style of play would certainly suit Albion, and it is surprising that he has not been rumoured as someone under consideration.

What are your thoughts on the situation West Brom fans? Who would you like to see replace Moore? Let us know below…

[ad_pod ]Liverpool fans have slated Mohamed Salah after another anonymous performance in the Merseyside derby against Everton.The 62-cap Egypt international struggled to impact the game in the final third and, per WhoScored, had just two shots on goal throughout the 90 minutes.Both of those efforts were well saved by England international Jordan Pickford as the Toffees held onto a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park.

The result means that Liverpool are now second to Manchester City in the Premier League title race, having played the same amount of games.

Salah’s latest dismal performance is his second in a week after he also endured a poor display against Manchester United.

Liverpool have failed to win both games, and are now relying on a City slip up if they are to win their first title in a generation.

And fans have savaged Salah on Twitter, insisting that he needs to start delivering if Jurgen Klopp’s side are to make up the gap to Pep Guardiola’s champions.

According to an update by Leeds United’s official account, the top of the table home clash against Fulham next week at Elland Road will be played in front of away fans that could only sell a portion of their away ticket allocation – resulting in swathes of Whites fans laying into the London club given the significance of their bout. 

Fulham, who are seven points behind Marcelo Bielsa’s league leaders, currently lying third in the Championship table, prepare for one of their biggest games of the season in the hopes of making a return to the Premier League – with a win at Elland Road potentially helping them catch up to second-placed West Bromwich Albion who currently occupy the last automatic spot.

However, as per this club update, the Cottagers have seemingly failed to sell out their away allocation for the bout next week – resulting in many supporters roasting their promotion rivals.

One fan even blasted the news as ‘tinpot of the highest order’ and ’embarrassing’ – find all of their best comments down below.

What do you make of the attendance update? Join the discussion by commenting below…

Tottenham Hotspur managed to salvage all three points on Sunday when they paid Wolverhampton Wanderers a visit.

The game was all tied and the teams looked poised to share the spoils of war but a stoppage-time goal gave Jose Mourinho’s troops a huge boost as they secured the triumph.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Of course, a lot of the spotlight has gone to the goal-scorer, Jan Vertonghen, but Lucas Moura also had a brilliant game and it was actually his strike that propelled Spurs into the lead in the first half.

After the game, the 27-year-old Brazilian took to Twitter to celebrate and the fans were absolutely loving his tweet, showering the player with compliments and just proclaiming their love for him in the process.

And it seems that Moura is slowly but surely turning into a real Spurs legend and many of the fans claim that he has already reached that status.

Overall, the Brazilian has now played 80 games since joining the club, scoring 21 goals and assisting further eight as well. And some of those goals were extremely important, too.

Forever a Spurs legend: Honour Pochettino by getting 100% on this all-Poch quiz…

We shouldn’t forget his five strikes in last season’s Champions League march towards the final and his hattrick vs Ajax in the semi-final as well.

Finally, there were some fans who simply want to see a chant made for Moura since he deserves to finally get one.

And with the player putting chants in his tweets in the first place, he just might be hinting that he feels the same way…

In other news, many Spurs fans think one of their young stars should be given a shot in a slightly different position…

Everton should abolish their planned interest for Manchester United centre-back Chris Smalling and instead invest in another United defender, Marcos Rojo.

The Daily Mail revealed last week that the Toffees are planning to snatch up Smalling at the end of the season when his contract at Old Trafford expires.

No reports have yet confirmed if the United ownership are planning to extend the England international’s stay at the club, with manager José Mourinho expected to receive the needed financial backing to sign new centre-backs in the looming January transfer market, leaving the door open for Everton to capitalise on the situation.

But not long after the report on Smalling appeared, the Metro confirmed that the Merseyside club is also considering a potential move for Rojo.

If the two centre-backs have to be compared on the basis of form, then Smalling would possibly get the nod due to Rojo not making a singular appearance for the United first-team this season, due to a knee injury.

And while the report indicates that the move for Rojo would be in Janaury, Silva should rather forget about signing Smalling completely, as the Argentinian has lots more to offer than the current first-team centre-back.

Rojo’s fitness will, of course, be the main concern on Silva and the Everton board’s minds, but if they can utilise him and provide him with regular game-time, then the 28-year-old could rejuvenate his career and lift the Toffees to a strong finish at the end of the season.

With on-loan defender Kurt Zouma possibly set to leave Goodison Park next season, the door would certainly open for Rojo to add long-term depth and competition for Michael Keane and Yerry Mina.

