Due to his price-tag, Paul Pogba will always become the scapegoat whenever things start to go wrong at Manchester United. By the same hand though, the Frenchman probably hasn’t reached the levels expected when the Red Devils shelled out a world-record fee to bring him back to Old Trafford from Juventus two summers ago.
And in many ways, his failure to emerge as Jose Mourinho’s talismanic leader in midfield epitomises much about this United side, having struggled to produce their best football under pressure this term – including in Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea.
After the match, we asked United supporters whether it’s time to sell Pogba and start building the team around another top-class entity, and our poll has revealed that a whopping 67% of Red Devils fans would move the powerful midfielder on this summer.
But who should United target as Pogba’s replacement? Let us know by commenting below…
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
According to reports in The Sun, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is considering making a summer move for Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish, and Red Devils supporters have been quick to have their say on the link.
The Sun says that United like the 22-year-old’s driving runs from deep-lying positions in the middle of the park, and obviously feel that the Republic of Ireland international can add something alongside the likes of Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba in midfield next season.
Grealish certaily looks more likely to leave Villa this summer after they failed to win promotion back to the Premier League on Saturday following their Championship play-off final defeat against Fulham at Wembley.
Man United supporters, who are desperate for one 22-year-old to remain at Old Trafford this summer, took to social media to give their thoughts on the link to the midfielder, and they were unimpressed.
While one said “I don’t think he’s a United player”, another said “Scott McTominay is actually better”.
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.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”252976″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch 21 things that will definitely happen at the World Cup”]
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.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
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.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”252976″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch 21 things that will definitely happen at the World Cup”]
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.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
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.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255909″ player=”12034″ title=”Three reasons we love to hate… Germany”]
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.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
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.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
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.
Andrew Flintoff has agreed a new three-year deal to play one-day cricket for Lancashire, ending speculation over his future in the county game
Cricinfo staff05-Nov-2009Andrew Flintoff has agreed a new three-year deal to play one-day cricket for Lancashire, ending speculation over his future in the county game after he opted to become a freelance player following the decision to turn down an ECB incremental deal.Flintoff is currently recovering from the knee surgery he underwent following the Ashes series in August and is aiming to return to action in the one-day series against Bangladesh at the end of February. After calling time on his Test career, Flintoff said that he wanted to become “the best one-day player in the world” and is also being linked with a number of Twenty20 sides around the world.This new contract will replace the rolling one-year deal that would have come into place after Flintoff declined the England offer and was due to expire in 2010 and takes him up until the end of the 2012 season. The deal doesn’t include first-class cricket but Flintoff may still make the occasional four-day appearance if Lancashire needed his assistance.”This contract will also give me the flexibility to play other forms of one-day cricket around the world, which hopefully help me develop as a player and in turn, help Lancashire and England,” he said. “I have felt part of Lancashire ever since I first played here as a schoolboy and I want to help them achieve success. I am looking forward to being around the Lancashire dressing room more now I have retired from Test cricket”I have enjoyed many highs with England over the years, but I have not had the same success with Lancashire and that is something I want to address. I have a good relationship with Peter Moores and Glen Chapple and hopefully I can be of help to them both on the pitch and in the dressing room.”Head coach Peter Moores believes that Flintoff’s presence in the squad will a huge lift for the side. “Fred is a proven match-winner, and the type of player that lifts a dressing room with his sheer enthusiasm and will to win. It’s great that he is going to be with us, and I’m sure our supporters will be just as thrilled with the news.”
The Indian board is yet to finalise the schedule for the home series against South Africa early next year but has decided on Jaipur as the venue most likely to host the first ODI of the tour
Nagraj Gollapudi18-Dec-2009The Indian board is yet to finalise the schedule for the home series against South Africa early next year but has decided on Jaipur as the venue most likely to host the tour’s first ODI. A decision is also yet to be taken on whether the series will include Tests, as India have sought.Lalit Modi, chairman of the board’s tours and fixtures panel, said the final schedule will be worked out at a later date – it was held up by the absence of some members at the board’s working committee meeting today.Jaipur, he said, was picked because it had missed out during the Australia series earlier this year. That match was shifted to Vadodara due to a dispute at the Rajasthan Cricket Association between Modi and Sanjay Joshi, the then president. “As chairman of the BCCI’s tours and fixtures committee I’m going to recommend to the first ODI should be allotted to Jaipur because they had missed their term last time. In principle we have decided to give it to them,” Modi said.It was also decided that Ahmedabad will host the first four Rajasthan Royals games in the next IPL, with Jaipur allotted the final three. “The last three games will happen in Jaipur, as we have recommended some upgrading to be done. The first four will happen in Ahmedabad as they have already done a lot (of preparations),” Modi said. The arrangement was only for 2010, with Jaipur restored as the host venue for the 2011 edition.But barring that, the schedule as well as the venues for the other planned fixtures weren’t confirmed. “We are just fixing the schedule,” Modi said after the two-hour meeting at the Cricket Centre in Mumbai. “Unfortunately all the members were not present so the committee would be meeting in the next ten days to finalise the schedule,” he said.Last week the BCCI had sent a revised itinerary to Cricket South Africa requesting to play two Tests and three ODIs instead of the originally planned five-match ODI series. CSA is yet to approve the new schedule, though Gerald Majola, the South African board’s chief had given an in-principle nod.Modi also took the opportunity to make a public show of bonding with CP Joshi, the newly-elected RCA president, but said his gesture should not be read as a “compromise”. Earlier this month Joshi had defeated Modi in an acrimonious tussle to the RCA president’s post, winning the elections 19-13. Joshi was attending his first board meeting and cordially nodded to Modi’s suggestions.
