Football fans love an exaggerated story, or a cheeky piece of football trivia to impress their friends with down the pub. Well, this list of football’s Top Ten urban legends will hopefully right a few wrongs and unfold the truth about some of football’s biggest mysteries and tall tales that are slightly lacking in the evidence department.
Some are conspiracy theories, others are stories that have crept into fan forums and discussion articles across the Internet, and a few are verging on the absurd.
But for those of you looking for a bit of entertainment and some intriguing tales, read on and check out the beautiful game’s top ten urban legends – but don’t get too carried away.
Click on Mario Balotelli to unveil the top 10
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In our poll on Wednesday, we asked Hammers fans to tell us who they thought their most important player was this season – Manuel Lanzini or Marko Arnautovic.
Lanzini has been at the club longer than the Austrian, having joined the Hammers in 2016, but the tricky Argentinian midfielder has been dogged by injuries to his knee and hamstring this season, while Arnautovic has gone from strength to strength having scored seven league goals since December.
It was not an easy start for the £13m-rated (Transfermarkt)Arnautovic as he experienced boos from fans and a red card in only his second game for the club, but the former-Stoke man has now established himself as a fan favourite, with his ‘hammers cross’ celebration becoming something of a ritual at the London Stadium in 2018.
It’s not surprising then that Hammers fans have sided with Arnautovic in this debate, with just 38% of them thinking that Lanzini is a more important player.
Here is the full result from our poll…
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Many West Ham fans were happy to see the back of Mohamed Diame when he signed for Hull City – but after his fine start for Hull, was Diame’s disappointing time at West Ham solely down to being played out of position?
Mohamed was desperate to force a move away from West Ham to a bigger club seemingly ever since joining the East London side. However, in the end the only team that was willing to take Diame away from Upton Park was Hull City. Diame was far from a fan favourite at West Ham despite some tremendous performances. On his day, Diame was simply unstoppable – sadly these days were few and far between.
That being said, his performances towards the latter stage of his time with The Hammers were arguably down to him being played out of position by Sam Allardyce – or at least that is what the Senegalese international claimed just moments after shutting the The Boleyn Ground’s back door. There is no doubting that Big Sam was not willing to play Diame in his favoured central position, and that was certainly where Mohamed had most of his good performances for The Hammers.
He was largely used out wide during his final full season in London and that was mainly due to Big Sam not having the trust in ‘Momo’ to retain possession as well as other central midfielders would do. His best attribute is probably his dribbling, as when he’s motoring along he’s very difficult to stop. He’s similar to Yaya Toure in that regard except his shooting is a long way off ideal.
It was not surprising when Diame netted against his former club on his Hull City debut and it’s equally as unsurprising that the 27-year-old has managed to recoup his scoring touch at Hull. In his final season with West Ham he started 29 of the possible 38 Premier League games, and yet only managed to net 4 goals. I say ‘only’ because he has a high tendency to shot on sight and although most go high and wide, of course a few go in. It’s also ‘only’ 4 as he has already reached that tally and he’s only made 6 appearances for The Tigers. Quite an astounding start for the Senegal international.
Does that therefore prove Big Sam wrong? If perhaps The Hammers manager had chosen to play Diame in his favoured central role he may well have got more out of the player and bagged more goals for the club. That all sounds very plausible however West Ham fans will tell you, for every goal he scores he’s missed 10 good opportunities for the team.
‘Momo’ is not a bad player by any means but he can be very selfish. If his form for Hull is anything to go by, there’s no doubt that he would have scored more if he was giving a shot more centrally, however how many times he would have given the ball away and how many times he would have wasted a good opportunity is not so clear.
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Whether his goalscoring would have outweighed the negatives of his play is unknown – but at the end of the day, Hull are happy to have him and West Ham are flying without him.
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce blamed a “fluke” goal for his side’s 1-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester United.
Robin van Persie broke the deadlock at Old Trafford after just 33 seconds, as his guided effort deflected off of James Collins and into the net.
The Hammers were unable to respond, but Allardyce believes only luck separated the two sides:
“We come to Old Trafford and in 30 seconds they score,” he told SkySports.
“It was a fluke goal, to say the least.
“It was a test of character for my players. We are all disappointed that we lost the match, but we kept our shape and our tactics.
