All posts by n8rngtd.top

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Sheffield United suffered a bitterly disappointing blow to their automatic promotion hopes last weekend by losing to Bristol City 3-2.

However, one positive that Chris Wilder could take from the game was the performance of Scott Hogan who scored his first Blades goal after replacing Kieran Dowell in the second half.

Since his strike, the club’s official Twitter account has posted a series of tweets which fans of the Yorkshire club have been responding to, hailing the striker for his impact.

One individual claimed that the 5 foot 11 attacker could make a key difference during the final few months of the season whilst another labelled him lively.

Other supporters meanwhile hoped there was more to come from the forward.

Hogan joined the Blades on loan in January from Aston Villa after making just six substitute appearances for the Villans in an injury-hit season.

Time on the treatment table has dominated his spell at Villa Park, finding the back of the net on only seven occasions since moving from Brentford in the 2016/17 season.

The 26-year-old will be hoping that he can now revive his career under Wilder.

Here’s what Blades fans have been saying about him.

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Chelsea welcome West Ham United to Stamford Bridge on Monday evening for a fixture which could have huge significance in the race for the top-four.

The Hammers have established themselves as something of a nemesis for the Premier League’s top six, and the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United will be hoping they can take points off the Blues for the second time this season.

Both managers are edging towards the end of their maiden campaigns for their respective clubs with plenty still to prove, particularly Maurizio Sarri, so it will be intriguing to see how two experienced tacticians fare against one another.

Ahead of the fixture, we’re taking a look at the key factors which could shape the outcome of the game, with Declan Rice, Sarri’s philosophy, a detached Hammer, and some bright young England internationals all up for discussion.

The Key Battle – Eden Hazard vs Declan Rice

Chelsea and West Ham played out a 0-0 draw at the London Stadium earlier in the season in a fixture which saw Sarri’s 100% start to the Premier League season come to an end.

The Blues had scored 14 goals from their opening five games prior to the all-London affair, but they found Declan Rice and a robust defensive unit standing in their way.

Eden Hazard conspired to unpick the lock but nothing would budge. Rice stuck to him like a leach and refused to allow the Belgium international time to settle in possession, a trend which hints where the game could be won and lost at Stamford Bridge.

The recently capped England international will need to be at his dominant best to stifle Hazard’s imperious playmaking ability, but history suggests he can conquer the challenge lying ahead.

The Key Dynamic – West Ham’s big game mentality

Just like Spurs will inevitably Spurs it up, West Ham will inevitably do a West Ham. The routine games are often thrown away or at best a meek performance is saved by a late salvo – take their recent win over Huddersfield, for example.

Against high-calibre opponents, though, they seem to discover their mojo.

The Irons beat both Manchester United and Arsenal at home earlier this season and have also recorded draws against Chelsea and Liverpool.

Their record on the road, however, leaves plenty to be desired. Just four wins have arrived from 15 fixtures away from home, and they still have the Blues, Manchester United and Spurs all still to play.

Can they emulate the standard of their home form against the top-six clubs in an away fixture before the end of the season?

The Deciding Factor – Sarri’s flexibility

Sarri’s stubborn approach has halted Chelsea’s progress this season. The Italian has seldom altered his system to meet the demands of a particular fixture, and his selection policy has been utterly predictable.

However, his decision to start both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi against Brighton on Wednesday evening hinted that something is afoot.

Sarri out? Chelsea fans make their feelings very clear at Cardiff in the video below…

Both of the exciting unproven prospects had telling involvements in the game: Hudson-Odoi provided an excellent low cross for Olivier Giroud’s deft opener and Loftus-Cheek completed the scoring with a sumptuous curled effort from outside the box.

His decision to mix up his starting XI paid dividends, but will both players keep their places after impressing in midweek or will Sarri’s divergence from his rigid selection policy remain an anomalous result?

The Impact Subs – Willian vs Marko Arnautovic

On the premise that Hudson-Odoi will keep his place in the side, Willian’s engine could make a decisive impact from the bench. His final ball is often found wanting but there is a touch of magic in his locker which could clinch a huge result for Chelsea when they need it most.

Marko Arnautovic, meanwhile, has endured a torrid time since his January transfer saga. An ineffectual display against Everton and a minor injury problem could force Pellegrini to drop him from the starting XI, but don’t bet against him injecting a touch of match-winning firepower from the substitutes bench.

Everton haven’t been at their best throughout the current campaign but they’re slowly starting to build up ahead of steam, having taken nine points from their last three Premier League fixtures. 

The Toffees’ rise in form has been great for supporters to watch but it won’t mean anything if they fail to secure a European spot from here on in until the end of the season.

