Everton bounced back from two consecutive English Premier League defeats on Saturday, beating Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 at Goodison Park.
The closing stages of the season are all about improvement for Toffees, with the prospect of relegation out of the question and their chances of securing European football slim.
After losing to Watford and Burnley away from home, it was a welcome return to Goodison for Sam Allardyce’s men, who looked comfortable throughout their win over the visiting Seagulls.
An own goal from Gaetan Bong broke the deadlock in the second half before Cenk Tosun scored his second in two games to secure all three points.
After a difficult start to his career on Merseyside, fans were delighted by Tosun’s contribution and are now predicting he will go on to become an excellent signing for the club.
Aside from his quality finish, supporters were impressed by his work rate and desire to impress the home crowd.
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They took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the Turkish striker…
You have to wonder if, somewhere along the line, that infamous team selection against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu – the decision to drop Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling, Glen Johnson, Mario Balotelli and Dejan Lovren – comes back to haunt Brendan Rodgers.
Without context, in the vacuum of a single fixture, the Liverpool boss didn’t really do a lot wrong. After all, previously, Los Blancos had recorded eleven straight wins, including a 3-0 thumping at Anfield and a 3-1 victory over Barcelona, whilst the Reds’ had won just four in eleven, three of which, against Ludogorets, Swansea and QPR, had come via stoppage-time winners.
So the decision to rest Liverpool’s faltering stars for the more industrial members of the squad, such as Adam Lallana, Lucas Leiva, Joe Allen, Emre Can and Fabio Borini, to prevent an embarrassment similar to the one on Merseyside just a fortnight earlier is certainly understandable – more on that later.
Yet, when combined with Liverpool’s poor start to the season – a defeat to Chelsea last weekend seeing them drop to eleventh in the Premier League table – and recent criticisms over Rodgers’ spending strategy, with little above-ordinary to show for the £212million transfer outlay since he became Anfield boss in 2012, the controversial Bernabeu line-up forms another piece of kindling on the edge of a simmering fire.
Not to suggest Liverpool fans are currently over-miffed about it. Not to suggest Brendan Rodgers is about to lose his job because of it. But like an argument with a soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend, it’s the kind of issue that gets thrown up in spite, all-the-more distorted by time and events since. “Yeah, and remember how he set us up to lose against Real Madrid?” you can imagine a typically militant Reds supporter muttering at Anfield if Liverpool’s poor run continues much longer.
Perhaps that hypothetical fan has a point – although no manager actively puts out teams to lose, Rodgers hardly set the Reds up to win either. They could’ve played Real Madrid for a fortnight and probably wouldn’t have got past Iker Casillas, barring an unforced error – they simply didn’t have enough quality on the pitch to hurt the European Champions.
That being said, you have to admire Brendan Rodgers’ bravery in his commitment to pragmatism over Liverpudlian nostalgia.
After all, that probably constituted Steven Gerrard’s last chance to play on the immaculate Bernabeu pitch before retiring, and based on Liverpool’s current league form, that could be their last truly memorable Champions League fixture against star-studded opposition for at least another season. The fans and the Reds’ captain fantastic would’ve undoubtedly preferred to have gone out with a bang rather than a tacit surrender, and Rodgers must have known there would be a media-backlash as soon as the teams were announced; virtually the entirety of British punditry is formed by hot-headed, trophy-laden former Reds.
But Liverpool’s continuation in the Champions League was never dependent upon recording underdog wins against the La Liga giants, especially away from home. Group B opponents Basel and Ludogrets should hardly be obstacles for a club that came second in the Premier League last season; that’s where the Reds’ European campaign will be lost and won.
Some common ground could’ve been found between the ‘B team’ that faced Real and the Liverpool side that lost to Newcastle United the weekend previous. Jordan Henderson for example, through his work-rate and determination, is the perfect midfielder for a gritty, backs-against-the-wall performance. Likewise, £20million signing Lazar Markovic offered nothing Raheem Sterling couldn’t on the right-hand side and Mario Balotelli, for all his indiscretions this season, is the kind of player that comes alive when he knows the world is watching.
