Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has faced his biggest selection conundrum when he has had both Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe available for selection following the latter’s January arrival, but it has been put to bed once and for all after the former’s four-goal haul on Wednesday night.
On the chalkboard
Well, Morelos had been starring up top on his own in either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 system in the first-half of the season, but the loan signing of Defoe last month gave Gerrard plenty to think about as the 36-year-old would have wanted regular starts after moving north of the border on an 18-month loan deal.
The Liverpool legend switched to a 4-4-2 diamond formation instantly to accommodate both but it ended in disaster as the Scottish Premiership giants were beaten 2-1 by Kilmarnock, and the manager has barely reverted to using it again since.
The 38-year-old opted for a 4-1-4-1 system for the Scottish Cup replay against Killie on Wednesday with Colombian getting the nod, and he showed his quality by finding the net on four occasions in the 5-0 thrashing.
Conundrum over
While Defoe is clearly a great player who has been goalscorer throughout his career, he isn’t the future of Rangers and shouldn’t get the nod if the club is playing a formation with room for only one centre-forward.
Three goals and four assists in seven appearances for the Glasgow outfit to date is certainly a positive start to life in Scotland for the veteran English striker, but Morelos is 22 years of age and has once again just proved how lethal he can be.
The South American looks destined to go on to bigger and better things at some stage and taking that into consideration, Gerrard needs to utilise him and play him as much as he can while he is still at Ibrox.
Charlie Wyke has desperately struggled to live up to expectation at Sunderland this season, but Keith Curle’s admission suggests that the reasons behind his form lie within Jack Ross’ approach.
What’s the word?
Wyke has struggled to find his feet at the Stadium of Light since completing his transfer from Bradford City last summer.
His decent goal scoring record at both Bradford and Carlisle hinted that Jack Ross had secured the services of a future talisman, but he has been incredibly underwhelming so far.
Curle, who managed the 26-year-old during their time together at Carlisle, has suggested that his struggle to find the net is symptomatic of the Sunderland manager’s preferred playing style, as per Sunderland Echo.
“Charlie needs a run of games and to be able to build up a relationship with a strike partner, and the team needs to put balls in the box.
“He’s better playing in a two. Charlie hasn’t got pace, so he won’t get away from people and run the channels.”
Ross’ preference for a lone striker is bad news for Wyke
The Black Cats are well in the hunt for automatic promotion this season as they seek to bounce back to the Championship at the first time of asking, and that’s largely down to Ross’ influence since taking charge last summer.
If Curle’s recent comments are anything to go by, it would appear that the Sunderland manager’s preference to operate with a 4-2-3-1 formation is serving as a detriment to Wyke’s form.
Naturally, the striker’s form can partly be explained by the injury problems he has experienced this season, but without a strike partner to bounce off he may continue to disappoint on Wearside.
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Time will tell whether Curle has a point, but there is plenty of evidence from Wyke’s time at Sunderland so far to prove there is a weight of substance behind his claim.
Mauricio Pochettino has pleaded for help from English football’s governing bodies after Borussia Dortmund were given one day more to prepare for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 clash on Tuesday.
Spurs played Arsenal on Saturday and drew 1-1, while Dortmund lost to Augsburg on Friday.
What’s the word?
Spurs hold a 3-0 lead going into the second leg after dismantling their German opponents at Wembley.
Goals from Son Heung-Min, Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente sealed a scintillating victory but the club’s form since has dipped considerably.
Losses to Burnley and Chelsea have derailed their title challenge, while a draw with the Gunners came about only after Hugo Lloris saved a last-minute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty.
Pochettino, then, is perhaps right to question the amount of time his side have been given to prepare, particularly with the cauldron of Signal Iduna Park awaiting.
Quoted by BBC, he said: “It’s strange that no-one has said anything about that.
“It’s impossible that one team has 24 hours more to prepare. It’s massive.
“We need help from the FA, we need help from the Premier League.
“I don’t know whose fault it is. I don’t know whether it is the FA, the Premier League, the club or the TV [who] wanted the matches to be on those days.”
Scheduling a disgrace, but unlikely to matter
An English club last won the Champions League in 2012, when Chelsea completed an unlikely triumph, and it seems that the governing bodies of English football care little about ending that drought.
Spurs have a golden chance to head into the quarter-finals for the first time under Pochettino’s management but they have been hamstrung by a bureaucratic decision that has merely served the interests of BT Sport and Sky Sports, who broadcast all three of their Premier League games across the past week.
At the end of the day, it is unlikely to matter against Dortmund, such is the stranglehold the north London outfit have established on the tie.
But it may be a deciding factor in a potentially tight quarter-final.