Of course, one player who could play a huge part in the Toffees’ European push is Richarlison. He’s valued at £71 million, according to CIES (via Daily Mail), which is a crazy amount of money when you consider the fact he was signed for £50 million (as per BBC) back in the summer transfer window.

Indeed, the Brazilian has been impressive this season but he’s not done enough to suggest he could attract a fee of £71 million and his value on Transfermarkt is only £40.5 million.

His 13 goals in all competitions have certainly helped Everton but some fans may have been expecting a better return from a player who broke their club’s transfer record. He’s looked dangerous at times but he’s also gone missing on a number of occasions against some of the bigger sides, which hasn’t helped the Toffees.

Of course, he still has plenty of potential at the age of 21 but Farhad Moshiri must think about possibly selling him if he can attract a fee of £71 million, as a £21 million profit would be great for the Toffees and it would allow them to go out and sign someone like David Neres who’s thriving right now.

With lots of areas requiring improvement in the summer transfer window, perhaps selling Richarlison would provide the club with enough money to go out and bring in the right players who can help them challenge the top six teams.

Everton fans, do you think you should sell Richarlison if he can attract £71 million? Join the discussion by commenting down below! 

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Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League in stunning fashion on Sunday, and former manager Ian Holloway has heaped praise on Jurgen Klopp.

Liverpool romped past Chelsea despite a couple of nervous moments on Sunday, reclaiming their position two points above Manchester City at the top of the division, though the champions of course have a game in hand.

The Reds were average at best in the first half against the Blues, but whatever Klopp said to his players at half time worked and then some, as they came out after the break fired up to hyper-speed and shot out to a two-goal lead.

What did he say?

Holloway is stunned by the club’s resurgence under the German, and the ex-Crystal Palace boss and now TalkSPORT pundit had this to say: “I think their manager is bordering on genius.”

Who has the loudest fans in Europe? PSG certainly state their claim in the video below…

“When he said ‘look this team has been together one year, we’ve got to forget the other 29 that we haven’t done it for’, and he’s enjoying it and the pressure seems to have gone.”

You can watch the full clip here.

Doubters to believers

While there has been plenty of talk about Klopp’s tactical expertise, brilliant eye in the transfer market and lovable relationship with his players, Holloway has hit on one of the more underrated aspects of the ex-Dortmund hero’s management – controlling expectations.

During the 1-1 draw against Leicester at Anfield, one could almost feel the nerves and doubts spreading around Anfield, and it really did seem like the entire cause was teetering on the edge of turning back from believers into doubters, so much so that one wrong word or decision from the boss may have tipped it over the edge.

Klopp has righted the ship though, and his ability to manage expectations, both of the fans and the players, has played a huge part in creating this never-say-die attitude that his squad and crowd now shows in the stadium week in week out.

If not for Klopp’s intelligence in making a joke out of “the slip”, keeping his players’ eyes firmly on the prize and getting the fans to truly believe, this title push may well have collapsed not long after those draws against Leicester and West Ham.

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For now, the managerial saga at West Brom has been put on hold. Ever since Darren Moore was sacked there’s been an alarming lack of response from the Baggies board.

Surely, with the season reaching its climax, you would have had a plan B in mind. Apparently not. Because if you’re on the board at the Hawthorns, things are never simple.

But simple is what they now must do. The appointment this week of James Shan until the end of the season is essentially a knee jerk reaction to Alex Neil signing a new deal with Preston but they must stick with him long term.

For all the world, it looked like the Scot was going to take the reins at West Brom last week. However, after his side suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Albion at the weekend, perhaps his mind was changed.

Neil has experience of taking Norwich from the Championship to the Premier League before and it’s likely he would have been perfectly placed to possibly do the same with West Brom.

But with Shan, a sense of stability can be found. Their decision to hire Moore in the final weeks of the 2017/18 Premier League season eventually ended in disarray but they’ve already proven that inexperience doesn’t count for much.

Long term future needs to be considered

For once, West Brom need to look at the future. The club are obviously targeting a return to the Premier League as soon as possible and that’s completely fair enough. But let’s forget about that and the money that comes with it for a second.

It’s hard to tell what’ll happen down the line, that’s the nature of football. Things could end disastrously with Shan but there is at least a sense that there could be some stability.

A change of thinking is necessary. After all, West Brom have been a yoyo club for a considerable period of time.

They’ve also gone through their fair share of managers and the fact only three bosses have led the club in over 100 matches since 1997 tells you all you need to know in that regard. In total, West Brom’s managers average 107 games per spell.

