Andre Villas-Boas will not go down in Tottenham Hotspur history as one of their great managers; in fact most fans tend to poke fun at the Portuguese coach.
On paper, though, it is rather odd that the fanbase have such a disliking for the 40-year-old given that under his leadership the team set a then-club record of 72 points in the Premier League during the 2012-13 campaign.
Things started to go downhill in the following season after Gareth Bale was sold to Real Madrid and Spurs spent the money on array of new faces rather than a statement signing.
Villas-Boas lasted until December 2013 before he was given his marching orders, and since then, the former Chelsea coach has been in charge of Zenit St Petersburg and Shanghai SIPG.
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Surprisingly, the Portuguese coach switched focus to motorsport last year, but there are rumblings that he plans to return to football.
Real Madrid are looking for a new manager following Zinedine Zidane’s departure, and according to RMC Sport, Los Blancos have made contact with Villas-Boas regarding his availability.
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The report claims that the ex-Premier League boss is being considered due to his relationship with Gareth Bale, who soared for Spurs under Villas-Boas before departing for the Bernabeu.
The majority of Tottenham fans are not taking the reports too seriously; in fact they have been left tickled by them.
Bruno Fernandes is reportedly one of several Sporting CP players set to terminate his contract this week, so could he be the man to replace Manuel Lanzini at West Ham?
What’s the story?
Last week, West Ham fans were devastated by the news of Lanzini’s knee injury, with one inside source even claiming the Argentine could miss the entire 2018-19 season.
The injury is a huge loss for the Hammers and will certainly have a major effect on Manuel Pellegrini’s transfer plans.
The move for Lazio winger Felipe Anderson seems to be getting closer, but a creative number ten now has to be at the top of the shopping list.
According to Sky Sports, Fernandes has joined the likes of William Carvalho and Gelson Martins by asking to end his contract at Sporting, meaning he could be available for free this summer.
The Portuguese club is in meltdown after a gang of supporters attacked their first team in May, and Premier League clubs are on red alert over some potential bargains.
The 23 year-old will have plenty of clubs lining up for his signature, but the allure of working under an experienced coach like Pellegrini could lure him to East London.
The assist king?
The injury to Lanzini is a huge loss for West Ham in every conceivable way. The 25 year-old, who worked under Pellegrini as a youth player at River Plate, is probably the most technically gifted player in the squad, and is the only player outside of Marko Arnautovic that can create something out of nothing.
While Anderson should replace some of the pace and flair lost by the injury, the Hammers need a direct replacement for the creativity Lanzini brings, and that’s where Fernandes comes in.
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Playing mostly as a number ten, the 23 year-old grabbed an incredible 16 goals and 20 assists in all competitions last season, averaging over two key passes per game.
The Portuguese international, valued at £27m by Transfermarkt, is a set piece wizard, one of the best crossers in Europe, and always fancies his chances with a long distance effort.
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Fernandes is similar to Lanzini in that he will pop up in various positions to help make things happen, and could flourish in Pellegrini’s free flowing attack.
The young playmaker isn’t afraid to get stuck in either, averaging nearly two tackles per game in the league last season, so he shouldn’t have a problem adjusting to the physicality of the Premier League.
The Hammers will likely have to dish out some high wages to get a deal done, but it’s not every day a 23 year-old with 20 assists becomes available for free, so they should do whatever it takes to make it happen.
So, West Ham fans, would you back a swoop for Fernandes? Can Pellegrini convince him to join? Let us know by voting in the poll below…
Liverpool’s transfer business has been at the forefront of the football news in recent weeks, mainly their failure to get a deal over the line for Lyon playmaker Nabil Fekir.
Even though a move collapsed, it shows that Jurgen Klopp is looking to add to his attacking midfield options.
At the moment, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner and Adam Lallana are at the manager’s disposal as far as the middle of the park is concerned.
The club, though, are yet to recruit a replacement for Philippe Coutinho, who left Anfield to join Barcelona in January.
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Numerous targets have been churned through the rumour mill, but one who has been rarely been mentioned is Borussia Dortmund’s Mario Gotze.
