[ad_pod ]

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…

Writing in The Daily Mirror, Stan Collymore has suggested Marcus Rashford risks becoming the new Theo Walcott if he doesn’t nail down a position in the near future.

What did he say?

The England international has previously admitted to favouring the number nine role, but has often been deployed from the left-hand side in his time with Manchester United.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate re-opened the debate over Rashford’s best position after the game against Bulgaria, and now, Collymore has insisted the time has come for the 21-year-old to define what he is.

He said: “If Marcus Rashford isn’t careful then, sooner rather than later, he is going to find himself cast as the modern-day Theo Walcott. Someone who isn’t seen as an out-and-out winger or straight-up No.9 but a Jack of all trades as a forward and master of none.

“That’s why now is the perfect time for him to decide whether that’s the way he wants to go. Or would he rather be a player who lives or dies as a No.9.

“If he’s happy to play anywhere if it means being an England regular then that’s his call. But if that is the case over the next five to 10 years then I worry about the negative impact such a decision could have on his club career because of the message it sends. There’s no way Rashford can toddle off with England every few months and play out wide and then go back to Old Trafford and play like Ruud van Nistelrooy. So there’s a potential problem brewing for him.”

Jack of all trades

Being as versatile as Rashford is, there are always going to be times where he gets shunted out of his preferred role in order to accommodate one of his teammates. As Collymore says, it may be the perfect time however for the United academy product to take a stand.

If Southgate intends to use Harry Kane as England’s out-and-out centre-forward and only sees Rashford as someone to use off the flanks, then it may be in the latter’s best interests to put his foot down.

Making a definitive statement that he is a number nine would allow him to hone his craft far more effectively than if he were to stand by his versatility. This promises to be a crucial juncture in the 21-year-old’s career, and it’s important he thinks of the long-term rewards rather than the short-term pain of possibly sitting behind Kane for a while.

[ad_pod ]

[ad_pod ]

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

According to The Manchester Evening News, Manchester United are open to making signings in the January transfer window, but only if the right players are on the market.

What’s the word?

The Red Devils failed to undergo the major summer overhaul many may have predicted, with just three permanent signings in total.

Now, The Manchester Evening News suggest Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side “remain open” to doing business in the winter window “on the proviso the right players are available”.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The report adds United’s transfer stance has not changed despite their failure to sign a forward and a central midfielder in the summer.

Brave

Make no mistake about it, if United end the January transfer window with no new faces, it will be an incredibly brave decision. The Red Devils are short of options up front, and are relying on relatively inexperienced players to lead the line for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Solskjaer’s intent on blooding the youngsters and implementing a new style of play means there will be teething problems in this transition period. If the Manchester side have key targets in mind and are adamant they will not settle for second or third-choice targets on their shortlist, then it will be a sign they are learning from their mistakes.

Reports in recent weeks and months have suggested Jadon Sancho is a leading option for next summer, and it is difficult to see the England international leaving Borussia Dortmund in January.

Waiting for the supremely talented winger to come on to the market would be the kind of wise long-term planning United desperately need. What they shouldn’t do is panic, and have another Alexis Sanchez situation on their hands.

[ad_pod ]

[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…

Erik Lamela. A man who struggled quite significantly last term, managing to make just nine league starts and 19 league appearances in total whilst also struggling with injury throughout large parts of the campaign much to some fans’ frustration – he also only netted four goals and made two assists.

After the arrival of fellow Argentine Giovani Lo Celso, you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that life at Spurs would get even harder for the former Roma attacker now there is more competition for places, but Lamela looks reborn so far this term.

Mauricio Pochettino has kept faith with him, and he has been duly rewarded by two fine performances from the 27-year-old against Aston Villa and Manchester City.

Against the Villans, Spurs looked like they were heading for a disappointing 1-1 draw with the newly-promoted side on the opening weekend, but for a typically industrious moment from Lamela.

The former River Plate man robbed Jack Grealish – who was dawdling around on the edge of his own box – before firing a shot at goal. The ball didn’t go in, but it pin-balled around and landed at the feet of Harry Kane who slotted home.

In that game, Christian Eriksen came on and made a real impact which led to some fans demanding he started against City, which he did.