But why should Rodgers have fielded his regular stars? Why should Steven Gerrard be undropable? None are performing anywhere near the levels of last season and the absence of Luis Suarez has become a tedious excuse for Liverpool’s form. Yes, he gave the Reds cutting edge and world-class industry, but that amplified Liverpool’s ethos last season, not constituted it entirely.
Therefore, why not give Lallana, Kolo Toure, Can et al their chance? They’ve been waiting all season to have an impact whilst the established stars have faltered and absolutely none of them, not even Fabio Borini, who was effectively told to leave Merseyside during the summer, let Rodgers down. The Liverpool boss spent a club-record sum during the off-season specifically to expand the depth available to him, so why not utilise it in a tournament and fixture nobody expected Liverpool to win?
There were more important things to think about than the whimsical notion of Liverpool performing beyond their means, without key striker Daniel Sturridge and amid a patch of stale form, to record a historic victory against Real Madrid. The odds of that happening, according to the bookies pre-kick-off, were 10/1.
A win against Chelsea in the subsequent fixture would’ve had a far greater impact on Liverpool’s season. It seems almost nobody will claim more than a point off the league leaders this season – doing so is attaining points that the divisional rivals won’t. Furthermore, although the Reds lost 2-1, they at least entered the Anfield clash with the right attitude; some players filled with confidence from the Bernabeu performance, others with a point to prove after being left out.
There aren’t too many clubs in world football with unique pressures like Liverpool’s. It’s far from the powerhouse of the 1980s, or for that matter, the early 2000s, yet through prestige and reputation alone, fans, pundits and neutrals alike expect the Reds to still be competitive against the biggest teams in Europe.
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Rodgers ruled that essentially impossible against what is probably the best team in world football and with that in mind, created other positives to take out of it. What could have the Merseysiders taken out of another 3-0 defeat, for example?
With the backlash inevitable and one that will potentially repeat on Rodgers, you have to admire his bravery.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should never have gone to the Euros and he shouldn’t be considered for any England matches in the coming months. The reported wages he’s currently on at Arsenal is undeserving and the club and the FA would have done well to completely protect him from the demand from fans to see something bright and exciting.
The player set the benchmark incredibly high for himself following the performance against Manchester United last Premier League season and the wonderful display against AC Milan. But that should have been it. No trip to Euro 2012 before he was ready and no pay hike that dwarfs a huge number of veterans across Europe.
Forget the criticism of Arsenal’s wage structure for a moment, this is once again about a player who could fall into a trap of failing to live up to the hype of a nation.
At the time it was frustrating for Arsenal fans, but maybe Arsene Wenger was spot on to hook him during that game against Manchester United. He knows what he’s doing but unfortunately the player’s development and first season with the club coincided with the then worst season under the Frenchman’s reign.
Wenger says Oxlade-Chamberlain can play centrally as well as from the wings, but what we’re seeing isn’t anything new. The player has performed well on one or two occasions from the wide position, but largely he’s been disappointing. But is that the way we should be looking at it? A 19-year-old who is disappointing compared to what? A full England international on huge wages and a regular member of the first team?
Oxlade-Chamberlain will continue his education out on the wing because it’s the right thing to do; not because he can’t play centrally and make an impact, but who would he displace over the three starters in the midfield? He may be called upon when circumstances force the manager to do so, but his pace and direct play is a benefit to Arsenal where he currently plays.
But the issue isn’t where Oxlade-Chamberlain plays for Arsenal: we’ve seen it with Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner, Carlos Vela and many others. The problem is that the player’s development may be hindered by the demand for much more. He’s clearly not ready to perform every week at the highest level, and his display against Wigan on the weekend was arguably his best performance since the away win at Liverpool at the start of the season.
He’s undoubtedly a player who is a better choice on the flanks than some of Wenger’s other options, but that is once again a debate about the manager’s activity in the transfer market. He was always after Oxlade-Chamberlain with the view for the long-term, while I’m totally confident that the manager had no intention of giving the player his debut in that 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford.