The former Sporting Lisbon player, who joined the Red Devils in 2014 after playing in the World Cup final, Rojo would be a stronger and more energetic addition than Smalling, who has had a quite turbulent season so far.

Rojo would also offer a great deal of composure and aggressiveness to the Everton back-four and will let his presence be felt on those around him.

Leeds United supporters have been making all the noise in the Transfer Tavern in recent times after seeing their team go top of the Championship courtesy of a 3-0 win at Norwich City on Saturday.

Marcelo Bielsa’s men dropped their first points of the season in midweek in drawing 2-2 at Swansea City, having won each of their opening three matches of the campaign. And the Yorkshire giants got back to winning ways in Norfolk on Saturday as goals from Mateusz Klich, Ezgjan Alioski, and Pablo Hernandez sealed a routine win over the Canaries, thus moving Leeds back into top spot in the second tier.

As such, there have been many delighted Leeds supporters up and down the country in recent times, several of whom have been heaping praise on the goalscorers for coming up with the goods to seal all three points at Carrow Road.

Klich, who was so low down the pecking order last term that he spent the second half of last season on loan at FC Utrecht, bagged his third goal of the campaign on Saturday, as did the hugely influential Hernandez, while 2017 summer signing Alioski doubled his tally for the campaign with his strike against Daniel Farke’s men.

And all three men have earned many rave reviews in what was an outstanding Leeds performance on Saturday, which was epitomised by a stellar display from left back Barry Douglas.

Leeds were deemed to have pulled off quite the coup during the summer in luring the 28-year-old away from Premier League outfit Wolves, and while he has produced many consistent performances so far this term, Saturday’s was his best of the lot.

The one-time Scotland international had a staggering 116 touches of the ball over the course of the 90 minutes, which was 31 more than the next-best Ivo Pinto, and 35 more than the next-best Leeds player in midfielder Kalvin Phillips – clearly, Douglas was trusted with getting things moving for the visitors down the left-hand-side.

And that was further emphasised by the fact that the 28-year-old attempted more and indeed completed more passes than any other Leeds player on Saturday, one of which resulting in the assist for Hernandez’s great goal to seal the three points for Bielsa’s side.

Yet Douglas also completed his defensive duties reasonably well despite making a slightly sluggish start to the afternoon, with the left back winning three of his four aerial duels, and all five of the tackles he attempted to help the Whites keep a second clean sheet of the campaign.

Thus, in what was another scintillating performance from Leeds, it was Douglas’ efforts down the left-hand-side, both offensively and defensively, which epitomised everything that was great about the Yorkshire giants on Saturday, which is why he was their unsung hero at Carrow Road.

Leeds fans… what do you think? Let us know!

Declarations of substandard technology and genuine apathy may seem like sour grapes from two Premier League managers who were shown up by lesser opposition this week, but Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino inevitably raise a serious point; who, if anybody, actually wants to win the Carabao Cup?

The name alone is underwhelming in itself, coined after a sports drink from Thailand that was hardly known in England before aligning with the League Cup – despite sponsoring Reading from 2015 and Chelsea’s training kit a year later.

But the League Cup’s problems hark back far beyond its current commercially-driven incarnation and it’s been a grievance for the vast majority of managers in English football for some time.

For the biggest clubs in the Premier League, progression is essentially a lottery. The squads are continually rotated until they reach the semi-finals, in which case some of the big guns are brought out, or suffer an early elimination that is welcomed by the manager with the equal warmth of winning the title itself.

“Our objective is to try to win the Premier League and the Champions League. For me, two real trophies. That can really change your life. And then the FA Cup, of course, I would like to win. I would like to win the Carabao Cup.

“But I think it will not change the life of Tottenham. If you want to be a big team and if you want to fight for big things, it’s impossible if you don’t use all the squad and rotate in England. Players are not a machine. In Spain, France, German and Italy it’s completely different. I think we need to teach our fans because it’s so difficult to fight for four competitions.”

Pochettino discusses Tottenham’s Carabao Cup exit

Considering the sheer intensity of the Premier League and particularly the title race, having two or three games wiped of the schedule during the hectic winter period is probably more useful than a trophy every club in the top six has already won, that doesn’t particularly prove anything we don’t already know about the players involved and that doesn’t give managers something significant to show off about at the end of the season.

Sure, a win at Wembley can boost morale amongst both the players and the fans, but defeat can have the opposite effect and it takes four games to get there – plus the second leg of the semi-final – all of which can go to extra time. That’s a big drain on resources if you’re already involved in the title race and the Champions League.

