West Ham fans all agree they don’t want Jay Rodriguez, after the West Brom striker was linked with a move to East London.
With Manuel Pellegrini likely to play two up front at the London Stadium next season, the Hammers will probably be linked with every striker under the sun this summer, but fans don’t like the latest links.
According to Sky Sports, West Ham are one of four Premier League sides interested in Rodriguez, alongside Burnley, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
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The Englishman scored seven times in 37 Premier League appearances last season, and is likely to be one of a number of players to leave the Hawthorns this summer.
The 28 year-old, who earned an England cap after his brilliant form for Southampton back in 2013, probably would have gone to the 2014 World Cup if not for a knee injury.
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West Ham fans want to see more ambition from their club though, and they all agree Rodriguez is not what they’re looking for.
You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…
According to the Daily Mail, Tottenham Hotspur have been told that they will have to come up with £60m in order to sign Bayer Leverkusen attacker Leon Bailey this summer.
Bailey, 20, joined Leverkusen from Genk in January 2017, and the attacker has gone from strength to strength during his time in the Bundesliga.
Indeed, the Jamaican ended the 2017-18 campaign with 12 goals and six assists in 34 appearances in all competitions.
Manchester United have been credited with an interest in Bailey, whilst the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Real Madrid are also believed to be admirers.
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Tottenham were said to be keen to secure a deal this summer, but it appears that they will have to bid £60m in order to convince Leverkusen to part with the wonderfully-gifted forward.
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The Tottenham fans have been reacting to the transfer speculation, and it would be fair to say that a number are desperate for their club to complete the deal this summer.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
West Bromwich Albion are keeping tabs on Derby County forward Matej Vydra ahead of a possible move, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.
What’s the word?
Darren Moore is attempting to shape a team that can challenge for promotion following last season’s relegation from the Premier League.
The Baggies are in danger of losing a handful of players asa result of dropping into the second tier, but there is plenty of Championship talent up for grabs.
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One man who could be available is Vydra, who has been at Derby since 2016, but there could be a scramble for his signature given the forward’s exploits in front of goal.
The 26-year-old, who has earned 20 international caps for the Czech Republic, scored an impressive 22 goals in all competitions last season.
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, the Baggies are looking to rival Leeds United for Vydra and they have the upper hand due to the fact that they can offer better wages.
Is this a good idea from West Brom?
There is no doubt that Vydra was a key figure in the Championship during the 2017-16 campaign, but the Baggies do not have the best memories of the forward.
The Czech joined the club for the 2013-14 season, but could only muster three goals in 25 outings for the club.
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Having said that, though, Vydra started just seven league matches, and if he was to rejoin he would be used more often.
Given the importance of this season for West Brom, it is imperative that they make the right choices in the transfer market, and the Derby forward falls into the ‘risk’ column.
Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard appear to be friends as well as teammates, having emerged through the Manchester United youth setup at the same time.
The pair both annoy the more old-school football fan to a similar degree due to their confident personas, on-pitch dancing and large social media presence with the strength of feeling exacerbated by their wages being paid by a currently underperforming club.
However, their footballing journeys to this point have been markedly different. Pogba, along with Ravel Morrison, was identified early on at United as a player with all the natural talent to make it to the top.
The Frenchman developed earlier and was more impatient, moving to Juventus aged just 19 in 2012, having demanded greater first-team opportunities.
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He was justified in deciding to leave having watched Park ji-Sung and Rafael toil in central midfield in a 3-2 home defeat to Blackburn and his career went from strength to strength in Serie A with Juventus.
Yet, in the four years was Pogba away was winning four Serie As and making the 2015 Champions League final, Lingard was toiling away at United, forced to remain hungry and patient, trusting that he would come good and step off the carousel of loans – Leicester, Birmingham, Brighton and Derby – to become a regular for club and country.
It took until 2015/16, the year before Pogba returned to United as the most expensive player in the world, for Lingard to break into the team at Old Trafford under Louis van Gaal, adding pace and vigour to a pedestrian team and scoring the winner in the FA Cup final.
Soccer Football – World Cup – Group G – England vs Panama – Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia – June 24, 2018 England’s Jesse Lingard scores their third goal REUTERS/Matthew Childs
Now valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, when England manager Gareth Southgate decides which key players should be rested for his side’s final Group G game against Belgium, Lingard should be viewed just as important as anyone, bar Harry Kane.
By contrast, Pogba has come into his second World Cup on the back of yet another season of constant debate over his best position and his worth to Jose Mourinho’s United side and underperformed for a disappointing France side.
A recent poll saw 73% of Les Bleus fans call for Pogba to be dropped. He has become a genuine global superstar, under intense scrutiny but he is failing to embrace that pressure on the pitch.