It will be the same with Wilfried Zaha if Wenger gets his target in the next window, and once again it will provide plenty of demand from fans to see a new signing who has been hyped to the hill and back. It’s not the way football should be in this country, but Wenger has had to deal with the need to accelerate a player’s development.
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Cesc Fabregas was a one-off, a superstar at 19 who could have controlled the midfield of any team in world football. Jack Wilshere is another and may go on to have the same impact at Arsenal that Fabregas did. But Oxlade-Chamberlain is just a youngster who happens to be one of the top of his class. He’s ready for one step forward, not five at a time.
It’s easy to overanalyse the player’s contributions on the pitch following his past 12 months, but it would have been so much easier if the player had just been left alone to quietly get on with his game.
Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce revealed on Monday afternoon that Jack Grealish would be assessed ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Sunderland in the Championship.
Grealish has not played for Villa since the derby against Birmingham City on February 11, with a calf problem keeping the attacker on the sidelines.
Villa’s clash with Queens Park Rangers at the weekend was postponed due to the bad weather, and it had been thought that Grealish would return to action against Sunderland on Tuesday night.
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Bruce did not rule the 22-year-old out of action, but also admitted that he is unsure whether the Englishman would be able to face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light following a spell on the sidelines.
The Villa fans would of course welcome Grealish back into the fold, but there are those that would rather the attacker was rested ahead of Saturday’s home game against Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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A selection of the Twitter reaction can be found below:
For many top flight clubs, having an expensive striker at your disposal sitting on the bench isn’t unusual. Just look at the likes of Radamel Falcao and Stefan Jovetic, who are struggling to hold down a starting spot at Manchester United and Manchester City respectively, despite a hefty price tag to both strikers’ names. Very rarely do you see a mid-table side with a £15m price tag on his head, ready to come on for the last 15-20 minutes of the match to make a difference. Playing the whole 90 minutes is exactly what everyone expects.
In this case, West Ham’s Andy Carroll finds himself in exactly the same situation. Costing a mind blowing £15m, in a poll conducted by BBC Sport, Carroll was voted the worst signing in Premier League history when he moved from Liverpool to the Hammers. After failing to impress on Merseyside, surprisingly Carroll now finds himself struggling to get in the starting line up at Upton Park. It’s well known that manager Sam Allardyce is a huge fan of the striker, as Big Sam always likes to set up his teams with a quality target man in his starting XI, and Carroll fits the bill perfectly.
Granted, had it not been for the former Newcastle United’s torrid injury record, then it’s certain Carroll will be playing week in, week out. Now back after a six month lay off with an ankle injury he suffered during pre-season, another obstacle is in place for Carroll to climb. The form of new signings Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho has surprisingly been excellent, as both them of them are offering something different to a changed West Ham side. The sharpness and work rate of Valencia, and incredible goal scoring ability of Sakho is hard to watch for Carroll, considering he was a regular starter for the England squad just two years ago. With Argentine, Mauro Zarate at the club aswell, showing signs of his class in spells of games, Carroll’s minutes on the pitch look to have been limited. Using Carroll as a impact substitution looks more realistic.
In the recent 0-0 stalemate against Aston Villa, the striker showed how much of an impact he can make in a short space of time. After a lengthy spell in the treatment room, Carroll caused problems to the Villa defence, and had two glorious opportunities to grab a late winner in just the five minutes he was on for. Carroll also got engaged to his girlfriend last week. You may think that this might be ridiculous and pointless to mention, but this could improve his game massively. Carroll has always been known to enjoy himself off the pitch. Get hitched will make him more mature, and more focused on how he can improve as a player. This is why a lot of managers like their players to get married.
Using Carroll in the last 15 minutes of games could prove to be vital, and selling him would be a big mistake. As so called ‘second strikers’ go to use a a ‘Plan B’, Carroll is probably one of the best in the league in doing so.