In theory then, the League Cup should consequentially appeal more to the rest of the Premier League, clubs whose players and fan bases would view any silverware as a significant achievement when their resources are compared to the so-called big six, and clubs where the League Cup can be used as a beacon of success to attract hungry players and investors.

And yet, the only two non-big-six winners of the trophy in the last decade have been Birmingham City, who were relegated in the same season, and Swansea City, whose stunning rise from the depths of the Football League appeared to climax and end when they lifted it in 2013. Since then, the Welsh side have been on a downward trajectory.

“It is too light, it moves all over the place, it is not a good ball. It is impossible to score with a ball like that and I can say that because we won, I’m not making excuses.

“All of my players said: ‘What is that?’ I’m sorry Carabao Cup is not a serious ball for a serious competition. It’s [for] marketing, money, OK but it’s not acceptable – [it has] no weight, nothing.”

Pep Guardiola complains about Mitre ball after failing to score vs Wolves

That suggests the rest of the Premier League don’t take the competition as seriously as they could do either, and that there’s compelling evidence in place for why they shouldn’t. But in many ways, such an apathetic stance is understandable when you look at the complexion of the Premier League.

Last season, there were just six points separating 8th place and 17th place, highlighting how very few clubs outside the top six, if any, can feel assured of avoiding relegation when their Carabao Cup involvement begins in either late August or mid-September – or even when the final takes place in February.

In the context of this year’s tournament, the few clubs that can perhaps expect safety as a bare minimum – the likes of Southampton, Everton and West Ham – have all started the season in underwhelming form. In any case, only the latter have progressed through to this term’s quarter finals.

Surely then, some plucky club from the Football League will dare to defy the odds and embarrass the big clubs reluctant to take the competition seriously. Although plenty of clubs outside the top flight have reached the final throughout the years, the last Football League side to win it were Sheffield Wednesday in 1991 – rather tellingly, just over a year before the incarnation of the Premier League.

Since then, the difference in quality has jbeen too great and the fact of the matter is that clubs in the Football League have similar priorities to those in the top flight – gain promotion, make the playoffs, avoid relegation – which are further exacerbated by the difficulties of a 46-game season.

“The prize is good when you win another one, but you waste a lot of energy. You can’t imagine going to play a Tony Pulis team at West Bromwich Albion, play 90 minutes there in those conditions.

“And then after three or four hours – bus, come back, three days later Crystal Palace, three days later Shakhtar Donetsk, three or four days later Stamford Bridge.

“For the managers it is a lot of wasted energy, but we knew that before, so it is not a complaint in those terms. If we have to play we have to play.”

Guardiola questions importance of Carabao Cup after beating West Brom

So then, who actually wants to win the League Cup and who has the resources to do it? We know Jose Mourinho is a fan, seeing it as a springboard for the rest of the season, but that keenness clearly isn’t shared by his contemporaries.

Alongside Pochettino and Guardiola’s apathetic comments, Chelsea exited the competition early en route to the title last season and, perhaps most tellingly of all, Arene Wenger is yet to win the trophy after two decades at Arsenal. During that same period, he’s won the FA Cup a record number of times.

The rest of the Premier League appear too preoccupied with the relegation scrap to truly commit to the competition and the Football League either become lost in the same tyranny of priorities or are eventually blown away by bigger clubs with far superior talents.

It makes you wonder how many, if any, of the League Cup’s most recent winners had any desire to claim the trophy at all when the competition starts, or whether it was something that more simply came their way as likeminded rivals dropped off.

Which, in turn, makes you wonder what use the Carabao Cup truly has in English football, who it actually serves with the exception of a rotating sponsorship deal, and whether it still deserves a place on the calendar. The League Cup was never designed to be superior to the FA Cup or the top flight title, but it’s relevance is waning at an incredible rate.

We’ve now reached a point where its worth considering the most obvious advantage of not having the tournament – chiefly, more rest for English football’s biggest talents during what is traditionally the most exhausting period of the season.

We often discuss the benefits a winter break would have on English football both in the Champions League and internationally; maybe chalking off the League Cup, sparing players from five or six games that could amount to a huge burden in minutes when including extra time, could have a similar effect.

Leeds United look set to lose left-back Charlie Taylor this summer after the 23-year-old turned down a new deal and then refused to play in their final Championship fixture of the season against Wigan Athletic on Sunday.

The Whites youth product handed in a transfer request last summer in order to try and push through a move to the Premier League – with West Bromwich Albion understood to be leading the race for his signature – but it was rejected as the club aimed for promotion.

