All posts by h716a5.icu

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

Sheffield Wednesday are entering the international break on the cusp of the playoffs as they sit eighth, missing out by just a solitary point.

Garry Monk’s reign as the Owls boss has gone rather well – he’s guided his new side to ten points from a possible 15 after winning last time out against Wigan Athletic.

Watch Sheffield Wednesday Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He’s stuck to his word of being adaptable, a wise move considering he has inherited this whole squad from his predecessors Steve Bruce and then caretaker boss Lee Bullen.

Monk has also been rather methodical, whether that has been intentional or not, remains to be seen as he has started out with their defence and making that a lot tighter.

On the Chalkboard

During his five matches in charge, Wednesday have recorded far more shots on the opposition’s goal than against their own in every single game, as the graph shows below, via WhoScored.

The Owls have conceded just three goals throughout those five matches, whereas in the five games before his arrival, they conceded five, so that clearly reinforces the view that they have appeared to look more solid.

Experimental361’s scatter graph for expected goals created against expected goals allowed per match also backs this up.

Wednesday are on the ‘better defence’ side of the graph, but more towards the ‘worse attack,’ which suggests there is work to be done at the other end of the pitch.

And that is something that can come with time, especially with the January transfer window approaching.

The south Yorkshire club won’t lose matches if they have a solid foundation at the back, so it’s a rather shrewd move from the 40-year-old if he has indeed planned it this way.

Football FanCast have previously highlighted how reliant they are on Steven Fletcher – the only league loss under the former Swansea City man has been in his absence, and even then it was only by a one-goal margin.

‘Build from the back‘ and ‘defence wins you titles‘ are two phrases that come to mind when thinking about successful teams, and this is something that appears to be slowly surfacing up at Hillsborough.

With enough patience and time, Monk will have their frontline in sync with their defence, we’ve already seen a glimpse of that when the team managed to stick four past Middlesbrough inside 34 minutes.

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…

Speaking on BT Sport, former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has admitted he feels sorry for the club’s youngsters.

What did he say?

The Red Devils have endured a poor start to the season, registering just nine points from their opening seven Premier League games. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men also produced a disappointing display against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday night, and Hargreaves has now revealed he sympathises with the situation surrounding the club’s academy prospects.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

He said (as quoted by The Manchester Evening News): “I actually feel sorry for some of these young kids because they have to carry the burden of one of the biggest brands in the world at 18-years-old.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

“Mason Greenwood, he is good, but he shouldn’t have to be in that position at 18-years-old. Even Rashford you could put into that category as well. These guys aren’t ready to carry the brand of one of the biggest clubs in the world and it’s not really fair on them.”

Sign of the times

Whilst Hargreaves’ comments are entirely understandable, United simply don’t have any choice at the moment but to turn to their numerous academy products. The mess they have created in recent transfer windows has essentially forced them to use the likes of Greenwood, Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong, amongst others.

It is absolutely a sink-or-swim moment in their careers. If they can ride out the storm and come out the other side, then the experience they will have gained of playing under such intense pressure will stand them in good stead. If they crumble under the weight of expectation, then so be it. The Red Devils have no one but themselves to blame for getting into this position.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Loan Watch series, which takes a closer look at those players who are aiming to galvanise their careers away from the spotlight of their parent club.

Back in the summer, Southampton took the decision to send Josh Sims out on loan to New York Red Bulls after a mixed 2018/19 campaign.

The 22-year-old made 17 Championship appearances for Reading in the first half of last season, before returning to St Mary’s for the second half of the campaign where he made seven appearances under Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Sims – a product of the Southampton academy that has housed the likes of Gareth Bale, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott – made an impact upon his return to the south coast, with one performance in particular in the 2-1 win over Tottenham putting him on the lips of some fans on Twitter.

However, Hasenhuttl saw fit to ship the youngster back out on loan in the summer to NY Red Bulls, where he has been disappointing to say the least.

The forward has failed to find the back of the net in seven games for the MLS side, and has just a single assist to show for his efforts.

If he can’t make an impact over in the US, then the chances are that Sims will also struggle in the Premier League.

Putting that sentiment aside for a moment, Sims’ exit has delivered a silver lining in the form of one man’s resurgence at the club – Sofiane Boufal.

The Morocco international – who himself spent last season out on loan – has returned to St Mary’s in determined fashion.

Boufal insisted on staying at the club back in the summer despite interest from “some other club” as he mentions in this article from The Daily Echo, and it has proven fruitful for the flamboyant attacker.