Pochettino could’ve dropped Lamela for the Dane, but instead, he kept faith with his fellow Argentine and dropped Lucas Moura instead and was again rewarded for his show of faith in the Spurs No.11.

Lamela grabbed a vital equaliser after Raheem Sterling’s header, receiving a nice pass from Tanguy Ndombele before curling the ball past Ederson and into the net.

He then went on to whip in a brilliant corner which was headed in by Lucas Moura just 19.06 seconds after the Brazilian came off the bench, ending the game against the back-to-back champions with a goal and an assist.

Lamela may not have had the best 2018/19 campaign, but he is certainly rewarding Pochettino’s trust in him.

[ad_pod ]

[ad_pod ]

Lots of Manchester City fans have taken to Twitter to discuss Phil Foden’s comments about his lack of playing time at the Etihad Stadium.

The England Under-21 international is a real talent and set up two goals for Eddie Nketiah in his last outing for the Under-21 side, but he is finding chances hard to come by under Pep Guardiola at club level.

Foden has the likes of Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne ahead of him in the pecking order, and has managed to play just 10 minutes of Premier League football so far this season.

The 19-year-old insisted that he is ‘ready’ to play first-team football for the Citizens, whilst he also hinted that he isn’t too keen on listening to his teammates telling him to be ‘patient’.

One fan below thinks that this situation will be ‘the end of Pep’ and will turn out in similar fashion to Jadon Sancho’s exit from the club – the Borussia Dortmund forward is now one of Europe’s best.

Let’s see what the City fans on Twitter have been saying about the situation…

[ad_pod ]

يرى سكوت باركر مدرب فريق فولهام أن تقنية الفيديو ومحاولة صناعة كرة قدم مثالية سيؤدي إلى تدمير اللعبة في النهاية.

وكان مجلس الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم قد أعلن اليوم أن لمسة اليد غير المتعمدة، والتي تؤدي إلى تسجيل زميل لهدف أو صناعة فرصة لتسجيل هدف، لن تُعد خطأ بداية من 1 يوليو القادم (لمطالعة التفاصيل من هنا).

جاءت تلك الأخبار بعد أقل من 24 ساعة من إلغاء هدف التعادل لـ فولهام أمام توتنهام، أمس الخميس، في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وسجل جوش ماجا هدفًا لصالح فولهام، ولكن تقنية الفيديو ألغته بداعِ وجود لمسة يد على ماريو ليمنيا.

وخسر فولهام في النهاية بهدف دون رد، في مباراة مقدمة من الجولة الثالثة والثلاثين.

وقال باركر في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “سبورتس مول” الإنجليزية: “لقد سمعت الآن أن الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم قرر تغيير هذه القاعدة، وهو أمر مخيب للآمال”.

وأضاف: “موقفي من تقنية الفيديو لن يتغير، نحن نبحث عن الكمال، وأنا لا أتحدث فقط عن كرة القدم ولكن عن العالم الذي نعيش فيه”.

وواصل: “نحن نحاول إنشاء سيناريو مثالي عقيم لكرة القدم، وأعتقد أن ذلك في النهاية سيؤدي إلى تدمير اللعبة”.

وتابع: “عندما يعود المشجعون إلى الاستاد ويعانون مباشرة من خيبة الأمل التي يمكن أن تحدث، وكيف تسير الأمور، سيتسبب ذلك في إصابة الجميع بخيبة قوية في بعض الأحيان”.

وأردف: “لطالما كان هذا هو قلقي الرئيسي، تحول الأمر ببطء من مجرد محاولة اتخاذ القرارات الكبيرة الحقيقية بشكل صحيح، إلى اتخاذ قرار في كل لعبة تقريبًا خلال المباراة، في محاولة لتجنب أي خطأ”.

واختتم: “عندما تحاول القيام بذلك، ستفقد شيئًا أكثر أهمية، هذا ما أريد قوله”.

يُذكر أن فولهام سيواجه ليفربول مساء الأحد في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، في الجولة السابعة والعشرين.

[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…

One of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s biggest selection dilemmas at the beginning of the 2019/20 season has been who partners the imperious Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defence.

Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are the two frontrunners with Dejan Lovren seemingly fourth choice having failed to make the matchday squad in the Premier League so far, and it was the former who got the nod in their opening two fixtures of the campaign against Manchester City in the Community Shield and Norwich City in the top flight.