The Germany international, who scored the winning goal in his nation’s World Cup triumph in 2014, is not a like-for-like replacement for Coutinho as he predominantly plays in the centre of midfield, but he can push further forward.
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Klopp worked with Gotze during his management spell at Dortmund, so with that in mind, we asked you if the club should make a move for the midfielder, and the majority are keen on the idea.
Those who are against the transfer could be concerned by the German’s recent fitness issues.
According to ESPN, Everton are one of a few Premier League teams interested in landing Huddersfield Town midfielder Aaron Mooy this summer. The 27-year-old enjoyed a fine season at the John Smith’s Stadium last time round to thus attract interest during the close season, and were new Toffees boss Marco Silva to indeed land the Australia international, it would finally solve a key midfield issue at Goodison Park.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, the Toffees endured a testing and disappointing Premier League campaign last time round given the investment made last summer, with many areas of the squad clearly lacking in the sufficient depth and quality to sustain a challenge to the top six teams.
And one of those areas in question was the central midfield department, as other than the influential Idrissa Gueye, both Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce found it hard to fall upon the ideal partner or indeed system to get the best out of the midfield ranks.
Morgan Schneiderlin, other than a few fine performances at the rear end of the season, was below-par for much of the campaign, to the point that he could be sold this summer, while Wayne Rooney clearly didn’t enjoy playing in a slightly deeper role, although he will join DC United next month – James McCarthy’s campaign was also decimated by injuries.
And while Tom Davies deserves credit for his efforts in the middle of the park, it’s clear that Silva’s team are lacking in that area of the field, which is why they must seek to do a deal for the mightily impressive Mooy.
The 27-year-old has played as big a part as any in the Huddersfield fairy-tale in the last few years, firstly in helping the Terriers win promotion from the Championship back in 2017, before going one better and inspiring them to Premier League safety last time round.
With four goals and four assists in all competitions for the Yorkshire side last term, it’s clear that he would complement the skills of Everton’s Gueye, with the latter slightly more industrious and strong off the ball, and while Mooy does have that in his locker, he is arguably more effective with the ball at his feet and seeking to move it forward.
Who do you think will win the World Cup? Let us know here
And if Silva is to take his new club forward next term, and indeed in the years to come, they have to address the obvious problem in the middle of the park – the addition of Mooy would do just that.
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And with reports also suggesting that Manchester City are not to trigger a buy-back clause in the 27-year-old’s contract, Silva must take advantage by bringing the £9 million-rated lynchpin (as per Transfermarkt) to Goodison Park.
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to Football Insider, West Ham are interested in signing Stoke City’s Jack Butland.
What’s the story?
The England international is currently playing in the Championship with Stoke City, who are struggling at the wrong end of the table.
As such, it is being said the Hammers are looking at bringing in the 26-year-old. However, the Potters currently value him at £25m, which is said to be a major hurdle for a January signing.
Good player, but West Ham should wait
This season, Butland is not having the best of times, both under previous manager Nathan Jones as well as new boss Michael O’Neill. In 14 starts in the second tier this term to date, he has a save percentage rate of just 49%, which is easily the lowest of any shot-stopper in the division.
However, on the whole, that is something of an anomaly. In the two full seasons, he has appeared in the Premier League, he has picked up a ratio of over 70%, picking up 16 clean sheets across those two campaigns. Last time out, albeit in the second tier, there were 18 games in which he did not concede a single goal even though Stoke could only finish in 16th position in the league.
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He also has nine caps for England, which is more proof of his credentials. And considering his age, he would likely be a long-term number one for the Hammers should he make the move to the London Stadium. That price tag, though, is not really viable. For a start, it would be one of the highest-ever fees paid to a Championship club, which would make little sense considering his form.
Not only that, Stoke are in real danger of getting relegated this term. They have just 18 points so far, and are currently two away from escaping the drop zone. If West Ham wait until the summer to make a bid for him, he could very well be a League One goalkeeper, which would automatically reduce his price tag. And even if they didn’t drop down a division, he will have just one year left on his contract by then, which would again likely mean the London outfit would not need to pay such a price.