 “I wasn’t nervous [to meet Hasenhuttl] because I was very, very focused on staying here – even if some other club wanted me.”

He has reintegrated himself into Hasenhuttl’s XI, starting half of the Saints’ eight Premier League games this season and coming off the bench on three occasions.

In those appearances, he has assisted two goals, and has also drawn praise from his manager and teammates alike.

Hasenhuttl singled the 26-year-old out for praise after the 1-1 draw against Manchester United, saying: “He [Sofiane] makes a really good game I think. In the first-half he was unlucky in a few scenes, good chances, but also in the second-half he showed how important he is for our game.”

Angus Gunn has also praised Boufal, describing the former Lille man as “like a new signing”.

Seeing as Sims and Boufal both tend to play on the wing, the former’s exit has proven to be beneficial for the latter – with the academy graduate out of the picture, the Moroccan has seemingly taken his chance.

La Liga is finally returning after a short (but mostly painful) spell that is the international break.

Still, things are finally getting back to normal and as club football returns, so do Real Madrid in their attempts to continue their successful run in the Spanish top-flight.

As things currently stand, Zinedine Zidane’s troops have managed to claw their way back to the very peak of the mountain and are enjoying their view in front of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid at the moment.

Of course, a lot can change in a single game since the Catalans are only two points behind while Los Blancos’ city rivals are trailing only by three. For that reason, Zidane won’t really have a chance to breathe and this game, just as any other in the tight and exciting race that is La Liga, will definitely be important as a whole.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Still, a really tough schedule lies ahead for Real Madrid even after their weekend trip to Mallorca.

First, they will have a mid-week Champions League clash, which is something Zidane simply can’t afford not to win.

After all, Real Madrid only have one point under their belts after the first two clashes in Europe – their curtain-raiser was a heavy defeat in France to Paris Saint-Germain and the follow-up game was equally disappointing as the Galacticos only managed to draw with Club Brugge at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Needless to say, that makes their next Champions League challenge a must-win game if they want to be real contenders in Europe this season.

But that’s not all – not nearly.

The weekend after that, if everything goes according to plan and La Liga don’t change anything, Real Madrid will travel across the country and visit Catalonia for the first El Clasico of the season.

But with all the riots and unrest in Barcelona at the moment, the big derby is still under threat of being either postponed or just moved to a different venue. We are still awaiting any sort of confirmation from the upper management on that front.

Be that as it may, Real’s priority currently lies on the weekend clash against Mallorca but as important as it might be to win that game and take the three points, it will also be important that Zidane picks his battles correctly.

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

This is something that we already quickly touched upon before when talking about a possibility of rotating the squad a bit, but one player that simply needs to be given his chance this weekend is definitely Luka Jovic.

The 21-year-old Serbian forward has been bought by Real Madrid last summer in a transfer that reportedly cost around £53.2m.

And even though Jovic arrived with a certain reputation, having previously scored 27 goals and assisted seven more in the 48 games he played for Eintracht Frankfurt across all competitions in 2018/19, the start to his career at the Spanish capital has been all but dreamy.

Sure, he played in seven games across all competitions this season already but he only started two of those games and managed to accumulate 218 minutes under his belt so far.

For such a young and aspiring striker, that is definitely not a praise-worthy statistic.

But this is exactly the type of game Jovic could use to not only boost his confidence but also to show Zidane that he can definitely be counted upon in situations like these.

And this is not meant as belittlement of the opposition – Mallorca will definitely offer some kind of resistance, especially given that their only wins of the ongoing season have come at their home ground.

But they are the newly-promoted side and they are also struggling to stay afloat at this point in the season already.

For those reasons, the decision to throw Jovic into the mix shouldn’t really be seen as a risky move but rather a smart one.

The benefits of it are enormous – the player gets the all-important game time he so craves, the coach possibly discovers a new asset to his team and the fans, who have already demanded Jovic be given more chances, will get what they’ve been calling for.

And even if it doesn’t work out and he fails to impact the game in the way Zidane had envisioned it, Real Madrid would still have rested some of the key players for a crucial week of football ahead and can still count on some of the game-changers they would have on their bench.

But Jovic hasn’t suddenly lost all of his abilities and a player that scored 36 goals in 75 games for Eintracht Frankfurt doesn’t just stop doing that all of a sudden.

All the young Serbian needs right now is a slight nudge in the right direction and he can burst out of his cocoon and start flying.