The Merseyside outfit conceded in both games, and it was a little bit surprising the Cameroon international didn’t make the XI against the Canaries given he found the net at Wembley against the Citizens just a few days previously.

However, the 28-year-old did line up alongside the Dutchman in the Super Cup against Chelsea in Istanbul in midweek, with Gomez staying in the team but switching to right-back instead.

Following 120 minutes of football plus penalties, the former Schalke man kept his place for the trip to face Southampton on Saturday, and he would have been looking to prove to his manager that he should be ahead of his England international teammate in the pecking order.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

It would be hard to argue that he convincingly did that though, even if Liverpool returned to Merseyside with three points and just the one goal conceded – courtesy of a huge blunder by Adrian.

The scoreline didn’t tell the whole story of what was a difficult day for van Dijk and Matip at times though, with their collective defending letting them down on more than one occasion – whether it was their heavy legs from their Super Cup exertions or not, it was still concerning.

For example in the first half Saints striker Che Adams ghosted in between the duo and should have done better with a header from Oriol Romeu’s cross, while Maya Yoshida had a free header to the centre of the goal from about six yards out that Adrian did well to palm away.

Matip looked far from comfortable on the ball when the likes of Adams and Nathan Redmond pressing him, and his passing accuracy of 78.7% from the match, according to WhoScored, was far from ideal.

The African defender still looks better in the air than he does in possession, even if The Liverpool Echo reported post-match that his passing was improved from in Turkey after issuing their match ratings.

He also made 10 clearances, although some examples of those were him putting the ball into touch even when he wasn’t under serious pressure.

Chances still came in the second half and while neither centre-half could do anything about Danny Ings’ gift, they should have done better when the former Red was left on his own little more than six yards out late on, only to not make enough contact with the ball.

It was another three points on the board but it didn’t come without some negatives, and on this showing anyway Klopp is better off opting for van Dijk and Gomez as his first-choice centre-back pairing.

[ad_pod ]

[ad_pod ]

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

Daniel Levy’s relationship with the agent of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Christian Eriksen has broken down, per The Guardian.

What’s the word?

Eriksen aired his desire to move to a new club following the Champions League final and the report states that he has set his heart on a move to one of the Spanish super clubs, either Barcelona or Real Madrid.

Their transfer deadline, unlike the one in England, which closed before the resumption of competition, does not come to pass until next Monday.

That means that either club could still bid for the Denmark international, though they have yet to do so, per Football FanCast sources.

Eriksen has entered the final year of his contract but the club are unaware of his future plans, given that Levy has not spoken to Martin Schoots, who represents the player, for a significant period of time.

There is, of course, the possibility that he could look to leave on a free transfer next summer.

Patch things up

Levy has no excuse not to attempt to patch things up with Schoots and, by extension, with Eriksen.

Spurs need to know if one of their best players will be sticking around, or if he will be seeking a move in the coming months.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

If it is the latter, a contingency plan can be drawn up; if it is the former, they can rest easy until next summer’s transfer window.

That the relationship has broken down is not at all a good sign, however.

Spurs fans should probably brace for the worst.

[ad_pod ]

[ad_pod ]

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

Leeds have had a flying start to the season and currently sit top of the Championship after the opening four games.

The Whites have begun with three wins and a draw, snatching a win against Brentford on Wednesday evening courtesy of a debut home goal for Eddie Nketiah.

His fellow striker Patrick Bamford only mustered two attempts but it was a recurring trait that came back to haunt him against the Bees.

On the chalkboard

Just how Marcelo Bielsa chooses to play Bamford and Nketiah this term will be interesting.

The former struggled to get involved, having just 28 touches of the ball, the fewest number of any Leeds man in midweek.

The striker has got off to a flyer in terms of goals, netting three in four games, even if he did miss six shots against Nottingham Forest on the second weekend.

Bamford has a tendency to miss chances on the evidence seen against Forest but it’s another trait that’s causing him difficulties and served as a particular cause for concern against Brentford.

Considering he had so few touches, the fact he was dispossessed five times on Wednesday is incredibly alarming.

