All posts by n8rngtd.top

Argentina and Uruguay faced off just the other night in a match that saw old friends, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, lock horns.

After a fierce battle, the teams settled for a 2-2 draw, courtesy of late Messi penalty kick that saved the game for Albiceleste.

Watch Spanish Football Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

And even though Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero was actually on the scoresheet that night, many Barcelona fans simply weren’t impressed by Kun’s overall performance.

The Argentine did miss a couple of clear-cut chances throughout the night and it seems that they don’t think he is good enough for the national team, unlike his spell for the Citizens under Pep Guardiola.

Many were saying he’s finished on the national stage and were even relieved the Blaugrana never signed him in the past – they reportedly wanted him in 2014 – as he is making Luis Suarez look good at the moment.

You can see some of their replies and comments down in the collection of tweets below.

Check them out…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

As quoted by The Daily Mirror, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has ruled out making an incredible move for Paris Saint-Germain sensation Kylian Mbappe.

What did he say?

The France World Cup winner has often been linked with a move to Real Madrid to join up with Les Bleus legend Zinedine Zidane, but reports in recent weeks have suggested Liverpool may enter the race to sign him in the future.

However, speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Reds’ titanic clash against Manchester City on Sunday, Klopp played down speculation that they could pounce for the 20-year-old.

He said: “OK, from a sporting point of view, there are not a lot of reasons to not sign Mbappe, what a player he is. But it is about the money of course. No chance. Absolutely no chance, sorry for killing that story.

“I don’t think there is a club in the world that can buy Kylian Mbappe from PSG. And we are involved in that too. We cannot do it, it is as easy as that. We have nothing (more) to say about it to be honest, but (buying) this calibre of player is difficult.”

Anfield lure

Make no mistake about it, if PSG were to make Mbappe available, then Liverpool would be right up there in terms of being one of the most attractive propositions in European football for him to join. The Champions League holders may not have the financial resources as Klopp alludes to, but they have certainly built up the reputation and profile to be a destination for some of the game’s best players.

Money does talk of course, but if the French starlet was considering his options, then looking at joining Liverpool and playing under Klopp must surely be appealing. The chance to play in the Premier League, for a team that has already achieved major European success, sounds like the perfect job description for a player. So whilst the Reds manager may be distancing the club from a potential move, it may not be too big of a stretch as he thinks.

Sheffield Wednesday suffered just their second defeat of Garry Monk’s reign on Saturday afternoon as Blackburn Rovers came from behind to snatch all three points.

The Owls must have thought they had won the match when substitute Jacob Murphy headed home from close range after Steven Fletcher had hit the crossbar seven minutes from time.

But the home side fired two goals in the final three minutes to secure the victory at Ewood Park.

Watch Sheffield Wednesday Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Wednesday had late chances to salvage a point as Fernando Forestieri hit the crossbar, and Sam Hutchinson’s subsequent follow-up was well saved by Christian Walton.

Several of the Hillsborough faithful have taken to social media following the match, and they appear to have aimed fire at Adam Reach for his role in the defeat.

One supporter believes the 26-year-old needs to be dropped for their game against Swansea City next weekend while another fan was left bewildered by what Reach actually offered the team.

A further member of the visiting support called for Monk to add a winger in January to replace him with one more labelling him ‘terrible.’

Here’s the best of the reaction:

A selection of Liverpool fans have been reacting on social media to reports by the Liverpool Echo claiming New Balance are still looking to block the Reds from signing a kit supply deal with Nike.

The Boston-based sports apparel manufacturer are said to have filed appeal papers in a final bid to prevent Liverpool from signing an agreement for Nike to produce their kits.

Liverpool are currently able to sign a deal with Nike after a three-day trial in the High Court denied New Balance’s efforts to maintain their working relationship.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

New Balance claimed to have triggered a matching clause in their existing contract, that would have automatically renewed the partnership initially agreed in 2015.

However, the High Court dismissed their claims after Liverpool argued that Nike’s ability to use influencers and athletes such as LeBron James, Serena Williams and Drake had not been matched.

Working with Liverpool is said to have been a huge commercial hit for New Balance, who have reaped vast rewards from the £45million-per-year contract currently in effect.

The American company have sought to throw another spanner in Nike’s plans by lodging appeal papers with the Court of Appeal, who will now decide whether there are grounds for a hearing.

Here are some of the reactions shared to New Balance’s decision to appeal…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

When you’re consistently playing first-team football for Manchester City, particularly in the truly competitive midfield position, you know you must be one decent player.

Since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2016 for a fee around £20m, Ilkay Gundogan hasn’t exactly enjoyed the same kind of adulation or accolades as some of his other high-profile teammates. The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Bernardo Silva, amongst others, have understandably been more prominent in the spotlight, but that doesn’t mean the 28-year-old is significantly worse than any of them.

Watch the video below to see the most insane overhead kick you will see this week…

In fact, City boss Pep Guardiola has publicly revealed he values the former Dortmund man incredibly, and paid the most remarkable of compliments about the midfielder.