Either way, waiting until the summer will represent a win-win situation for the Hammers. Lukasz Fabianski should return at the start of 2020, and David Martin can hold down the fort until then – in his first four games, he has two clean sheet. Then, come the end of the season, West Ham can pounce.
Meanwhile, West Ham fans react to one man’s accolade.
Manchester City beat Everton 2-0 in what was decent Premier League game if not a thriller. David Silva was at his imperious best and by far the most influential player on the pitch at Goodison. The diminutive Spaniard has started the season in the kind of form to worry even the staunchest of Chelsea supporters and been a breath of fresh air for City. Silva dipped in and out of space in his preferred No. 10 role with a fluidity that Everton just found hard to deal with. However, this is not to say that Roberto Martinez’ men were totally out-played. The Toffees gave a good account of themselves, largely closeing down the space well, and looked dangerous when the played the ball quick up to Lukaku and Kone. But appearing dangerous was about as far as they got with Romelu Lukaku’s free-kick that struck the crossbar the closest Everton came. Here are the THREE things we learned from Everton’s 0-2 loss to Manchester City …
City have strength on the left
The Manchester City left-hand-side that left Bransilav Ivanovic looking like the 31-year-old centre-half-come-right-back that he actually is – rather than the marauding wing-back routine that he’s been putting on – were again Manuel Pellegrini’s main source of threat against Everton.
Sterling’s move from Liverpool has allowed Silva to play in his preferred central position and seems to have – finally – brought the best out of Aleksander Kolarov. The left-back’s goal will serve as a warning to all City’s upcoming opponents if they haven’t already headed it.
Tim Howard still Tim Howard
Alas, it wasn’t to be. So often this is the story of Tim Howard; a secession of spectacular saves followed by a simple goalkeeping error.
Howard’s always been a good shot-stopper but was caught completely out of position by Alexander Kolorov for City’s opener. Which is a shame, really.
Navas not the answer
The addition of Raheem Sterling alloyed with Jesus Navas on the right-hand-side has meant that Manuel Pellegrini can play with real width this season. But while the former has quietly excelled, the latter has been found wanting for the same reasons as last.
Navas givea this Manchester City team balance but not a lot else. The Spaniard looks distinctly average in a team who should be serious challengers for the league.
Statistics are becoming more important than ever in the world of football and particularly here in the Premier League.
Indeed, the vast majority of English clubs adopted statistical analysis some time ago, applying it to tactics, recruitment strategies, training sessions and virtually every other aspect of the modern game.
At the same time, Sky Sports and BBC Sport turned to data from Sports Interactive, the creators of the hugely successful Football Manager series, when running the rule over rumoured Premier League targets during the summer, whilst the popularity of websites like Whoscored and Squawka, created from interpreting the beautiful game in numerical form, are at an all time high.
With that in mind and seven games of the new Premier League season already gone, Football Fancast have decided to delve through Manchester United’s stats for the 2015/16 campaign in the hope of finding a few anomalous gems.
Fortunately, we did. So here’s FIVE surprising Red Devils statistics you can impress your mates with down the local boozer.
MATA RESPONSIBLE FOR HALF OF UNITED’S LEAGUE GOALS
Football – Manchester United v Manchester City – Barclays Premier League – Old Trafford – 12/4/15Juan Mata celebrates scoring the third goal for Manchester United with Wayne Rooney and Ashley YoungAction Images via Reuters / Jason CairnduffLivepicEDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.
Often accused of lacking a natural role in Manchester United’s starting Xi, Juan Mata has made the right wing his own this season – topping the Red Devils’ charts for both assists and goals in the Premier League:
That makes the Spaniard in some way responsible for half of United’s Premier League goals (12) and for almost one goal per league appearance. Impressive stuff. As you can see below, it’s a significant improvement on his form since moving to Old Trafford in January 2014:
LONG BALL UNITED?