Lingard takes the joy he shows off the pitch onto the field as well and looks to be enjoying this World Cup as much as anyone, which could lead to further rewards upon his return to club football at United.
Pogba’s favoured position is on the left of a three-man midfield, and that is the exact role that Lingard switched to and shone in as England swept aside Panama 6-1, scoring the pick of the bunch with a curling first-half strike.
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It helps Lingard that England’s 3-1-4-2 is more flowing than United’s 4-3-3, but his mini-reinvention poses an interesting tactical dilemma for Mourinho.
Lingard is playing in Pogba’s favourite position and playing better than him in it. The Englishman could not be putting forward a stronger claim to take his good friend’s starting spot at Old Trafford.
Mourinho reportedly wants warriors, who have the personality to fight for everything, and judging Lingard and Pogba on that metric, there is only going to be one winner.
According to a report from Sport1, Tottenham attacker Son Heung-min could be on his way out of the Premier League club this summer. The South Korea international enjoyed a fine season in North London last term, and were Spurs to indeed sanction his departure this summer, they can wave goodbye to a possible title challenge this time round.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, the 25-year-old has become an increasingly important member of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad in the last few years, not least last season in netting an impressive 18 goals and laying on 11 assists in 53 appearances for Tottenham.
Only Harry Kane (41) scored more goals for the North Londoners last time round to further underline the importance of Son to this Spurs squad, while his tally of 11 assists was only bettered by Dele Alli (13) and Christian Eriksen (17).
Thus, it’s evident that, while the likes of Kane, Alli, and Eriksen often get the plaudits, Son is equally as important to Pochettino’s side and as such will play a key part in inspiring the side to a Premier League title challenge next term.
Significantly, take Son out of the Tottenham side, and the replacements simply haven’t shown the level of form he has in recent times, with neither Erik Lamela nor Lucas Moura doing enough down the flanks, while Fernando Llorente certainly hasn’t proven his worth to be Kane’s deputy up top.
And losing Son, who can play in a more advanced central role, would further pile the pressure on Kane to get the goals for Pochettino’s side, at the same time taking a key cog of the attacking ranks out of the side.
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Arguably, the 25-year-old is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League at present such is the focus on messrs Kane, Alli, and Eriksen at Tottenham, but Son is just as important, and as such his departure would significantly weaken them heading into the 2018/19 season.
Ultimately, if Tottenham are serious about bridging the 23-point gap to champions Manchester City this term, and thus challenging for the title, not only do they need to make additions, but they absolutely have to retain their most prized assets – Son is in that category.
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Thus, the North Londoners can wave goodbye to a possible title assault if they do indeed sanction the £45 million-rated (as per Transfermarkt) star’s departure this summer.
Leonardo Bonucci is an experienced winner having won seven league titles in his career, and now he is being linked with a move to the Premier League.
According to Calciomercato, Manchester City are one of a handful of clubs that are interested in recruiting the veteran defender.
Pep Guardiola already has a strong team at his disposal, and not a huge amount needs to be changed following last season’s title triumph.
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However, it seems that the recent two-year European ban implemented on Milan by UEFA has led City to consider a swoop for Bonucci as he is now believed to be considering his future.
Calciomercato reports that along with City, the club’s arch rivals Manchester United, as well as Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are tracking the defender.
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Guardiola are not in desperate need of a new centre-back, but there are concerns over injury prone Vincent Kompany.
Judging by the reaction on Twitter, though, City fans would rather the club did not make a move for the 31-year-old.