“You cannot believe how good he is. He is an exceptional player. He can play in different positions, with his work ethic. I missed him a lot in our first year here when after a few months an ACL ruled him out for more than six months. He is exceptional. He is one of the best signings in this club’s history.”

After the side’s shock 2-0 defeat to Wolves in the Premier League last time out, some City fans voiced their frustrations over Gundogan, and Guardiola’s continued insistence on playing him (the 28-year-old has featured in every game barring the 8-0 thrashing of Watford this season).

However, whilst away on international duty, the midfielder delivered the type of performance that well and truly silenced the haters, and vindicated Guardiola’s continued faith in him.

Coming up against Estonia in EURO 2020 qualifying action, the 5 foot 11 ace ran the show for Germany from the first minute to the last. What made the performance just that more impressive, was that Emre Can got himself sent off after 14 minutes of the contest.

Watch Manchester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Despite the side being down to ten men, Gundogan controlled the tempo of the match from the middle of the park, registering a truly incredible 181 touches, and 148 passes. To put that into context, that was both double the amount that any Estonia player managed. But perhaps most intriguingly, the 28-year-old came up with two goals and an assist as he made more runs further forward.

In contrast at City, he has managed just one goal and one assist this season. Whilst Gundogan will undoubtedly be pleased with his own performance, it will be Guardiola who will be grinning from ear to ear. He may just be getting the best of the German maestro at the time his team most need it.

[ad_pod ]

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Arsenal and Manchester United will face each other in the Premier League on Monday night as both sides compete for the top four.

Of the two, the Gunners have had the best start to the campaign. They currently sit in fourth on 11 points after six games. They have not looked convincing, though, with all three of their victories coming courtesy of one-goal margins.

Manchester United, however, will wish they could swap places with Unai Emery’s side. It all started so well, with a 4-0 victory against Chelsea on the opening day of the campaign. However, they have only won one league match since then, and they looked particularly lethargic against West Ham last Sunday.

For both sides, it used to be so different, and their fall from grace shows just how much the Premier League has changed in recent years.

Watch Arsenal Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Younger generations may only be used to Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool competing regularly for the Premier League title, but Arsenal and United used to be the top dogs in English football. Between 1996 and 2003, no-one else won the Premier League title as Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson went head-to-head.

Who can forget United’s 6-1 hammering of the Gunners in 2001, or the ugly scenes following Ruud van Nistelrooy’s penalty miss in 2003? These are just two of the most iconic moments seen on these shores.

The intensity and passion – which sometimes went overboard, as the van Nistelrooy incident showed – bring back memories of a bygone era. While the Premier League may now be producing some fantastic football, it is hard not to be nostalgic about what could be called the division’s golden age.

The landscape has long-since changed, though. Neither Ferguson nor Wenger are still at their respective clubs, and the teams have won just two titles between them this decade. Both of them were won by United.

Now, it is indeed the Citizens and the Reds who are fighting for the title and, unfortunately for the Red Devils and Gunners’ supporters, neither of the two former giants look like rivalling them any time soon.

Even for the neutral fan, it is bizarre to see the two struggle to keep up with the new leading lights.

As it is, next week’s game is nothing more than a contest between two teams competing to finish in the top four.

They, just like the supporters of the two teams, will need to remember the glory days to remind themselves of a time when Manchester United and Arsenal ruled English football.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Even though Real Madrid made a number of purchases last summer, they still haven’t addressed one key gap in their squad: Casemiro’s understudy.

But looking at their bench, there just might be a solution sitting right there in front of their noses.

On the chalkboard

Currently, there are five central midfielders in Real Madrid’s squad. Casemiro, though, is the only natural defensive midfielder in their ranks.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Of course, Los Blancos have multiple other players that can slot into the attacking-midfielder role – the likes of Isco, Luka Modric, James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos – but no one else who can effectively serve as the Brazilian’s substitute and still play in his natural position.

This poses a huge problem for Zinedine Zidane’s squad.

But even though they might be inclined to dip their toes into the transfer market in order to solve this conundrum in January, there is actually a solution already present at the Santiago Bernabeu.

And his name? Federico Valverde.

Trust in the youth

Valverde is the product of Real Madrid’s academy.

Born and raised in Castilla, the 21-year-old midfielder hasn’t really seen much game time since his promotion to the senior squad just in the summer of 2018.

So far, he has played a total of 29 games for Los Blancos and has no goals or assists to his name. And this is still one game less than he played for Real Madrid Castilla back in the day.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

But his fortunes just might be changing as he has already registered four appearances in the ongoing 2019/20 campaign. And looking at his skill set, maybe Zidane could transform the young midfielder into an effective pivot that could relieve Casemiro when needed.

So far, he has registered 172 minutes in La Liga and has maintained 86.4% passing accuracy with one key pass per game on average. He’s also tallied 2.1 tackles per ninety minutes, which suggests that the potential for him to play deeper is there.