Despite spending large chunks of the campaign in the top six, they missed out on a play-off position following a poor run of form at the end of the season.

Taylor looks set to seal a move to the Hawthorns and despite the fact that Gaetano Berardi has impressed in the position over the course of the last few months, the club and manager Garry Monk – if he remains with the Yorkshire outfit – will surely look to sign a new left-back this summer.

Here are five Charlie Taylor replacements Leeds could sign…

James Meredith

The Bradford City left-back has enjoyed a brilliant season with the Bantams and his impressive and consistent performances throughout the campaign deservedly saw him named in the League One Team of the Year.

With the fellow Yorkshire outfit due to face Millwall in the play-off final later this month his future is far from certain, and he could look to make the step up even if his team fail to.

The only thing that could count against him is his age, as Leeds could look for a younger player rather than one that turns 30 next year.

Ben Chilwell

Despite the 20-year-old being really highly thought of at the King Power Stadium, Chilwell has made just 17 appearances in all competitions for Leicester this season with many of his nine Premier League outings coming from the substitutes’ bench.

Often finding himself as the second choice left-back behind Christian Fuchs, he could look to go out on loan in search of regular first team football this summer unless he is guaranteed more playing time next term.

Leeds would certainly be one of the teams interested in taking the England Under-21 international if he was allowed out on a temporary basis, but they may have competition from some top flight teams too.

Matt Targett

Another England Under-21 international, the Southampton left-back has spent the majority of the campaign on the sidelines because of a hamstring injury and it has potentially seen him slide down the pecking order in the position.

The 21-year-old looked to be competing with Ryan Bertrand at the start of the season but with the former Chelsea man enjoying another impressive campaign, and another Saints youth product Sam McQueen impressing when he has been given an opportunity, Targett is arguably third choice now.

He could be helped by speculation that Bertrand could leave St Mary’s this summer, but if he doesn’t Targett could look to make a temporary move away and Leeds would surely be keen to bring him to Elland Road.

Targett is valued at £2.55m by transfermarkt.com.

Amari’i Bell

The Fleetwood Town left-back was heavily linked with a move to a number of Championship sides – Norwich City, Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion – during the January transfer window following a string of eye-catching performances for the Cod Army.

The 23-year-old – who has scored two goals and provided a further six assists in League One this season – would have add an eye on making the step up when Uwe Rosler’s side finished in the play-off positions, but they were beaten 1-0 on aggregate by Bradford City to miss out on promotion.

The failure to go up will mean that Bell is in demand this summer, and Leeds should be one of a number of teams interested in snapping him up.

Brendan Galloway

Following some mature performances at left-back for Everton when Leighton Baines was absent because of injury, Galloway looked to have a bright future at Goodison Park and he joined Premier League rivals West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan deal last summer.

However, the 21-year-old struggled to break into the first team at the Hawthorns and made just five appearances in all competitions before being sent back to Merseyside by Tony Pulis last month.

While Baines is getting no younger, Ronald Koeman may believe that the Zimbabwe-born defender needs to go out and get regular football again next term – perhaps with a Championship side – and Leeds would surely be one of the interested clubs.

Do you agree, Whites fans? Let us know below.

Anthony Martial is “doomed” under Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, with the Frenchman’s style not suited to his new manager’s approach, according to ex-Chelsea forward Tony Cascarino.

The 20-year-old attacker grabbed headlines when he joined the Red Devils as the summer 2015 transfer deadline approached, signing for the Old Trafford club in a £36m deal from Monaco (a record fee for a teenager) that may eventually rise to £58m with eventual add-ons.

WANT MORE? >> Manchester United Transfer News | Latest Transfer News

Martial impressed under Louis van Gaal during the Dutchman’s last season in Manchester and initially it appeared he would be key for Mourinho also.

Indeed, Martial started Man United’s first three Premier League matches of the new season but was axed from the XI on Saturday as ‘Mou’s’ men were beaten by bitter rivals Manchester City.

And writing for The Times, Cascarino has given his take on the situation, claiming the youngster doesn’t suit Mourinho’s approach:

“Anthony Martial is doomed at Manchester United. He is out of the team and could be the latest wide man to fall victim to Jose Mourinho’s management.

“The defeat by City exemplified Mourinho’s issue with wingers. He wants them to be runners, thinking as much — if not more — about tracking their full back as they do about attacking. If they have a decent crossing ability then that helps.

“Essentially he wants them to be like Willian, his go-to man at Chelsea. Martial doesn’t fit that mould and therefore didn’t start.”