Louis van Gaal didn’t take too kindly to Sam Allardyce dubbing the Red Devils ‘long ball United’ last season after they scraped a draw with West Ham via a series of last-minute pumps into the East London outfit’s penalty box. But the stats don’t lie and United currently average the third-most long passes per match in the Premier League, only trumped by West Ham and Watford:
Does that mean they’re now the Premier League’s resident long-ball merchants? In a nutshell, no – because they’re also the third-most prolific short passers in the division after Arsenal and Manchester City:
Interestingly enough, however, that’s still not enough for them to top the Premier League’s passing table, coming second behind the Gunners:
TOP OF THE FAIR PLAY LEAGUE
Perhaps due to their sustained dominance of possession, no Premier League side has picked up less cards than United’s miserly nine this season, averaging out at just 1.3 bookings per game:
That’s despite averaging the ninth-most fouls per match of any time in the division:
Of those nine bookings, three have come from just one man; rugged right-back Matteo Darmian, who always brings shall we say… a typically Italian philosophy to United’s defensive efforts. Only three Premier League players, Jack Colback, Eric Dier, Billy Jones and Alexander Tettey, have more:
MAN UNITED LOVE MIDFIELD AND ATTACKING DOWN THE LEFT
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Considering the Red Devils are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League table, you might be surprised to discover that they’ve spent the least amount of time in the opposition half of any side to finish in the top four last season:
Indeed, they much prefer to spend their time battling it out in midfield – 48% of it to be precise, which is only bettered by 17th-place Stoke City:
Bizarrely, however, United’s attacks don’t stem from the middle of the pitch. Instead, the left flank has been their predominant source of forward play this season, likely due to Luke Shaw’s copious overlapping runs during the opening weeks of the campaign. They actually boast the biggest left wing bias in the Premier League:
MARTIAL MAGIC
Anthony Martial has already received glowing reviews this season, proving that youngsters won’t necessarily crumble under the weight of enormous price tags, but the statistics show just how impressive he’s truly been.
First and foremost, he’s just one of two United players to score more than one goal in the Premier League this season along with Juan Mata. Whilst that’s required eighteen shots from the Spaniard, however, the 19 year-old has bagged three from just five attempts at goal, giving him a conversion rate of 60%.
But what has surprised many about the young forward is his ability to handle the physicality of the top flight, despite measuring in at just 5 foot 11. Indeed, Martial has averaged the most successful aerial duels of any Manchester United player this term – an impressive 3.3:
That actually ranks him joint 16th throughout the division.
After Wayne Rooney’s hat-trick against Club Brugge in mid-week, everyone was expecting to see the rebirth of one of England’s most prolific strikers.
Rooney is yet to get on the score sheet in the Premier League this season and many fans had criticised has lack of impact up front before his goal scoring exploits in Belgium.
But after an awful first half at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon, Man United fans took to Twitter to hurl abuse at their Old Trafford hero and called for manager Louis Van Gaal to go out and buy a world class striker before Tuesday evening’s transfer window deadline.
Rooney missed a number of chances in the opening 45 minutes, and generally looked lacklustre, ineffective and, quite simply, rubbish.
So it was no surprise to see fans calling for the end of Wayne Rooney as we know it, despite the initial hope that he’d finally start banging them in on a regular basis again…
European football expert Raphael Honigstein believes that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp could return to his former club Dortmund for Neven Subotic’s signature despite claims that he has no desire to raid his old side.
The German boss took over at Anfield following the sacking of Brendan Rodgers in October after spending a few months out of the game on the back of seeing out his contract with BVB.
Due to the timing of his arrival, Klopp has been unable to draft in any players suited to his own style of play since moving to Anfield, which has led to much speculation surrounding the January window.
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There have been natural links between the 48-year-old and some of the stars that made his Dortmund side so successful, but the German club’s CEO, Hans-Joachim Watzke, has claimed that he cannot see such a state of affairs arising.
However, Bundesliga expert Honigstein says that he can see Klopp making a move for centre-back Subotic:
“The Dortmund CEO [Hans-Joachim Watzke] said Klopp would not target any of his players, but I think there could be a deal to be made for Subotic.” He told Sportsvibe.