Investing time in Shan can help right those issues. Pepe Mel is a fine example of where things went drastically wrong.

And although targeted managers Slavisa Jokanovic and David Wagner have fared well in the Championship, their records in the Premier League speak for themselves.

Shan is inexperienced and will need the help of additional coaches, which he’s now got in Steven Reid, but there’s no better time to learn than in the heat of a promotion battle.

Youth will stick around

Another wrong West Brom must make right is a failure to stick by their flourishing youth academy. Players such as Kemar Roofe, Tyler Roberts and Izzy Brown are ones that got away but by keeping Shan in charge, there could be an easier pathway into the first team for their upcoming stars.

Having managed the Baggies’ U23s he knows the players at that level all too well and that’s symbolic of the game time he’s given to Kyle Edwards and Rekeem Harper since he took caretaker charge.

Was Darren Moore’s sacking unfair? The Pl>ymaker FC squad name which Championship bosses should have gone instead in the video below…

Harper is out of contract at the end of the season but might he sign a new deal if there are assurances that Shan sticks around? Quite possibly.

The topic of young West Brom players leaving the club has been a concern for some time too, with a thread from Twitter in January detailing some of their frustrations.

Shan’s record of developing young players at the club is notorious and with him at the helm, Premier League or not, they’d be assured of longer-term stability.

Football is a cut throat business, managers seem to come and go on a regular basis but West Brom simply have to ignore that and trust in one of their own.

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It looks as though Aston Villa could be set for another transfer saga regarding their star man Jack Grealish this summer after The Daily Mail revealed that Crystal Palace were lining him up as a possible Wilfried Zaha replacement.

Last year, Grealish was the subject of interest from Tottenham who bid £25m for the player. However, the Villans responded by standing firm and refusing to budge on the fact he was not for sale at any price.

Spurs still maintain a watchful eye over the midfielder, though, who was once again at the centre of interest from the Lilywhites last month when The Mirror said they were looking to revive their interest.

Grealish has played a huge part in Villa’s success this season and has helped guide Dean Smith’s side into the play-offs.

With all of this in mind, is the 23-year-old someone they can afford to lose? Football FanCast’s writers have their say.

Jack Saville:

“It all comes down to Villa’s promotion bid. The financial bonus of winning promotion to the Premier League and a hefty fee for Grealish should give Dean Smith a decent kitty to build a squad capable of holding its own in the top-flight. But if Villa fail to clinch promotion and also lose Grealish they will be in huge trouble, and it’s difficult to see him staying under those circumstances. Either way, it would be a massive, massive blow for Villa to lose their talisman.”

Luke Glanville:

“In my opinion, Aston Villa are doomed either way if they can’t keep hold of Jack Grealish. If they are promoted and are unable to hold onto a homegrown player who’s now captaining the side, a star they’ve kept their faith in allowing him to mature and become the man he is today – there are serious problems at that football club. Not getting promoted would undoubtedly mean his exit, I’m still not sure how it didn’t last summer to be honest. That would be two monumental blows in quick succession that may take the club a very long time to recover from.”

Harry Sherlock:

“Grealish is a Premier League player in waiting. It remains to be seen, of course, if he will be doing that with Villa or not. As it stands, he is the man driving their promotion charge and we all saw how terrible the club’s form was with him on the treatment table. If he leaves after promotion, fans would be right to be disappointed – he has often professed his love for the club – and they would surely struggle to stay up. If they’re in the Championship next season, mid-table beckons.”

Matt Dawson:

“Losing Jack Grealish would be absolutely huge for Villa. They’ve invested so much time in him and he’s now really starting to come into his own. If the club go up surely they’ll have enough to hold onto him. However, the cash brought in from any potential sale could also go a long way. If they did decide to sell then it might pave the way for permanent deals for Tammy Abraham and Tyrone Mings should the club decide they want to try and keep them.”

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The Mirror reported last weekend that Arsenal are considering offering striker Danny Welbeck a new contract.

The former Manchester United star has been plagued by injury problems at the Emirates Stadium and has not played for the club in the Premier League since November.

Nevertheless, the report claims that the Gunners have been impressed with his rehabilitation and are considering handing him a new contract as Premier League clubs continue to circle.

West Ham United, Newcastle United and Everton are all touted as potential suitors.

But should Arsenal be giving a new contract to a player who has scored 32 goals in 126 games for the club? Football FanCast writers give their verdicts…

Luke Glanville

“For me, Arsenal shouldn’t even consider offering Danny Welbeck a new deal. Yes, on his day we all know the talent he has, but injuries have plagued his career and they’re not suddenly going to stop at the age of 28. A new deal for the Englishman would be a huge waste of money for Unai Emery’s Gunners and one they should steer well clear of. The north Londoners already have the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette in their ranks; thinking that Welbeck is needed would be brainless. If they do require a back-up forward, someone they can rely on should be chosen. In the nicest possible way, Welbeck’s time at the Emirates should be up.”