“We couldn’t help the fluke goal fortunately for Man United. You never know what could have happened if that had not gone in.
“It is disappointing that after all that we did not get anything from the game.
“I was pleased with the energy we had, especially in the latter end of the game. The energy that we showed today was outstanding.”
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Allardyce went on to suggest that the goal scorer may well be a decisive factor in this season’s title race:
“Robin van Persie is a quality player and we have largely kept him quiet.
“But he will score 20 goals for Manchester United, maybe 30. In the end that is normally the difference.”
New Everton manager Marco Silva and director of football Marcel Brands will have their summer transfer targets firmly in mind even though it appears that they need to sell before they can bring players in due to the size of their squad, but they may well have one big regret when the window closes on August 9 – two days before the beginning of the new Premier League season gets underway.
The Toffees have been linked with a move for PSV Eindhoven winger Hirving Lozano, rated at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, every since the January transfer window, with the 22-year-old making a huge impression on the left flank for the Eredivisie champions following his move from CF Pachuca last summer.
11 goals and seven assists before 2018 showed the quality that the wideman had, and he helped push his team into title contention – eventually helping them win it ahead of Ajax – with his performances and the huge impact he was making in the final third.
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While the Merseyside club did sign Theo Walcott from Arsenal and Cenk Tosun from Besiktas during the January transfer window, they weren’t able to get a deal done to bring the PSV man – who the Dutch giants understandably didn’t want to lose having only bought him a few months previously – to Goodison.
That was a time when Steve Walsh and Sam Allardyce would have been overseeing the recruitment, and they would have likely seen the summer as the perfect opportunity to get Lozano.
While the duo have both left and been replaced by Brands and Silva, whom fans want to sign another exciting £22.5m World Cup attacker, respectively since the end of the 2017/18 campaign, it is unlikely that Everton’s transfer plans would have changed when it came to targeting the Mexican, because of the quality he has.
The winger played his final match of the season on May 6, and knowing that he was going to be linking up with his country for the 2018 World Cup in Russia just a few weeks later, the Toffees should have made it their priority to get him before then.
However, Brands didn’t officially take on his role at Goodison Park until June 1, with Silva appointed a day earlier with discussions happening between them and Watford with the Hornets wanting compensation for the Portuguese boss.
By that point, they had left themselves little time to get a deal for Lozano done, and they would have been praying in a way that he didn’t have too much of an impact in Russia.
However, that hope was extinguished in the central American country’s opening fixture against Germany, with Mexico causing the reigning champions all sorts of problems and securing a memorable 1-0 win, with the 22-year-old getting the winning goal.
The PSV man impressed with his pace, skill and finishing ability – he perhaps should have had more than the one goal he did get – and he made Bayern Munich full-back Joshua Kimmich look like an average player, which is certainly no mean feat.
Soccer Football – World Cup – Group F – Germany vs Mexico – Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia – June 17, 2018 Mexico’s Hirving Lozano celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
The very biggest clubs in Europe are always looking for talented attacking players, and with 19 goals and 11 assists in 34 for the Dutch club last term and now with him producing a standout showing on the world stage, one of them is surely likely to move for him when the tournament ends.
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Everton would have pulled off a huge coup by bringing Lozano to Goodison Park this summer, but it appears as though they have made a fatal error by not getting a deal done before the World Cup got underway.
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Arsene Wenger may be on his way out of the Emirates in the summer, and there will be a long line of potential candidates to replace him.
Arsenal failed to reach the Champions League for the first time in Wenger’s 21 year-long tenure at the club last season, and despite signing a contract that would keep him at the Emirates until 2019, Wenger himself has said he may not see out the remainder of his contract.
Former Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta is on the club’s list of potential replacements, but the Spaniard’s experience at senior level is limited with only assistant manager experience at Manchester City under his belt.
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Former-Invincibles legend Patrick Vieira could be another option, who has the added bonus of senior managerial experience – albeit on the other side of the pond with the MLS’ New York City FC.
Thierry Henry would be Arsenal fans’ dream replacement for the under-fire Wenger, but he too has minimal managerial experience and has spent more time in the Sky Sports studio than the training pitch in recent years.
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What do Arsenal fans think? Who would be Wenger’s best replacement? Have your say by voting below…
Manchester United’s supporters must get behind Louis van Gaal despite the club’s embarrassing Capital One Cup loss to the MK Dons, according to Lee Sharpe.