When everything is said and done, this truly looks like a perfect opportunity for Zidane to just put some trust into Jovic and do a leap of faith of sorts.

That’s usually how we come about the best of revelations anyway.

All it takes is a bit of bravery.

According to El Desmarque, Real Madrid may be willing to offer Mariano Diaz and Isco to Tottenham Hotspur in January in order to sign Christian Eriksen.

There remains huge speculation surrounding the future of Eriksen, who will see his contract at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium expire next summer.

And the Denmark international’s form this season – scoring just once in 11 appearances for Mauricio Pochettino’s side – does suggest that his head is elsewhere.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

According to El Desmarque, Los Blancos are weighing up the possibility of including Mariano and Isco in an offer for Eriksen.

It is a tricky situation, though, as the former Ajax youngster could decide to sit tight and leave on a free at the end of the season, which would certainly be more lucrative in terms of a signing-on fee.

The Spurs fans are absolutely desperate for the above deal to take place, though, and a selection of their reaction on Twitter is available to view below:

Everton fans have taken to Twitter to express their love for Mason Holgate after the defender put in another impressive display for the Toffees against Watford.

Holgate stepped in for his first Premier League start of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion last week, where he registered an assist in replace of Yerry Mina. On Tuesday, however, was when the 23-year-old may have established himself as a starter after scoring his first goal for the club.

Holgate got on the end of a fabulous Theo Walcott cross to give the Blues the lead and ease the tension at Goodison Park. In doing so, and by keeping a clean sheet, the defender may have given Marco Silva some food for thought.

Fans are loving his performances of late with some of them hoping he starts the upcoming games. One fan even said he was “head and shoulders above the rest” against Watford.

The supporters may get to see Holgate much more often, as once again, Mina limped off injured in the game. It is unclear whether or not he will miss the Tottenham Hotspur clash, but perhaps it’s time for Holgate to step in and allow the Colombian some rest time.

Here’s what some fans have had to say…

A whole host of West Ham United fans took to social media on Saturday afternoon to lavish praise on Robert Snodgrass for his performance against Sheffield United.

The 32-year-old made the breakthrough in the 44th minute of the Premier League affair before Lys Mousset struck in the second half as the points were shared.

Snodgrass was a late, late substitute in his team’s 2-0 win over Manchester United on September 22, but the midfielder was not actually used at all against Bournemouth, Crystal Palace or Everton.

Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini shuffled his pack for the clash with Sheffield United, though, and Snodgrass started with Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Fornals on the bench.

It was just the 28-time Scotland international’s second Premier League start of the 2019/20 campaign.

And there is no question that he made a positive impression – boasting a 86% pass success rate, according to WhoScored.

Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

A selection of the Twitter reaction to Snodgrass’ outing at the London Stadium can be seen below:

Newcastle United’s transfer policy was made loud and clear this summer.The Magpies want to sign young players with a lot of promise that they can then flip for a profit in the future.We hate to say it, but this policy is clearly in place so that Mike Ashley has to invest as little as possible into the club from his own pocket.Watch Newcastle United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Indeed, the Magpies largely stuck to that policy this summer as they signed the likes of Joelinton and Allan Saint-Maximin for large fees.

Steve Bruce believes that the system is more flexible than the press have been making out, and he’s said that he would make his case for signing any older players if he believes could offer something to the club.

Unfortunately, the fanbase don’t think that Bruce’s plan is viable as they’ve branded him naive and ignorant for thinking that he could sway the higher-ups at the club to change their ways.

Here’s what the St James’ Park faithful have been saying on Twitter…

According to The Daily Mail, Crystal Palace have entered talks with Roy Hodgson over a new contract.

The former England manager’s current terms at Selhurst Park are set to expire at the end of the season, and talks are underway over an extension which would see Hodgson reach his 73rd birthday while in charge of the south Londoners.

Hodgson surpassed Bobby Robson’s record as the Premier League’s oldest ever manager back in February, and Palace chairman Steve Parish revealed to The Daily Mail that he wants the former Liverpool manager to stay on at the club.

The Eagles have fared quite well since Hodgson replaced Frank de Boer back in September 2017, helping keep the club in the top-flight after their awful start under the Dutchman, before overseeing the south Londoners’ best-ever Premier League points total from a 38-game campaign in 2018/19 – Palace finished with 49 points.

So, is Parish making the right decision in entering contract talks with Hodgson?