Pochettino has appealed directly for help; he is unlikely to get any – such is the money involved in the television rights’ deals – but he certainly should.
Wolves fans have reacted well to the appointment of a new Head of Academy with former professional footballer Scott Sellars taking up the role.
Sellars had previously been Head of Player Development and therefore supporters of the Premier League side are happy that someone who knows the club will continue to oversee the future of their upcoming stars.
The Molineux faithful took the time to congratulate the 53-year-old on his new role with Wolves, welcoming him to the project and praising the club for making what they think is the right appointment to take the academy forward.
The former midfielder initially joined the West Midlands team just under five years ago and before becoming Head of Player Development last summer, was U23s Head Coach.
During his spell with Wolves, the ex-Leeds man has also had a spell as Assistant Head Coach during Rob Edwards’ time as caretaker boss in 2016.
Once a player at Blackburn and Newcastle among others, he has also been a youth coach at Manchester City so his reputation both as a player and as a coach makes this appointment an exciting one for Wanderers followers.
Here’s how they reacted to the news of his appointment.
Manchester United’s two decades of Premier League dominance was hard to bear for their rivals and made even more so by the arrogance of their fans. There was an inherent entitlement that was prevalent in everything they said and did. They even had a song boasting that they could do what they liked simply for being who they were.
There is very little virtue to be found in such hubris but perhaps in hindsight it can be viewed with some degree of understanding. After all, strip away the imperiousness and what you’re left with is a bedrock of self-belief and frankly when your team contains Cantona, Keane, Giggs and Beckham, and your manager is Sir Alex Ferguson, and your club is winning titles like nobody’s business, you have every right to feel assured. A certain swagger is justified.
Jump-cut to the present and their throne has been reupholstered in sky blue. Manchester City have won three titles in seven years and last season they smashed all manner of long-standing records and eventually accumulated one hundred points. They have Pep Guardiola – unquestionably the most coveted coach in world football – moving his players around like chess pieces from the technical area. Their squad contains David Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling and Aguero. Are City fans happy with this monumental usurping? Of course they are. They’re ecstatic. Are they assured though? Not even slightly.
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Scroll down the Twitter timeline of a City supporter, or hear them out in the pub and what you will encounter is paranoia and pessimism and I should know because I’m a City supporter myself and I can vent to an Olympic standard. UEFA are out to screw us. The media similarly have an agenda and they delight in undermining our achievements by taking snide pot-shots at every opportunity. Should the back pages of newspapers be taken at face value you would be under the impression that the media darlings Liverpool are fighting a valiant cause this season while City are the bad guys. Last year Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said: “I’d like someone to get a little bit closer to Manchester City” and it doesn’t require a tinfoil hat to suggest that when that’s the desire of the authorities it might explain why Sergio Aguero needs to be chain-sawed at the knees to win a penalty.
As for pessimism we only need look back to City’s defeat at Newcastle at the end of January that saw half of the club’s fan-base forcefully cede that any realistic hope for a consecutive Premier League crown was over. This despite the fact that similar points deficits had been successfully clawed back in two of their previous title-winning campaigns.
Such negativity however is not the sole preserve of Blues. Presently Liverpool are in strong contention for their first league title since 1990 with a formidable and ferociously brilliant side who have lost precisely once all season. At the helm is Jurgen Klopp – unquestionably the best coach at Anfield since their halcyon days – and it is perfectly conceivable that he might lead his troops to an incredible double this May. Their squad is elevated by last season’s Player of the Year Mo Salah and bolstered by this season’s Player of the Year-in-waiting Virgil Van Dyke. Are Reds excited by all of this? Of course they are. They’re buzzing. Are they assured though? Absolutely not.
Scroll down the Twitter timeline of a Liverpool supporter, or hear them out in the pub and what you will encounter is paranoia and pessimism. Player X is underperforming and what the hell is Klopp playing at sticking by him? The media are the enemy and as for the authorities a conspiracy is clearly afoot because the last penalty given for the home side at Anfield coincided with the release of Sgt Pepper.
Ahead of this week’s Champions League draw Liverpool fans became convinced that City would be drawn with Porto, the weakest-on-paper team left in the tournament. They became convinced that UEFA – an organisation currently investigating Manchester City on FFP charges – would facilitate an easier passage for the Blues while ensuring somehow that Liverpool got Barcelona and Juventus combined.
When it comes to pessimism Reds are drawn towards it almost as an act of self-preservation. So brittle are they from past near-misses that despite being only a single point behind City with eight to play the prevailing talk is akin to a contestant on a game show who is willing to eschew the big gamble and is instead happy to take home what they’ve won so far.