The Red Devils slipped to a 4-0 loss at the hands of the League One side last night, with a second string XI which still included international players such as Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez and Shinji Kagawa.
Despite enjoying a fine pre-season, Van Gaal’s opening three competitive games are yet to garner a single victory, with a home loss to Swansea and a disappointing 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland ramping up the pressure early into his tenure.
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However Sharpe – who starred for United between 1988 – 1996 – believes that the experienced former Bayern Munich and Barcelona coach needs time to get his methods across and the that he will be a success:
“It was a bad night obviously [against MK Dons] but in the bigger picture it’s not too bad,” he told talkSPORT.
“It is going to take time. We had Alex Ferguson leaving, then David Moyes coming in and trying to play the way he does, and now Van Gaal.
“He has only been there five or six weeks so it’s too early to judge him. A little bit of patience is needed. It is a long-term approach for Van Gaal and I think you have got to trust him.
“He is the right man for the job. He is a strong character, he is not intimidated by big-name players, big signings, the size of the club and the task of the job at hand. I don’t think he is intimated at all, I think he quite enjoys it.
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“It is just going to take a bit of time to get the team he wants and get them to play the way he wants them to play and to produce the standards he sets.
“I don’ think they are a million miles away. They have just not started as everybody thought they would do.”
England new boy Leon Osman believes that Steven Gerrard thoroughly deserves to earn his 100th cap during Wednesday’s friendly with Sweden.
The 32-year-old Everton midfielder will be making his first appearance with the Three Lions, following a shock call up from manager Roy Hodgson.
Although they are inter-city rivals in the Premier League, Osman has hailed the influence of Gerrard and his importance on the pitch:
“It is fantastic to get to 100 caps,” He told BBC Sport.
“There is only a select band that has managed to do it and Steven deserves to be in that crew.
“He is a fantastic player and a leader of men.
“We first played against each other on Merseyside when we were 12 or 13.
“To see him now get to his 100th cap is fantastic but not surprising.”
Osman is also delighted to be in the squad, and admitted that he thought the call to represent his nation would never come:
“I hoped my time hadn’t passed me by,
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“As an English lad I had a desire to play for my country and I was hopeful it might happen.
“I had stopped looking for my name in the squad every time. But I didn’t give up hope.”
Osman has been in fine form for high-flying Everton this season, notching up a succession of impressive performances in domestic competition.
According to Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla on his official website, West Ham United have opened talks to sign Shakhtar Donetsk attacker Bernard, who is a soon-to-be free agent worth £14.4m according to Transfermarkt, and West Ham fans have been quick to react to the rumour.
Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini is desperate to strengthen his squad this summer to ensure they don’t flirt with relegation next term and instead aim for Europa League qualification, and Alfredo Pedula suggests that as well as signing Felipe Anderson from Lazio in a big-money move, he also wants his Brazilian compatriot for nothing with his contract due to expire at the end of this month.
The 25-year-old left-sided player would likely replace Manuel Lanzini after the Argentine was ruled out for the entire 2018/19 campaign, and with 10 goals and four assists last term he certainly has the ability to do exactly that.
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West Ham supporters, who have urged their club to sign a 25-year-old attacking World Cup ace, took to social media to give their thoughts on the story, and while one said “I’d take him over Anderson all day”, another said “Bernard excites me more than Felipe Anderson”.
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Having cost £20 million when he arrived from Stoke in the summer, West Ham winger Marko Arnautovic didn’t exactly endear himself to the club’s supporters as he struggled mightily over the first half of the season.The Austrian appears to have turned things around though in the back-half of the season, and his seven goals since December have practically mirrored West Ham’s rise from relegation-battlers to a mid-table outfit.Arnautovic’s performance’s were met with derision from the stands earlier in the campaign, but now he is a firm fan favourite and he took the time yesterday to thank the Hammers faithful for their support.[ad_pod ]He said:“It hurt me in the beginning when I heard people whistling me in the stadium because they expected me to do better, but now I am playing for my team and playing for the fans because the fans are a big part of this Club.”Arnautovic has also added a gesture to his celebration in recent months where he crosses his fingers to make a hammer shape, as an ode to the East London of which he is now an established part.Hammers fans returned the favour with some heartfelt comments on Twitter…