Billy Meyers

“I think there is more to this decision than meets the eye. Parish is keen to focus on revamping Palace’s academy with plans to pump £15m-£20m into doing just that, while the Eagles chief also has the £100m redevelopment of Selhurst Park on his mind – both of those projects will be expensive, and the money earned from Premier League survival will surely be crucial.

“In that respect, there is nothing more important than having someone in charge who can keep Palace in the top-flight, something that Hodgson has proven to be well capable of doing – because of this, a new contract for the 72-year-old is the right decision, for now.”

Kealan Hughes

“The club is arguably the most stable it has been at any point since getting back into the Premier League in 2013, and Hodgson is doing a good job on limited resources.

“He gets the best out of the players at his disposal and that is crucial at a club like Crystal Palace. With Hodgson in charge they have the chance to lay the foundations to progress, and despite lacking in certain areas – with just 10 goals in 11 league games – there are signs that this could be a successful campaign.

“The club is right to extend his contract but they have to start preparing for life without Hodgson soon, and that means stepping up recruitment and increasing the appeal, so that they don’t end up with another unsuitable appointment like Frank de Boer.”

Charles Jones

“I think that Palace would be doing the right thing if they were to offer Hodgson a new deal. Despite being 72 years of age, the former England manager may be the best gaffer available to help the London club achieve their aspirations.

“All you have to do is look at the league table right now, and you’ll have your answer. Palace sit just two points off of fifth place, and they look like they could achieve a top half finish this term.

“His age shouldn’t get in the way of how well he’s doing, and Palace would be very smart to give their manager a new deal.”

VJ

“As the saying goes, age is just a number. And for Hodgson, that really is the case. The 72-year-old has been around the block multiple times, managing international teams like Switzerland and England, and taking charge of club sides like Fulham and Crystal Palace. His work with the latter in particular has been nothing short of remarkable, particularly given their lack of spending.

“In the summer transfer window, the Eagles paid just £6.84m for their new signings according to Transfermarkt. Despite having no big-money arrivals, Hodgson has steered the ship superbly, leading them to ninth in the Premier League after 11 games – above the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham. So whilst he may be getting on a bit, the former Three Lions boss has more than proven he is the man for the job at Selhurst Park.”

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Tottenham Hotspur are tracking West Bromwich Albion youngsters Rico Richards and Nathan Ferguson, per The Sun.

What’s the word?

A number of Premier League clubs are said to be interested in 16-year-old Richards, with Manchester City and Liverpool both scouting the teenager.

He has won one cap for the England U17 side, scoring on his debut, and has made two appearances for the Baggies’ U18 team in the U18 Premier League.

Per The Sun, Richards’ contract expires next year and the Championship club are keen to keep him around, with vultures circling.

Ferguson, too, is just 19 but is already playing for Slaven Bilic’s first-team, making 13 appearances in the Championship in 2019/20. He was first linked with the club in October by a separate Sun report.

A defender who can play at both right-back and left-back, he scored in the 2-0 win over QPR in September and also registered an assist on his debut against Nottingham Forest.

The English youngster has been suspended for the recent games against Stoke City and Hull City after being sent off in the 2-2 draw with Charlton Athletic.

Admirable but not needed

This is the kind of scouting that Spurs thrive on.

They have routinely brought in youngsters with a high upside, the likes of Jack Clarke from Leeds United, Dele Alli from MK Dons and Juan Foyth from Estudiantes.

Yet one feels that, right now, they need to focus on bigger issues.

Spurs have won just three times in the Premier League and one has to ask why they are tracking potential stars of the future when what they need is ready-made players who can come in and immediately alter their fortunes.

Indeed, the likes of Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen all have contracts that expire in the summer. They are proven Premier League players who will need direct, established replacements – not potential successors who may or may not make the grade at Tottenham.

There are also a number of excellent youth prospects already waiting in the wings; the likes of Oliver Skipp and Troy Parrott have already made their senior debuts and are just 17 and 19 respectively. In terms of potential future gems, the club is well-stocked already.

So with the January transfer window looming, projects aren’t needed; solutions are.

Bringing in two proper centre-backs who can immediately slot in and fill the void left by the Belgians could be required, as could an attacking midfielder who can replace the guile that will disappear if the Dane leaves.

This feels like the wrong time to be looking at players like Richards and Ferguson, then. Spurs already have an abundance of talent in reserve and face a shortage of first-team players, not academy prospects.