He is strong and confident on the ball, contributes to the defensive phases of the game and is still young enough to be trained in a new role.

Not to mention that he is quite versatile too. In the 101 games Transfermarkt has on the books, he has played in a total of six different positions, including centre-back – which again hints at a natural defensive awareness.

With a bit of sculpting and good management, Zidane might get the answer to his squad conundrum in the young Castilla product.

At the very least, it has to be worth a shot.

Sheffield Wednesday shared an interview with Darren Moore following the 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

However, a number of Owls supporters on social media weren’t exactly impressed with the 47-year-old’s reaction to the result.

Lee Gregory’s second-half strike ensured Wednesday got back to winning ways at home after drawing with Shrewsbury Town and losing to Oxford United. The Owls are now level on points with Bolton and just a point outside the play-off places.

It was just a second win in seven League One games for Wednesday, who had less possession and fewer shots on goal against their opponents. Still, Moore admitted that he was really pleased with his team against a ‘wonderful’ Bolton side after having just 48 hours to work on a tactical change for the clash.

Wednesday fans react

The Owls posted the manager’s interview on their official Twitter channel shortly after the win at Hillsborough. Here is what these fans had to say in reply, with one labelling it as ‘scary’ as many were left unimpressed.

“3 points is 3 points but that was truly dreadful. People pay decent money to watch football & don’t want to see 11 men behind a ball trying to hold on in League One.”

Credit: @SwfcFan12

“Nothing worse than watching a Darren Moore interview. It’s painful”

Credit: @BonningtonAlex

“It’s on a loop. ‘Difficult. Reshuffle. Move on’”

Credit: @dan_tays

“Scary. Obviously the main thing is the 3 points but it was yet another shocking performance. Hate the way we play under him.”

Credit: @Peter070714

“Jeez. Makes Monk look entertaining”

Credit: @astring30

“Very poor”

Credit: @verns290117

In other news, find out which Owls player is now back in training.

Southampton host Wolves at St Mary’s in the Premier League on Saturday as they go in search of their first top-flight win of the season.

The Saints have picked up four draws and one defeat from five league matches this season, whilst winning both of their Carabao Cup games against Newport County and Sheffield United.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side beat the Blades on penalties after a 2-2 draw in midweek, with a number of players given chances to show that they deserve a place in the starting XI against Wolves.

One player who was handed an opportunity to shine against the Blades was 22-year-old right-back Yan Valery, who came in for Tino Livramento.

However, the Frenchman failed to take his chance with both hands as he produced a worrying performance against Sheffield United. He was given a SofaScore rating of 6.5, better than only Moussa Djenepo and Lyanco.

As per SofaScore, Valery lost seven of his 11 ground duels and 50% of his aerial battles. He also made zero tackles as he was dribbled past three times during the game. This shows that he was too weak defensively and easy to play against for the Blades wingers, who were able to breeze past him with ease as he failed to win even one tackle in the 90 minutes.

He did not fare much better on the ball. As per SofaScore, he failed with seven of his eight crossing attempts and three of his six dribbles. The defender also gave away possession 15 times, providing just one key pass and one off-target shot. This shows that he offered next to nothing defensively or offensively, which makes him something of a liability to the team as he is not contributing at either end.

Livramento has started all five of Southampton’s Premier League matches this season and averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.80. He has made 3.8 tackles and interceptions per game whilst winning 56% of his duels so far.

This suggests that the summer signing from Chelsea is able to perform to a higher standard than Valery whilst winning a higher percentage of his battles against the opposition and providing more defensive quality in the tackle. For this reason, Hasenhuttl must ruthlessly axe the 22-year-old from the XI to reinstate his youngter team-mate back into the side for the clash with Wolves on Sunday.

AND in other news, Ralph provides update on “hard-working” £48k-p/w beast that’ll frustrate Saints fans…

Manchester City are reportedly interested in signing Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips, seeing him as an ideal replacement for Fernandinho.

The Lowdown: Phillips continues to excel

The Whites may have had a tough opening to their Premier League season, but Phillips’ stock has never been higher.

The 25-year-old has been magnificent for Leeds for years now, but he is earning more widespread praise now, following his performances for England at Euro 2020.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359346″]

The Latest: Man City eye up move

Unfortunately, Phillips’ influential displays will naturally catch the eye of other clubs, and according to fichajes.net, City are keen on signing him next summer.

With Fernandinho now 36, Pep Guardiola wants to snap up a ‘first-rate positional midfielder to replace him’, providing competition for Rodri.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-15/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Massive blow if it comes off

A story of this ilk is clearly a blow for Leeds, but realistically, it was always going to be hard to keep hold of Phillips for many more years to come.

Unless the Whites end up qualifying for Europe, the midfielder may want to test himself at a higher level, joining one of the Premier League heavyweights in the process.

It would be hard to begrudge Phillips a move next summer, but it would be a huge setback, given his vast influence under Marcelo Bielsa.

In other news, Phil Hay has provided a double Leeds United injury update. Read more here.