The South Africans will have to remind themselves what game they are playing on Wednesday. White clothes, red balls and attacking fields … that would be Test cricket, then
Andrew McGlashan at Centurion15-Dec-2009The South Africans will have to remind themselves what game they are playing on Wednesday. White clothes, red balls and attacking fields … that would be Test cricket, then. It is nine months since they beat Australia, at Cape Town, in their most recent five-day contest. Since then they have lived on a diet of one-day and Twenty20 action.Five of South Africa’s squad, including the captain Graeme Smith, haven’t even played first-class cricket since March, and the team as a whole prepared with a training camp in Potchefstroom rather than turning out for their franchises in a round of Supersport four-day matches. Despite the concerns about coming into the series short of meaningful practice, the coach Mickey Arthur felt the greater importance was to get his Test squad back together after such a long time apart, and for his part, Smith doesn’t believe the team will be caught cold.”I wouldn’t say under-cooked is the right word,” he said. “We’ve played enough cricket, had enough training and enough match time. It is more the long haul of a Test match, being able to handle pressure for long periods and sustain performances for long periods. I know it’s been a lengthy period since our last Test match, but our squad is a very mature one. It’s had a lot of success, and each guy knows what he needs to do to be successful. We’ve prepared really well – and it’s been a good, calm focus with intensity around our training sessions.”It’s always difficult to say where you are if you haven’t played a Test match for a long time. But I think we’re ready for tomorrow. It’s up to us to come out and make that first day count.”A situation that Smith will definitely have to confront is not having his usual five-man bowling attack. Although Jacques Kallis has been passed fit for batting duties after his fractured rib, he won’t be available with the ball which puts an added burden on the frontline bowlers, including Dale Steyn who has had recent hamstring trouble.”It’s obviously a luxury to have the five bowlers available,” said Smith. “I hope the four picked can do the job well and take the pressure off me. We have some quality bowlers who can produce the results, but we’re not going to have the luxury of Jacques [with the ball] so the responsibility shifts to all other places. Players know they’re going to have to take on a little bit more.”One bowler Smith knows will run in all day for him whatever the conditions is Makhaya Ntini, who will be celebrating his 100th cap. “It’s been a pleasure to be a part of his career and see the success he’s had – where he’s come from to where he is today,” Smith said. “He’s had his ups and downs but has always met them with 100% commitment. He’s a vibrant personality, even to the point sometimes where we have to put a muzzle on him. We wish him all the success in the next game and a lot more to come. He’s going to play a prominent role in the future, not only in this team but in South Africa.”Being greeted by a green pitch on the eve of the game may have given Smith cause to considering bolstering the pace attack in Kallis’s absence, but he said there was “a 99% chance” they would play the left-arm spinner Paul Harris. “That’s the way we’ve played our Test cricket over the last period of time, and I think we’ll stick to it,” he added. “The weather’s going to be a lot better tomorrow, and there’s still a lot of work to be done on the wicket this afternoon. I think it will change quite a bit, so we’ll assess it in the morning.”Smith is a far more mature captain than the one England first faced in 2003 when his attitude didn’t endear him to many of his opponents. Back in his younger days he would go down the route of making strong and provocative statements, but the older, wiser version instead opts for more subtle views about his rivals.”They’ve got a few challenges like the loss of an allrounder,” he said referring to Andrew Flintoff’s absence, and he has also suggested that England’s attack doesn’t look overly threatening with Steve Harmison left back home in Ashington.”And it wouldn’t be the build-up to a South Africa-England contest without mention of Kevin Pietersen. “We’d like to make it a major test for him,” Smith said. “That is our challenge as a team. We want to put all England batters under pressure, and he’s a key figure in that line-up. We’ve worked on a few interesting gameplans to him. Since his injury, he’s searching for a bit of confidence – and we hope we can keep him under that pressure he’s had on the tour so far.”
USACA has organised a training camp for December 18-21 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in which two coaches will be arriving from New Zealand to assist USA’s coaches
Peter Della Penna17-Dec-2009In the first positive gains from USA Cricket Association’s (USACA) partnership with New Zealand Cricket (NZC), USACA has organised a training camp for December 18-21 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in which two coaches will be arriving from New Zealand to assist USA’s coaches and help them with enhanced training methods.”Dipak Patel, the former New Zealand offspinner, who has coached our Under-19 team as well as some of the New Zealand first class guys will be going along with Hamish Barton who played first-class cricket in New Zealand, and who is the head of the New Zealand cricket coach education team and our coach education programme,” said Justin Vaughan, the NZC chief executive.”Hamish was previously not only a first-class cricketer but also spent some time in South America, was the national coach of Argentina, and has a good knowledge of a number of the United States players.”Barton, 33, played 17 first-class matches for Auckland and Canterbury before going on to be player-coach for Argentina. He also played against USA at the 2008 ICC Americas Division One tournament.”As well as his coaching expertise, he can bring a background of what you do in cricket and what an overall coach education programme looks like,” said Vaughan. “So we are not just talking about a situation where Hamish works with the Under-19s or with the national team, but instead he can start to add value to the overall structures of US cricket, in terms of their coach education programmes and trying to give some advice or sharing the knowledge that we have in terms of training our coaches. We can do that for the United States as well and that’s obviously one of the benefits that USACA can gain out of a partnership with a full member of the ICC.”Barton and Patel will be making their way to the US to help the Under-19 squad prepare for January’s Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand and helping the men prepare for their first assignment in February, the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE.The 15-man Under-19 squad along with five reserves will take part in the camp alongside 23 senior players who are in contention for a 14-man squad that will be picked in January to travel to the UAE and then on to Nepal for the WCL Division Five tournament. The Under-19 squad will also have some assistance from NZC when they arrive before the World Cup. Teams must be in Christchurch by January 9, but USACA is looking to send the team a week early so they can get acclimatised and receive additional training.”I believe they’re arriving on the second or third of January,” said Vaughan. “They’ll have an additional week and will train at the New Zealand Cricket High Performance Centre. I imagine Dipak and Hamish will be working with the team during that preparation phase. They will have already established relationships in the camp that will be held later this week, but they will be working with them in January as well. We’ll get them competitive games, whether they’re against New Zealand teams or against our Under-19 side who are in New Zealand preparing prior to the World Cup, so that they’re as well prepared as they can be.”The High Performance Centre, located at Lincoln University in Christchurch, will offer the USA Under-19 team the chance to utilise facilities that are virtually unavailable in America.”It won’t be an easy tournament for the United States,” said Vaughan. “We’re obviously getting involved now. It’s certainly late in the picture but this is a start of what we feel is a long term partnership so we’ll be doing what we can to optimise USA’s chances of a good performance in the tournament.”