These are clubs – and by extension fan-bases – who are experiencing their greatest of days; three-quarters in to amazing and exhilarating adventures. Yet their psyches could not contrast any greater with the indomitable bombast of United – and Arsenal too – in their pomp.
The reasons for this are multifarious but all have their roots in not only social media and the internet at large but also in the incalculable influence that social media and the internet at large has had on life beyond our computer screens. Everything is so relentless now. The chatter and accusations. The hot takes and the angles. The anticipation and the post-mortems and the hype and the ever-changing news. It is all-encompassing and unavoidable and when you’re the one on top of the pile you’re the one with a great big target on your back.
Is it any wonder then that City and Liverpool supporters have become defensive by default? And does that offer up the rather depressing notion that fans of teams in the ascendancy moving forward will always be deprived of the luxury to luxuriate in their success? Certainly both sets of fans are not able to cockily gloat Monday to Friday like United and Arsenal could. Not when Bob in accounts thinks City are cheats. And Dave in the warehouse insists that Liverpool are bottlers.
This ultimately is a great shame. Because right now – for both Manchester City and Liverpool supporters – a certain swagger would be more than justified.
The rise of player power is spiralling out of control. A rasping tornado of arrogance, self-indulgence and greed has effectively made the virtue of loyalty redundant during the Premier League era. Players seldom feel strongly about the badge and the colours they represent; instead the nearest and most lucrative pay cheque reigns supreme.
Marko Arnautovic’s January transfer saga served as an acute reminder of how public displays of loyalty, however regular they manifest themselves, are often futile acts of deceit in the modern economic climate. The Austria international was, up until the turn of the year, adored by the Hammers faithful and a talismanic figure at the club.
Arnautovic ritually celebrated goals with stout loyalism. First he would wheel away and hit the badge on his chest with passion rippling through his eyes, as if his devotion to the club was worth the years he was knocking off his ticker’s shelf-life with every vigorous slap. Once he was finished putting his heart through its paces, he crossed his arms to an x shape to bring West Ham’s iconic badge to life, transmitting his personal affection for the club, the supporters and its values with every passing goal.
This was, as the fans later came to find out, a facade. West Ham rejected a £35 million offer from Shanghai SIPG for the bulldozing powerhouse in January, but Arnautovic then attempted to force through a move away from the London Stadium.
Speculation was temporarily brought to an end with his decision to sign a new contract, but a hazy lack of detail regarding the terms of the deal hinted that January merely hosted the first instalment of a saga which is bound to resurface in the summer. The 29-year-old hadn’t found the net in the Premier League since January 2nd heading into this weekend. He has resembled a disenchanted and sulky schoolboy on the pitch, merely counting down the minutes until he is finally released of the manacles which are keeping him in east London until the end of the season.
This cliff dive from West Ham poster boy to bit-part underachiever symbolises a growing trend in football in which there is a direct correlation between professionalism and the prospect of moving to a more coveted club – regardless of whether the attraction is financial, footballing or a combination of the two.
Dimitri Payet simply refused to train when Marseille came calling in 2016, Alexis Sanchez went off the boil when Manchester beckoned, Philippe Countinho was sidelined with a back injury in the summer of 2017 amid interest from Barcelona before making a mysterious return when the window closed, and Ousmane Dembele was suspended by Borussia Dortmund when he skipped training after learning of Barcelona’s interest in his services.
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However, there is an anomaly to the rule: Idrissa Gueye. Everton’s midfield anchor has been one of the most outstanding performers in the past two seasons, and he attracted interest from Paris Saint-Germain in January. The Senegal international, like Arnautovic, submitted a transfer request to complete the transfer his heart desired, but his efforts were made in vain.
Yet, since news of PSG’s interest first began to emerge, he has conducted himself with a level of professionalism which puts the likes of Arnautovic and Dembele to shame. Gueye has continued to thrive at the base of Marco Silva’s midfield unit, breaking up play and playing percentage passes to keep Everton ticking over.
There has been no public fiasco, unexplained absence from training, dramatic dip in form or shift in body language. It’s been business as usual for Gueye. After the transfer market slammed shut at the end of January, Silva described the 29-year-0ld as a “good professional and a fantastic boy”, and the weight of substance behind that claim has been evident in the standard of his performances in the last five games.
The humble defensive midfielder often goes under the radar. Fundamentally speaking, the role is designed for a no-thrills, incredibly-reliable and steady footballer. It’s a selfless job which requires the player to sacrifice personal glory and recognition for the overall benefit of the team.
Those prerequisites for the role translate into a level of professionalism which Gueye has maintained amidst the lure of playing for one of Europe’s top clubs and living in one of the continent’s most desirable cities.
Losing Aaron Wan-Bissaka only seems like a matter of time now for Crystal Palace.