To add to that, the 25-year-old was unsuccessful with three touches in total as he endured a completely ineffective evening at Elland Road.

But this isn’t the first time he’s had a torrid time in this department.

Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He was dispossessed three times during Leeds’ opening match with Bristol City which carried across from the previous campaign.

Throughout 2018/19, Bamford was unsuccessful with 4.3 of his touches every 90 minutes whilst he lost the ball to a member of the opposition 1.7 times on average across the same metric, per WhoScored.

Bringing someone closer to him like Nketiah could prove fruitful, therefore, as he may find himself holding onto the ball less. However, if he doesn’t improve this aspect he could still be found wanting at times this season.

As seen, that was the case earlier this week.

[ad_pod ]

[ad_pod ]

Former England international Dean Ashton has been speaking to Football League World about Charlton’s impressive start to the season, although he has one concern regarding the Addicks.

Lee Bowyer has overseen a wonderful return to life in the Championship for the south Londoners, guiding them to four wins and two draws from their opening seven games having won the League One playoffs last term.

Their unbeaten start to the campaign was ended by Birmingham at The Valley last time out thanks to 16-year-old Jude Bellingham’s goal, a match in which Ashton’s one concern was evidenced.

What did he say?

Ashton said: “It wouldn’t surprise me if Lee Bowyer did manage to keep them there.

“The way he’s built the team and got them playing is good, and I think a lot will just come down to Lyle Taylor.

“If they can keep him fit to score the goals to keep them up there they’ll be looking strong because defensively they’ve looked pretty good as well.”

Ashton’s concern evidenced vs Birmingham 

In the 1-0 loss to Birmingham, Lyle Taylor was missing after sustaining an injury while on international duty with Montserrat.

Ashton states that “a lot” will come down to the 29-year-old staying fit and scoring the goals, and that much was certainly evident against the Midlands-based side.

With Tomer Hemed starting in Taylor’s absence, the Israel international struggled to replicate the former Millwall man’s impact.

Taylor has five goals and an assist in six Championship games so far this term, and his efficiency in attack will be key to Charlton’s hopes of success this season.

Bowyer’s men don’t often have unlimited chances – they managed just three shots to Brentford’s 21 in the 1-0 win over the Bees earlier this term – so having someone to finish off a rare chance is vital.

Against Birmingham, they didn’t have that man in Hemed, whereas his strike partner Jonathan Leko had no shots on target.

Taylor is unquestionably the side’s talisman, and Ashton is spot on in saying the Addicks need to keep him fit – the dire attacking performance against Birmingham proved just how key the 29-year-old is.

تحدث حمدي النقاز لاعب فريق الترجي التونسي عن مباراة اليوم أمام الزمالك والتي جمعت بينهما ضمن منافسات دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

وسقط الزمالك بنتيجة 3-1 أمام الترجي التونسي، في المباراة التي جمعت بينهما ضمن منافسات الجولة الثالثة من دور المجموعات بالبطولة القارية.

وقال حمدي النقاز في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة “أون تايم سبورتس2”: “مباراة كانت جيدة، كنت ألعب في فريق الزمالك وأحترمه وأعرف كل اللاعبين، وعقب المباراة ذهبت إلى غرفة الملابس الخاصة بهم لتحيتهم، الكرة بها مكسب وخسارة وبالتوفيق لهم في ما هو قادم”.

وأضاف: “درسنا الزمالك بشكل جيد وكنا نعلم نقاط القوة والضعف، قدموا مباراة ممتازة ولكن الهدف الثاني هو الذي أعطانا الأفضلية في الشوط الثاني بعد تصحيح الأخطاء”.

طالع | ميدو عن هزيمة الزمالك أمام الترجي: اللاعبون لا يسيرون إلا بـ”قلة الأدب”

وأردف: “الحمد لله وُفقت في الشوط الأول بصناعة الهدف الأول، وأهم شيء في دور المجموعات هو الفوز داخل ميدانك أكثر من خارجه”.

واستطرد: “لاعبو الزمالك يحبونني، ولم يكن لدي مشكلة معهم أو مع الجماهير”.

واختتم: “الحمد لله على كل حال، أنا الآن محترف وألعب في فريق كبير، وعقب المباراة صافحت لاعبي الزمالك”.