Auckland slipped to their second consecutive defeat, against Canterbury at Colin Maiden Park, despite a quickfire half-century from Ravi Bopara
Cricinfo staff04-Jan-2010 Scorecard Rob Nicol grabbed two wickets and scored a half-century•Getty Images
Auckland slipped to their second consecutive defeat, against Canterbury at Colin Maiden Park, despite a quickfire half-century from Ravi Bopara. The Canterbury bowlers bowled economically, grabbing the first five wickets for 76 as the Auckland batsmen struggled to consolidate on starts. However, Bopara rescued them, adding 64 with Anaru Kitchen, and struck three fours and two sixes on his way to an unbeaten 55 to lift the team to 144. Rob Nicol was the pick of the Canterbury bowlers, taking 2 for 19 in four oversThe effort, though, proved inadequate, as opener Nicol starred with the bat, too, anchoring the Canterbury innings with a 35-ball 52, and Johann Myburgh held his nerve to score a run-a-ball 37 to guide his team to a five-wicket win with just one ball to spare. Canterbury lost their fifth wicket off the first ball of the final over but the pair of Myburgh and Kruger van Wyk, who struck a six in his three-ball nine, sealed Auckland’s fate.
There was little joy for Bangladesh as they suffered major humiliation at the hands of New Zealand in the series opener at Seddon Park
Andrew Fernando03-Feb-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outBrendon McCullum’s aggression ensured an early finish as New Zealand completed the second-shortest successful chase in Twenty20 history•Getty Images
An abysmal all-round display from Bangladesh meant that New Zealand romped to a ten-wicket victory in just 8.2 overs in the tour opening Twenty20 match at Seddon Park. A mediocre bowling performance was not helped by an error-ridden fielding effort by the tourists, who dropped straightforward chances from each of the New Zealand openers. The match was, however, already lost by the visiting batsmen, who crashed to an embarrassing 78 after putting themselves in on what seemed to be a good batting surface.Daniel Vettori and spin partner Nathan McCullum completely foxed the Bangladesh middle order, snaring 5 wickets for 21 runs between them. Man of the match Vettori picked 3 for 6 and was close to unplayable, utilising the bounce and turn of the Hamilton wicket to brilliant effect.Daryl Tuffey ended with two wickets thanks to a tight line and length both in his opening spell and against the tail. Jacob Oram and James Franklin shared three wickets between them in the middle overs.Tamim Iqbal started off well, smashing Tim Southee over midwicket and straight down the ground in the second over, but was caught down the leg side, off a short ball that grazed his gloves, for 14. Aftab Ahmed, in his first Bangladesh appearance since April 2008, attempted to continue the momentum with a series of wild slogs to the leg side but managed to connect only once, lifting James Franklin over fine leg for six before being outdone by a yorker two balls later.The New Zealand spinners then came into play, making an instant impact on the match. Vettori had Mohammad Ashraful caught at deep point, attempting a lofted cover drive, before trapping Mushfiqur Rahim in front two balls later. Nathan McCullum had Shakib Al Hasan playing on to a straighter one, leaving Bangladesh in tatters at 42 for 5 in the eighth over. Both spinners were tough to get away and applied telling pressure, even as Bangladesh wickets continued to fall at an alarming rate. Mahmudullah fell to McCullum in his final over before Vettori had Shahadat Hossain stumped, playing down the wrong line.The tail provided some short-lived resistance, with Raqibul Hasan slogging his way to 18 from 13 deliveries, the top score for Bangladesh, but the home side’s pacemen were on hand to smartly polish off the tail with two overs to spare.New Zealand’s openers, Brendon McCullum and debutant Peter Ingram, started slowly, but accelerated once McCullum hit his straps, hammering 56 from 27 deliveries in an effortless innings that included two audacious scoops over the keeper’s head. Sloppy fielding and lacklustre bowling played their part in the touring side’s early demise, with the bowlers serving up several rank long-hops and the fielders conceding too many avoidable runs to create any semblance of pressure on the batsmen.Bangladesh will hope to recover from this humiliating defeat in time for the first ODI in Napier on Friday. However, the tour opener does provide an ominous sign for what is likely to be a lop-sided series unless the tourists raise their game drastically.