Indeed, the Eagles haven’t been able to reward him for his hard-work, often frustrating with poor displays which have undermined his rise for them and the vultures are reportedly circling following his emergence in Croydon.
While the Palace academy graduate isn’t currently seeming to be pushing hard for a move, his work is certainly attracting attention. The possibility of moving to a European heavyweight will surely be too good for the 21-year-old to turn down, with the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund previously said to be eyeing him.
Even the Eagles would be wrong to stop him from reaching the top of the game but, clearly, the club should do what’s profitable for them whilst selling him.
According to reports from the Sun, Tottenham Hotspur are picking up the pace on their hunt for Wan-Bissaka. He could fit into Mauricio Pochettino’s system perfectly with his defensive solidity and attacking prowess, but Palace should get the best out of any potential deal with Spurs. Indeed, with the North-London outfit allegedly ready to sell Kieran Trippier, the Eagles should swoop in the opportunity.
The Spurs right-back earns £65k-a-week, according to Spotrac, which shouldn’t make much of a difference.
A slight fee along with Trippier for Wan-Bissaka can be a win-win scenario for both clubs. Palace, in particular, won’t be left empty-handed in defence and the England international will give them recognition and be a huge boost towards sparking up their squad. Despite his defensive hiccups, Trippier is still top-quality and an asset going forward especially.
He can make Andros Townsend’s life easier, allowing him to drift more in the middle, where he’s comfortable. Trippier’s attacking vigour, set-piece and crossing ability makes him an asset for Palace, who could be a more refined unit with his presence next season.
Losing Wan-Bissaka would certainly be a blow but ensuring they get Trippier in return would be a masterstroke from Crystal Palace.
Palace fans, would you be pleased with a potential swap with Spurs? Join the discussion by commenting below.
West Ham United fans will be proud of what their side have achieved after a hugely disappointing start to the Premier League campaign, as they’re now in a much better place. But, today’s defeat at the hands of Everton will have definitely dampened the mood slightly.
Manuel Pellegrini has now identified how to get the very best out of his players but consistency has been the one thing letting them down, as they often follow up a positive result with a negative one in the Premier League.
Indeed, another thing that hasn’t helped their cause at times has been at the pinnacle of the attack as the likes of Andy Carroll, Javier Hernandez, Michail Antonio and Lucas Perez have struggled to produce for large parts.
Although, it looks as if the Hammers already have their eyes on a possible new No.9, as according to the Northern Echo, West Ham United are set to step in if Newcastle don’t sign Salomon Rondon this summer.
It’s safe to say that the South American has been hugely impressive in the current campaign, producing 10 goals in all competitions for Newcastle after joining on loan from West Bromwich Albion back in the summer.
The Venezuela international, who is valued at £13.5 million (by Transfermarkt), would be the perfect fit for the Hammers as they typically operate with one striker at the pinnacle of the attack. His strength and aerial ability makes him the perfect target man and he’s shown that he can also create this season, with an impressive five assists to his name.
Interestingly, the Newcastle man revealed that he loves being called his nickname, “The Beast”, according to The Mirror, and it’s safe to say that he’s lived up to his nickname in the current campaign.
David Gold and David Sullivan will feel confident that spending money on Rondon will result in goals as he’s proven himself in the Premier League this season, and he was able to ensure a consistent flow at the Hawthorns.
West Ham United fans, do you think that Rondon is capable of solving your current attacking issues? Join the discussion by commenting down below!
Keiren Westwood has been a key figure for Sheffield Wednesday since Steve Bruce took over, playing a huge part in the club’s current 12 game unbeaten run.
The ‘keeper kept another clean sheet last weekend and since then it has been revealed he has the best save percentage and clean sheet percentage of anyone in the division.
As a result, Wednesday fans berated their former manager Jos Luhukay for not playing him, with one individual claiming the team would have been better off in the table had he started more.
One supporter even claimed it was the craziest thing their ex-manager decided to do.
The 34-year-old has started 16 times this term with the club sitting 11th in the table. He was also out of favour for a part of last season, playing only 18 times.
Here’s what fans of the Owls have been saying on Twitter..
In other news, the Everton fans absolutely love French defender Lucas Digne.
Digne joined Everton from Barcelona in last summer’s transfer window and he has been in very good form for the Toffees in recent months.
According to WhoScored, the 25-year-old won four aerial duels and made four tackles during his team’s 1-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
It was not the first time that Digne had put in a strong performance for his side this season and it will certainly not be the last.
When the 23-time France international took to social media after Sunday’s match, his post was always likely to bring a host of positive responses from the Everton fans.
And that indeed proved to be the case, with a number showing their admiration for the Frenchman, who is seemingly enjoying his time at Goodison Park.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below: