Liverpool fans react to Henderson’s England display

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Loads of Liverpool fans have been reacting to England’s dominant performance against Czech Republic, and they’ve got plenty to say about Jordan Henderson.

Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions kicked off their Euro 2020 qualification campaign in fine style on Friday night, sweeping Czech Republic aside thanks to a Raheem Sterling hat trick.

Wembley was witness to some lovely football in the first half, and it was Henderson, together with Harry Kane, who forged the opening opportunity for Jadon Sancho to lay on a plate for Sterling’s first.

The 5-0 scoreline doesn’t flatter Southgate’s side either – they were first to every ball and better in absolutely every aspect, though their defending at set pieces is cause for concern.

Mo Salah has been brutally mocked for his recent diving antics in a new video by 442oons. Check it out below…

Just as he is at Liverpool, Henderson is the leader in Southgate’s midfield, and his pressing and passing were both top notch against a very weak Czech side.

The Reds skipper led the game in touches with 102 and completed 86 per cent of his passes, per Whoscored.

There are a few on Merseyside who are not too happy though, taking issue with the captain’s departure from the game in Munich and subsequent absence against Fulham after he romped about the Wembley turf at 100 per cent for a full 90 minutes.

Either way, you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Pundit View: Matteo tips Liverpool to swoop for Bale

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Former Liverpool player Dominic Matteo has called for what would be the signing of the summer from the Reds – Gareth Bale.

It’s beginning to look increasingly likely that Bale will leave Madrid this summer, as the Welsh international is constantly linked with a move back to the Premier League.

The 29 year-old’s agent recently called the treatment he gets from Real Madrid fans a “disgrace”, per the BBC.

And while Spurs and Manchester United are the two teams most strongly linked with his signature, Matteo, who played for the Reds between 1992 and 2000, thinks Anfield would be an appropriate landing spot.

What did he say?

“It would be a big signing. If he was coming back to England, I’m sure that everyone would take him,” Matteo said on Stadium Astro’s Youtube channel.

“With Bale, when Madrid beat Liverpool in the final, he had that bit of X factor. Liverpool could maybe do with one more X factor player to score in the finals.

“That’s what we’ve lacked that bit of X factor to get us over the line.”

Stick or twist?

In fairness to Matteo, he is not wrong about Liverpool missing an “X factor”. As soon as Mohamed Salah went off in Kiev, the Reds looked totally devoid of any superstar power, the type of superstar power that Bale displayed on that very night to be specific.

Looking at the bigger picture though, where would Bale fit at Anfield? The Salah at striker experiment didn’t really work, meaning the Egyptian will keep his place on the right wing, and Roberto Firmino is crucial to the way Jurgen Klopp sets his team up.

That just leaves Sadio Mane, who has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid, with former Southampton teammate Oriol Romeu even saying the Senegalese international is ”ready” to go to the Bernabeu.

Given that Zinedine Zidane is clearly a huge fan of Mane, swooping for Bale will only mean one thing – Los Blancos returning with a bid of their own for Mane, perhaps even one that is too good to be rejected.

The Reds basically have the option here to stick or twist, and fans would surely rather stick with the red-hot Mane over a misfiring Bale.

Matchday plan: Liverpool

Wednesday night just shows how far Jurgen Klopp has brought Liverpool. Battering Bayern Munich 1-3 away from home truly is a memorable result. What. A. Win. 

Dominance over one of the Champions League favourites is one thing, but Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool fans alike still want the double. The German manager has not put all of his eggs in one basket and is optimistic for a historic season for the Reds, truly riding the crest of a wave.

Still, with a game against Fulham later today, and a chance to take back top spot, we take a look at some of the changes the Reds boss could make. Indeed, a win later could put the club back on top while Manchester City play in the FA Cup, potentially providing them with a psychological boost.

With that in mind, here’s a closer look.

Drop James Milner 

With the pile up of games coming up towards the end of the season, especially with the push for another Champions League final, it’s time for squads to find out just how much depth and quality in that depth that they have.

With this in mind, James Milner may be looking over his shoulder, with Adam Lallana coming back to fitness it looks as though it may be time on a regular starting spot for the Englishman.

Klopp and Kopites alike should be full of confidence that if Milner is to be dropped later on today, the space will be filled with quality, a problem that Liverpool have had in previous seasons.

It truly is time to get excited if you are Red.

Start Adam Lallana 

Coming back from injury and hitting full fitness at a perfect time, Adam Lallana has been thrown straight into the deep end of the title race and Champions League. Since being introduced into the first eleven again, the 30-year-old has adapted to the circumstances well and put in solid performances for the Reds.