Billy Meyers

“Absolutely not. Arsenal already need to perform a daunting overhaul on a side simply not good enough to compete with England’s elite clubs and offering Danny Welbeck a new deal would be a huge risk. In truth, Unai Emery would be shooting himself in the foot with that call. The Englishman has also missed a large chunk of this season with a serious ankle injury, so it would perhaps be better to wait until Welbeck proves his fitness before offering him a new deal.”

Matt Dawson

“Arsenal need to sort out their wage structure but a new contract for Danny Welbeck must be at the height of their priorities. His early season form was fantastic and, given the lack of wide options at the club, he can still be a big asset to the Gunners. Their performances of late have lacked any directness and that’s exactly what Welbeck can bring. Yes, his end product is questionable but he’s the perfect squad player and simply has to be kept.”

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Leeds United fans on Twitter aren’t fazed after Phil Hay provided an update on their long term target Daniel James.

The Yorkshire Evening Post writer tweeted that James’ destination next season may well be Old Trafford despite Leeds’ intention of going back in for the winger if they were promoted.

The Whites almost signed the Swansea man back in January only for the deal to collapse in the last hours of the window.

This news stings even more as the Welshman is now set to join the Yorkshire club’s bitter rivals, Manchester United.

One members of the fanbase in particular was gutted at the update, but many others managed to see the positive side.

Certain supporters were quick to praise Victor Orta and the scouting team for identifying a top quality player before other sides were interested.

The 21-year-old may never be a Leeds player but there may be signings of his calibre coming to Elland Road soon if the team can continue to unearth gems.

Here’s what the Elland Road faithful have been saying on Twitter…

It was something every Arsenal fan knew that was going to happen, but it was still a surprise when Unai Emery announced the news.

Danny Welbeck will end five years in north London when his contract expires with the Gunners this summer. The former Manchester United striker has had a relatively successful time with Arsenal, making 126 appearances for the club and scoring 32 goals in all competitions.

The England international has been a fan favourite with Arsenal fans during his time in the capital, and although his departure might be an extra downer for supporters with Aaron Ramsey already leaving the club, Welbeck’s departure opens an opportunity for another striker to fill out his shoes, and that man is Eddie Nketiah.

The teenage striker has long been touted as one of the most exciting players to come through at Arsenal in some time along with the likes of Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe, and Nketiah has been impressive whenever Emery has decided to give the striker minutes in the first-team this season.

Nketiah has been a proven goal-scorer in the youth teams for many years now at Arsenal, scoring nine goals and assisting four in 10 Premier League 2 appearances this campaign alone and already having his first first-team goals for the club against Norwich City in the League Cup last season.

The quality of youth at Arsenal was a large reason why Emery moved to the Gunners in the first place, and Nketiah could join the likes of Ainsley Maitland-Niles as the next youngster to break into the Gunners first-team and establish himself as a member of the squad for years to come.

Arsenal fans, should Nketiah be given more first-team chances next season? Let us know!

It’s almost crazy to think that the hero of Liverpool’s incredible 4-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League was Divock Origi.

The Belgian striker, who not too long ago that was seen as surplus to requirements by fans, was one of the main reasons Liverpool were able to secure passage to their second consecutive Champions League final as the former Lille man scored a brace in one of the craziest European games of all time, and it isn’t the only time Origi has been the hero this season.

His winning goals against Everton and Newcastle United kept the Reds in the title race right until the final game of the season, and with news of a new deal on the table for Origi, it has certainly been a successful season for the 24-year-old attacker, but his position in the team could still be under threat.

According to Tuttomercatoweb, the Reds are interested in Celta Vigo striker Maxi Gomez, who has caught the eye of many teams this season after an impressive season in La Liga, and with a £41 million release clause, Liverpool have the funds to make the deal a reality.

Likened to Luis Suarez, Gomez is the kind of the striker that will get Liverpool fans excited about the future due to his comparisons to the former Anfield star, but it will also be a big damper on Origi’s chances of one day making it into the first-team.

The striker will likely be forced away from Anfield or even go out on loan again if Jurgen Klopp signs the Uruguayan attacker, and after the impact Origi has had this season, it will be a damming move from the Liverpool boss to replace a player who has etched his way into club folklore.

Liverpool fans, should the club sign Gomez? Let us know!