Auckland have won the State Championship for 2002/03, a successful defence, a feat they last achieved in 1994/95 and
Lynn McConnell25-Dec-2009
Tim McIntosh: top State Championship run scorer
Tama Canning: top State Championship wicket-taker
Auckland have won the State Championship for 2002/03, a successful defence, a feat they last achieved in 1994/95 and 1995/96.In the following two years, Canterbury also managed successive titles.Since then the series has been won by Central Districts, Northern Districts and Wellington, leaving Otago as the only side not to have won the country’s premier first-class competition since 1996. Otago last won the series in 1987/88.Auckland sealed the title today when Wellington, the only team who could challenge them, finished with a loss at Otago’s hands in Alexandra.The final points were: Auckland 34, Wellington 31, Otago 26, Northern Districts 22, Central Districts 22, Canterbury 16.A late run of consistent weather has resulted in some outstanding batting during the last few rounds of the series.The most notable individual feat of the summer was the triple century scored by Canterbury’s Peter Fulton. It was the first time a triple century had been scored in this country since the summer of 1952/53 when Bert Sutcliffe scored 385 for Otago against Canterbury.The only double century of the summer was completed by Matthew Hart today who scored 201 not out for Northern Districts against Auckland.What was interesting about Auckland’s success was its dominance of the run-scoring list for the summer. Clearly the key ingredient to success is runs. They had three players in the top six scoring list during the summer, yet only one of their bowlers, Tama Canning, who was the highest wicket-taker in the competition with 46, was in the top six of the bowling list for most wickets.Tim McIntosh scored most runs in the competition with 820, Matt Horne hit 671 and Rob Nicol 664.The advantage Auckland enjoyed over Wellington this year was probably in its run scoring. Richard Jones was easily the pick of Wellington’s batsmen with 726 runs.But there was a significant gap back to Chris Nevin, who hit 532, and Matthew Bell, 499, which left Wellington lacking the greater consistency of the Aucklanders.In their bowling, Wellington relied on the medium pace of Matthew Walker, who took 45 wickets, and the medium-fast bowling of Iain O’Brien 34 and Andrew Penn 29.Otago proved the big improver of the year, finishing in third place. Their achievement was based around the batting in their top-order of Craig Cumming, 751 runs, and Mohammad Wasim, 651, and the bowling of Shayne O’Connor, 42, Kerry Walmsley, 37, and Warren McSkimming, 26.How best then to measure the showpiece domestic competition, when 15 of the country’s top players were taking part in the World Cup?That is the conundrum when looking at the State Championship.However, it is a fact of modern cricket life, that the international players will only take part in a lowly percentage of the domestic cricket programme in any given year so it can be safely said that this year has been little different.At the time of the summer when the World Cup was contested, New Zealand would normally be involved in a Test series, which would mean only 12 players would still be out of the competition at any one time anyway.Do three less players available for the domestic programme represent a significant dropping in standard? Probably not.With that in mind it comes back to the view that no matter who is taking part, the runs still have to be scored, the wickets taken and the catches held.Thirty-six centuries were scored over the Championship this summer while last year 33 centuries were scored and, in the first summer of the return to two rounds of the domestic championship, in 2000/01, there were 39 centuries.At the same time there have been 22 five-wicket bags taken by bowlers this year, compared with 31 last summer and 28 in the season before.The fact that games are tending to last longer suggests that players are learning to pace themselves more in the four-day game and there is greater benefit from exposure to so much cricket over the two rounds.The most pleasing thing about this year’s batting is the sight of young players, Jamie How, Fulton, Nicol and Nick Horsley among the top 10 runs scorers, with another cluster of younger players just behind them.That is a sign of developing health and a significant factor in boosting the standards of the competition in the future.