Lallana will be eager to get another start against Fulham, after putting in a man of the match performance in the 4-2 home win over Burnley.

No matter who plays, Anfield is sure to bring more special atmospheres to games for the rest of this season, will there be any silverware to show for it at the end? We can’t wait to find out.

رئيس الاتحاد الفرنسي يُشيد بـ بنزيما ويلقي الكرة في ملعب ديشامب بشأن عودته للمنتخب

أشاد نويل لو جرانيت رئيس الاتحاد الفرنسي لكرة القدم، بمُهاجم ريال مدريد، كريم بنزيما، بعد موسمه الرائع مع النادي الملكي.

بنزيما ظهر بمستوى مميز مع ريال مدريد في موسم 2019/2020 المُنصرم، إذ كان حاسمًا في أغلب فترات الموسم، وساعد النادي الملكي على التتويج بلقب الدوري الإسباني، وسجّل 21 هدفًا في الليجا، وجاء بالمركز الثاني في سلم ترتيب الهدافين، خلف ليونيل ميسي نجم برشلونة بفارق 4 أهداف.

وقال جرانيت في تصريحات نقلتها صحيفة “لو باريزيان” الفرنسية: “من يستطيع أنّ ينكر أنّ كريم بنزيما لاعب رائع؟!”.

وأضاف: “بنزيما قدم موسمًا مثاليًّا، الكل يعرف إنه لاعب مثالي، دائمًا ما احترمت بنزيما، إنه لاعب رائع”.

أقرأ أيضًا.. رباعي ريال مدريد يعود للتدريبات.. وماركا تكشف موقفهم من مباراة بيتيس

وواصل: “هل كريم يدفع ثمن الكلمات التي قالها في العام الماضي؟ هناك بعض الكلمات التي من الصعب أنّ تسامح عليها أكثر من غيرها”.

وأتم تصريحاته قائلًا: “لست نادمًا على أي شيء، منطقيًّا ديدييه ديشامب سيستمر حتى كأس العالم 2022 ولست مُتأكدًا إذا كان سيعيد بنزيما مرة أخرى لأن الأمر صعب للغاية، ما حدث مر عليه وقت طويل، ولكن ديشامب المسؤول”.

كريم بنزيما يغيب عن الاستدعاء للمنتخب الفرنسي منذ أكتوبر 2015 بعد واقعة ابتزازه لزميله في الديوك ماثيو فالبولينا بفيديو إباحي للأخير.

Australia reluctant for Watson to stop bowling

Michael Clarke has not yet considered the possibility of cutting down Shane Watson’s bowling workload when he returns to the Test side. Watson will miss the first Test against South Africa, starting at the Gabba on Friday, after injuring his calf while bowling for New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield match on Saturday, and it is far from the first time Watson has hurt himself while bowling.He missed all of Australia’s home Tests last summer after suffering a hamstring injury while bowling in the Johannesburg Test in November – a calf complaint also arose during the summer – and often struggled with his dual batting and bowling roles earlier in his career. Watson, 31, has always declared himself an allrounder and insisted that he wants to keep bowling. Australia will need to consider how best to use him over the coming years.They could look to the example of Steve Waugh, who began his career as an allrounder and often bowled more than 20 overs in a Test innings, but once he reached his thirties his body struggled to handle the workload and he scaled back his bowling significantly. Notably, around the time Waugh cut back on his bowling his Test batting average was 43; by the end of his career it had risen to 51.”We’ll worry about that if we have to. Shane sees himself as an allrounder. I haven’t heard any different at this stage,” Clarke said in Brisbane ahead of the first Test. “I’m pretty sure he wants to come back as an allrounder and we’ve selected him through his career as an allrounder.”There have been games where he hasn’t been selected because he hasn’t been able to bowl. If he’s fit to do both, then he’ll do both. If he’s not, the selectors will sit down and work out if we’re going to select him just as a batsman.”For the time being, Australia are not willing to choose Watson for his batting alone. Although Watson consistently makes starts and has passed 50 on 20 occasions in Test cricket, only twice has he gone on to turn those into hundreds. Australia’s coach, Mickey Arthur, is also keen for Watson to return as an allrounder, rather than confining himself to a batting role.”Shane’s got a massive amount to offer in two disciplines,” Arthur said on on Monday. “It’s a blow not to have him because he’s two cricketers in one. Shane’s still got a long career ahead of him, batting and bowling.”Whether that career includes this series against South Africa remains to be seen, although he has more than two weeks to prove his fitness before the second Test in Adelaide. Australia called Rob Quiney in for this Test and Arthur said the selection panel had been keen to replace Watson with the man they considered the next best batsman, rather than another allrounder such as Andrew McDonald.”There was [consideration of another allrounder], we had a look at all the scenarios,” Arthur said. “As a panel we were very keen on picking what we thought was our best top-six batters. I think that’s really important, especially against a good bowling attack, we wanted to pick our best top six. Then we look down the line at what our best four bowlers are to get us 20 wickets. We’ve gone down the old fashioned route of picking six batters, four bowlers and a keeper.”That balance could present some on-field challenges for Clarke, who might need to rely on his part-timers more heavily than he would have liked. It was notable that at training on Tuesday, Quiney and Michael Hussey were both sending down medium-pacers in the nets. Quiney’s outswingers have earned him three first-class wickets – he took 2 for 22 the first time he bowled in a first-class match – and Clarke will consider using him if required at the Gabba.”We’ve seen in the past that I’ve got some overs out of Michael Hussey. Rob Quiney will be no different,” Clarke said. “And if there’s a bit of spin, I can bowl as well. We’ve still got the options there. Whether you’ve got an allrounder in your team or not, you always rely on your main four bowlers and then you use your part-timers as you see fit. Hopefully our frontline bowlers can do the job. But if there’s a role for a part-timer to play, they’ll certainly get that opportunity.”