“He is a bit out of favour under the new manager and is one of the few players personally picked by Klopp who brought him from Mainz to Dortmund in 2008.”
Klopp coached Subotic at Mainz before signing him upon his arrival at Dortmund.
Although Mats Hummels has been lauded for his defensive skills, the Serbia international was also a key player under the now Kop chief through the club’s back-to-back BuLi title successes in 2011 and 2012, as well as their journey to the 2013 Champions League Final.
Since Klopp’s exit Subotic has managed only one league appearance and appears to be way down new boss Thomas Tuchel’s pecking order.
There are few certainties in the Premier League. It’s true that anybody can beat anybody and with Leicester City sat second in the table, only denied top spot by goal difference, even the race for Champions League places is clouded in mystery.
Yet some elements are clear as day. The clearest being that Randy ‘Slow’ Lerner has spent the last nine years ensuring Aston Villa are on a downward trajectory. Now they face relegation and can’t have any complaints.
Deepest sympathy should go to their loyal fans. They have never made outrageous demands or placed any undue pressure upon the club. Lacking the spending power of those like Chelsea, they knew title runs were probably a thing of the past. But it was reasonable for them to expect a push for Europa League football each year. This would have been a good building block for the giant club.
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Instead they have an owner with a different agenda. One that must have welcomed Financial Fair Play (FFP) to justify his lack of overall ambition. Lerner gives the impression all he’s ever wanted at Villa Park is a Premier League existence. He’s more than happy with a mundane mid-table run each season.
First and foremost, Randy Lerner is an entrepreneur. His initial dealings as an owner of a sport’s team came when his father passed away and he assumed control of NFL outfit Cleveland Browns, which he later sold.
He legitimately had an interest in English football sides and had looked into the possibility of buying a stake in several, including Arsenal.
But his interest was weighted heavily from a business perspective. He fits the stereotype perfectly of the foreign owner that thinks they can run a club just because they’ve done well in business but will walk away when bored.
It’s no secret he’s trying to sell Aston Villa. He has previously stated there was interest from all corners of the globe but as of yet nothing solid has emerged from potential suitors. Lerner has even taken the step of standing down as chairman, acknowledging he was unable to fulfil the duty alongside his Stateside business activities. It all points to a man whose heart isn’t in it.
For that lack of care and interest he will now pay the ultimate price. An empty trophy cabinet won’t hurt owners like Lerner, a diminishing financial return will. Even with parachute payments, the drop from the Premier League cripples larger clubs like Villa. A quick look at Leeds shows how the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Coupled with less cash on a monthly basis will be the reduction in the club’s resale value.
His lack of respect and understanding for the game has been highlighted by his managerial appointments. Giving the job to Alex McLeish was deserving of relegation on its own but he swerved a bullet there. Some may argue Paul Lambert showed a fresh approach by hiring a promising young manager. The reality is, he saw a man that had succeeded on a budget and fancied he could do the same in the midlands.
Tim Sherwood was a good decision but was unfairly sacked before he’d even managed to absorb the summer signings into his style of play. Even the transfer spend given to Sherwood was a case of too little, too late and the owner was the one with the final say. A spending policy without direction from a man that couldn’t care less about the club.
Remi Garde may have had moderate success in France as a manager, and as a coach working under Paul Le Guen helped Lyon take two league titles, but it isn’t a CV that provides any evidence he can keep a struggling Premier League side up. What makes his appointment even more frustrating for Villa fans, is that after abandoning a young manager who holds the best win percentage for Tottenham Hotspur in Premier League history, Lerner overlooked Sam Allardyce, a man almost guaranteed to keep any club up.
There’s no shortcut to success and cutting corners will always lead to bad results in the long run. After years of making the long-suffering Villa fans accept nothing better than average, the American has been found out. He’ll finally get his sale in the summer when £100m is wiped off the club’s value.
Hopefully Randy Lerner’s replacement will care more about the health of the team than the size of his personal fortune.