Cascarino went on to talk about other wingers that have struggled under Mourinho:

“Martial struggling under Mourinho would not be the first time that we’ve seen the Portuguese waste talent out wide.

“Damien Duff, Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Andre Schurrle and Juan Cuadrado are all talented players but they failed to fulfil their potential — and big transfer fees — during Mourinho’s time at Chelsea.

“Even Eden Hazard and Arjen Robben, two of the best wingers of the past decade, have suffered under ‘the Special One’.”

[ad_pod id=’writeforus’ align=’center’]

The summer signing capped an impressive performance with the opening goal of the game as Jurgen Klopp's side got back to winning ways

Liverpool made it two wins from two in the Europa League group stages as they ran out 2-0 winners over Union Saint-Gilloise at Anfield on Thursday. Ryan Gravenberch's first goal for the club got things going, with the Dutch midfielder capping an encouraging performance with a tap-in after a handling error from goalkeeper Anthony Moris.

Jurgen Klopp made nine changes to his side from Saturday's controversial defeat at Tottenham, but that did not stop them dominating possession from the off. Mohamed Salah was denied by Moris early on, while Darwnin Nunez missed what should have been a tap-in after being played in by the Egyptian forward.

Gravenberch eventually broke the deadlock after Moris spilled Trent Alexander-Arnold's low effort at his feet shortly before half-time. Klopp made three substitutions at the break, which led to the hosts losing some rhythm in the second period, though Diogo Jota and Gravenberch both saw efforts tipped over by Moris while Luis Diaz hit the post, albeit he looked offside in the build-up (though you never can be sure these days!).

Belgian side Union pushed for an equaliser in the final 20 minutes, but they barely tested Alisson Becker before Jota sealed the victory with a stoppage-time strike.

GOAL rates Liverpool's players from Anfield…

• Getty Images
  

  Goalkeeper & Defence

  Alisson Becker (6/10):

  Quick thinking sparked the counter-attack that ended in Gravenberch's goal. One flap at a corner aside, solid in everything he did.

  Trent Alexander-Arnold (6/10):

  Had to shake off some early rust upon his return from injury but began to find his passing range and played a key role in the opening goal with his driving run and shot. Replaced after an hour.

  Ibrahima Konate (7/10):

  Got back to make some good last-ditch challenges and blocks. Led the backline well in Van Dijk's absence.

  Jarell Quansah (8/10):

  Remarkably composed for a player of his inexperience. A couple of off-target passes aside, another impressive outing for the youngster.

  Kostas Tsimikas (6/10):

  As always, better going forward than when required to defend. More than capable cover for Robertson.

Advertisement

• Getty Images
  

  Midfield

  Ryan Gravenberch (8/10):

  Deserved his goal after a bright first half. Silky smooth in possession and always looking to break the lines, the Dutchman will be worth a Premier League start sooner rather than later. Faded a bit after the break, but still came close to netting a second when forcing Moris into a decent save.

  Wataru Endo (6/10):

  Kept the Reds ticking over and dealt well with the visitors' press. Half-time substitution suggests he will come in for the suspended Jones against Brighton.

  Harvey Elliott (7/10):

  An energetic midfield display from the 20-year-old. Constantly made himself available for team-mates and looked to carry the team forward.

• Getty Images
  

  Attack

  Mohamed Salah (6/10):

  Will feel he should have opened the scoring inside five minutes when he was denied by Moris. Threatening when on the ball, but saw too little of it before going off at the break.

  Darwin Nunez (4/10):

  Another gilt-edged chance missed by the Uruguayan forward, who also had a goal disallowed for offside and an effort parried by Moris. One of three players replaced at half-time.

  Diogo Jota (5/10):

  Struggled to get involved in the first half. Moved centrally after the break but continued to have little influence until netting in stoppage-time with a slotted finish.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty Images
  

  Subs & Manager

  Curtis Jones (6/10):

  Had some nice moments of incision after coming on at half-time.

  Alexis Mac Allister (6/10):

  Joined his brother on the pitch for the second half and kept Liverpool ticking over in midfield.

  Luis Diaz (5/10):

  Struggled to get into the game despite looking to run in behind. Hit the post late on.

  Joe Gomez (6/10):

  On for Alexander-Arnold and looked assured once up to speed.

  Dominik Szoboszlai (6/10):

  Had little impact after coming on for Gravenberch with just over 10 minutes to play.

  Jurgen Klopp (7/10):

  Got the result he wanted while still being able to rest the majority of his starters for at least 45 minutes. Just needs wins in this competition and can worry about performances in the knockouts.