Crystal Palace fans react as PSV Eindhoven increase their Patrick van Aanholt offer

Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after Sky Sports revealed that PSV Eindhoven have increased their offer for Patrick van Aanholt.

The Eredivisie outfit – who Van Aanholt used to play for – bid £4.2m for the Netherlands international, although that was rejected by the Eagles while PSV have now come in with a new offer that ‘could rise to £7.6m’.

Van Aanholt has 18 months left on his contract at Selhurst Park and has made 17 appearances in the Premier League this season, scoring two goals.

The 29-year-old cost Palace a fee in the region of £14m when they signed him from Sunderland in January 2017, where he has since made 99 appearances for the south Londoners, scoring 13 goals and providing three assists.

The Evening Standard reported that Palace would not consider any offers for their No.3 this month.

Roy Hodgson has no other senior left-backs behind Van Aanholt, although Jairo Riedewald and Jeffrey Schlupp can cover in the role if need be.

Let’s see how the Palace fans on Twitter reacted to the news…

To kick off the reaction, Harry Kirby said that PSV are “getting closer” – however, we’re unsure as to what they’re getting closer to given Palace’s stance of not wanting to sell.

Elsewhere, these three fans all said that Van Aanholt should not be sold in their own, unique way.

Michael said – all in capital letters to emphasise his point – that the Eagles should not sell the former Chelsea man unless a “younger, competent replacement” is signed.

Jay said “beg we don’t sell” before stating that the 29-year-old “has a great impact on the team when he plays”.

Mandy then reiterated our aforementioned point that Van Aanholt is Hodgson’s only natural left-back, and that the Eagles “would be mad to sell” – “especially” this late in the window.

Lastly, these two fans both had contrasting views on the situation.

Who on earth is that?!?! Can you name all of these obscure January signings?

Sam said that PSV’s offer is “still not really enough” although @cpfc_sean said “get the money” and Riedewald can stay at left-back until Nathan Ferguson or Jamal Lewis are signed – The Evening Standard have reported that Palace are targeting a move for the West Brom teenager, whereas Football Insider state that talks are at an advanced stage with Norwich over Lewis’ signature.

In other news, Dominic Fifield has revealed who Crystal Palace’s “priority” at full-back “seems to be”…

Liverpool fans react to Alberto Moreno’s performance against Wolves in the FA Cup

Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to direct their anger towards Alberto Moreno, after the full-back put in a poor performance against Wolves in the FA Cup third round defeat at the Molineux.

Moreno has recently spoken to the media about his frustration regarding a lack of game time, but he did himself no favours with his showing against Nuno Espirito Santo’s men as he endured a torrid evening.

The Spaniard looked out of his depth against the likes of Raul Jimenez, Diogo Jota and Ivan Cavaleiro, when he really needed to grasp a rare opportunity to impress Jurgen Klopp and prove he is good enough to play for the Reds.

Naturally, when a player is underperforming, Liverpool fans aren’t slow to let them know it, but the annoyance towards Moreno has only been heightened by his recent comments.