In his second one-day international, Ryan Harris kept a cool head under pressure to deliver Australia a 40-run victory and an unassailable 3-0 series lead after Shahid Afridi lit up a match that had threatened to fizzle out
The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale26-Jan-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRyan Harris was the star for Australia with five wickets in his second ODI•Getty Images
In his second one-day international, Ryan Harris kept a cool head under pressure to deliver Australia a 40-run victory and an unassailable 3-0 series lead after Shahid Afridi lit up a match that had threatened to fizzle out. Workmanlike half-centuries from Shaun Marsh and Michael Clarke, and a late Michael Hussey blitz, set up Australia’s 6 for 286 before Harris grabbed 5 for 43 to confirm Australia’s win.It was a remarkable effort from Harris, who finished up as the Man of the Match having only been called into the squad late on match eve as cover for Peter Siddle, who had a sore back. He began with a wicket in his first over and returned with three in two overs during the batting Powerplay when Afridi and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were giving Pakistan hope of a famous fightback.They had taken 37 from the first three overs of the field restrictions. Harris was introduced with 65 needed from 42 balls and promptly yorked Afridi, who had raced to 40 from 29 balls, and two balls later had Umar Gul caught skying for a duck. The fifth for Harris came in his next over when Rana (33) was caught at midwicket and Nathan Hauritz finished things off in the 48th over with Mohammad Asif caught top-edging.That wrapped up the match and the series and consigned the two matches in Perth over the next week to dead-rubber status, which will test the patience of Australian fans for ODIs in a summer featuring ten of them. It would not have escaped Cricket Australia’s notice that the crowd of 15,521 was smaller than the attendance for the domestic Twenty20 final at the same venue on Saturday, when 17,722 turned up to the Adelaide Oval.There were late onslaughts in both innings and the hint of a surprise comeback, but overall the manner of Australia’s win won’t do a lot for the cause of the 50-over game. Professional though they were, from the start of the 20th over to the beginning of the 44th Australia struck only four boundaries and added 114 runs. It’s precisely these middle overs that the Twenty20 format eliminates.Clarke’s first four didn’t come until he had 56 runs on the board as he gladly pushed singles and twos to the defensive field. Despite the lack of pizzazz, it was the sort of innings his team was hoping for and he built three important partnerships, 85 runs with Marsh, 55 with Cameron White and 80 with Hussey.The fun came in the last ten overs when, led by Clarke and Hussey, Australia added 95, helped by sloppy work from Pakistan, who had earlier missed run-outs and dropped Clarke on 32. The 48th over, bowled by Gul, featured three consecutive no-balls – an overstep, a full toss above waist height, and a delivery with too many fielders outside the circle. The over took nine balls and cost 23 runs.Clarke (80) and Hussey, who hit 49 from 28 balls, both fell to Gul in the 50th over but by then they’d done their job. The platform had been built by Marsh and Shane Watson, who combine for a 63-run opening stand that ended when Watson was bowled trying to slog a wonderful offcutter from Asif.Marsh went on to pass fifty for the seventh time in one-day internationals and looked set for his second hundred when he was stumped for 83, lured at a wide, spinning ball from Saeed Ajmal. Ajmal was the hardest of Pakistan’s bowlers to get away, with 1 for 41 from his ten overs, but they’d dropped their other spinner Shoaib Malik and Australia handled the fast men with ease.It wasn’t quite the same for Pakistan, even though Australia’s three main fast seamers entered the game with a combined 14 matches of experience. Harris kicked things off with Kamran Akmal lbw for 1 in the second over in a decision that, while tight and probably striking him a fraction outside off, was not a howler from Asoka de Silva.His next call was. Salman Butt loomed as the man most likely to anchor Pakistan’s innings and had 34 when he was sent packing by de Silva, who upheld Clint McKay’s appeal despite the ball pitching a long way outside leg stump sailing well over the top of the bails, according to Hawkeye’s prediction.There was no doubt about the second of McKay’s three wickets. Younis Khan, who had taken 20 balls to get off the mark, was surprised by a sharp rising bouncer that took the top edge and was snaffled by Haddin. Mohammad Yousuf followed when he chopped on to Watson and it took an 85-run stand from Umar Akmal (59) and Fawad Alam (33) to give Pakistan a sniff.Afridi and Rana gave them more than that before Harris spoilt their fun. It will be a brave selection panel to leave Harris, a cover player in Adelaide, on the sidelines for the next two games.