Let’s take a look at some of the best tweets from fans who watched their side bow out of the FA Cup early on once again…

Recent revelations should prompt Celtic to move for Tom Heaton

According to a recent report from The Daily Mirror, Tom Heaton could be interested in a move away come the January transfer window. The England international currently plays his football at Premier League side Burnley and has done so since 2013, although he has since fallen down the pecking order at Turf Moor behind Nick Pope and summer signing Joe Hart.

And reports suggest that the 32-year-old could well be open to a move away come the New Year in a bid for first team football, and this should be of keen interest to Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, with a potential transfer masterstroke seemingly staring the Bhoys boss right in the face.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, the goalkeeping ranks at Parkhead are lacking some depth and quality with just Craig Gordon and Scott Bain on the books at the Scottish Premiership champions, the latter of which only signed during the summer after impressing during an emergency loan spell last term.

And with Scotland international Gordon to turn 36 at the end of the year, one wonders just how much longer he has left at the top of the Scottish game, as although he has produced many fine displays over the years, he did come in for criticism on occasion last time round for his efforts between the sticks.

And with question marks over Bain’s capabilities over the course of a season, Rodgers could well be seeking to improve his goalkeeping ranks come the January window, and he could do a lot worse than trying to lure Burnley’s Heaton to Celtic Park.

The Englishman has shone for the Clarets in his five-year stint at the Lancashire-based outfit to underline his capabilities in the Premier League, with his efforts in the 2016/17 campaign of particular note given he became arguably one of the best shot-stoppers in the league that term.

Heaton conceded just 48 goals and kept ten clean sheets for Sean Dyche’s men that season to help the Clarets avoid an immediate return to the Championship, with the England international pulling off several fine saves and thus match-winning performances to preserve Burnley’s top-flight status – there’s a reason he earned three England caps in 2016 and 2017.

But a shoulder injury at the start of the 2017/18 season has completed derailed Heaton at both club and international level, ultimately losing his place at Burnley to fellow Englishman Pope, who also got the nod ahead of him in Gareth Southgate’s squad for this summer’s World Cup – Hart’s arrival from Manchester City over the summer has only increased Heaton’s woes.

And with the 32-year-old seemingly struggling to dispose Hart of the gloves at Turf Moor, a move away could be in his best interests, and a move north of the border to Rodgers’ Celtic could be what he needs to get his career going again after a testing few years.

Clearly, Heaton has proven to be an excellent goalkeeper in recent times and would no doubt be an upgrade on messrs Gordon and Bain at Celtic Park, which is why Rodgers must seek to make a move for the Englishman come the New Year – ultimately, it’s a potential transfer masterstroke staring the Celtic boss right in the face.

Celtic fans… what do you think? Let us know!

Revealed: 57% of fans think Barca outcast Gomes should choose Arsenal over Spurs

It has been clear for quite some time that Portuguese international midfielder Andre Gomes is surplus to requirements at La Liga champions Barcelona as they seek to clear the decks and prepare for a renewed assault on the Champions League after the big-money signings of Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele last season.

Reports suggest that the former Valencia man’s likely destination will be north London, with both Unai Emery and Mauricio Pochettino interested in the services of the talented midfielder, who has just lost his way somewhat since joining the Catalan giants.

It is the Gunners who have been much more decisive and active in the transfer market so far – although they had far greater need to be – but we asked whether Gomes should shun the Emery revolution in order to usher in a new era at White Hart Lane.

In actual fact, the fans we polled think the Gomes should join the red half of town, with 57 per cent of them urging the playmaker to link up with Emery, as you can see from the full results below…

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255896″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Tottenham’s opening fixtures for the 201819 Premier League season”]

Newcastle fans excited by potential Lucas Perez switch

As reported by The Sun, Newcastle are set to rival Deportivo la Coruna for the signature of Arsenal forward Lucas Perez this summer.

Rafa Benitez is on the hunt for talent that can make the Magpies a real force in the top-flight next season after their promotion from the top-flight. It’s a difficult process in a busy market but someone like Lucas Perez certainly appears to fit the bill.

Despite not forcing his way into Arsene Wenger’s plans at the Gunners, he has good pedigree in La Liga, scoring 17 goals in the Spanish top-flight two seasons ago before his switch to London. If Benitez can tap into that kind of form they would have a real gem on their hands.

He made most of appearances for Arsenal from the bench last season but still managed to net 7 goals in all competitions, not an unsubstantial total given his minutes on the pitch.

It’s a signing that certainly appears to have caught the imagination of the Newcastle support with many fans taking to Twitter to share their enthusiasm about the potential switch…

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