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West Brom have been the surprise package in the early stages of this season so far, shooting up as high as fourth place in the league under new manager Steve Clarke, but is their rise sustainable? And will they be able to recover from their mini-blip before their bubble bursts?
Firstly, let’s just state that the club is one of the best run in the entire division (with maybe only Swansea pipping them), from the scouting department, to technical director (outgoing to the FA) Dan Ashworth to former manager and now England head coach Roy Hodgson. After finishing tenth in the top flight last season with an energetic side, there were solid foundations to build upon, but nobody quite expected their start to the league this campaign.
Many, rather rashly, tipped the side to struggle under Clarke’s stewardship this season in what represents his first managerial role. Plenty of respected number two’s have stepped out of the shadows before only going on to fail in the big chair (Carlos Queiroz, Brian Kidd and Colin Harvey to name but a few), but it always seemed odd to tip West Brom to completely fall apart under any new boss, let alone consign them to the relegation scrapheap. Was there ever going to be less than three teams worse than the Baggies’ this term? Of course not, but the 49-year-old has far exceeded even his biggest supporters’ loftiest expectations.
The team currently sit in fifth place just behind Tottenham and three points ahead of their nearest challenger, Everton in sixth. During their climb up the table, which went unnoticed at first, they’ve claimed the scalps of Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea which is easier said than done. They’ve kept a respectable tally of four clean sheets, comparable with most sides in the division and only failed to trouble the scorers on two occasions, the same as both Manchester clubs.
Nevertheless, there are a few worrying signs that this brief soiree in the sun is not meant to last – they have kept just one of clean sheet (v Southampton) in their last 11 games across all competitions. They have have picked up only one point (v Tottenham) from a losing position all season and they have lost their last two games in a row against Swansea and Stoke.
Their strength at the moment is borne out of consistent team selection and getting the best out of a small squad. They are a counter-attacking side that knows their limitations in possession and tries to play it quickly and through the middle, with their power and urgency causing plenty of problems for the supposedly better teams in the league so far. They look hungry to succeed and they can play the nitty, gritty stuff aswell as a probing, threatening passing game and they have an end product.
However, when Clarke made six changes at the weekend, looking for a reaction the the poor performance away to Michael Laudrup’s side, it was clear that several players coming into the side looked a bit rusty. Such runs of form with only a thin squad are not made to last. It is possible to raise your game in certain weeks, but each and every week is going to prove testing.
They were helped in the summer by the fact that they didn’t lose any of their first-team regulars, while the acquisitions of Romelu Lukaku (on loan), Ben Foster (on a permanent deal) and Claudio Yacob have all been excellent and they have superb strength in depth up front in Odemwingie, Long and the aforementioned Belgium international, meaning they can rotate, as Clarke has done, to good effect.
The former Liverpool and Chelsea assistant boss sounded like he was trying to head off a slump in his press conference earlier this week before his side travel to Arsenal at the weekend, telling reporters: “I think the spirit at the club should be high at the moment and I said that to the players after the game on Saturday against Stoke. We were disappointed to lose but all I said was that they should be pleased with their efforts given where we are. If at this stage in the season you’d have said that we’d have 26 points and we’d be level on points with Chelsea and Tottenham, towards the top of the league, I would have grabbed that. I’ve tried to tell the players that we’re not in a bad place and we have to remain positive. There’s no way we can allow negative thoughts to come into our heads.”
To his credit, Clarke has consistently rejected any notion of getting carried away and you suspect that he knows that it will be extremely hard to keep them in the top six for the rest of the season, but he’ll be heartened to know that each defeat which has been hailed as their end of their run has prompted a response so far – after the 3-0 defeat at Craven Cottage to Fulham, they then beat Reading, QPR and drew with local rivals Aston Villa away from home, while after their narrow 2-1 loss at home to Manchester City which was then quickly followed by a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle saw them go on and win their next four on the trot.
As with all surprise packages, observers are simply waiting for the tipping point where they drop off and return to also-ran status; it happened with Newcastle last year, everyone kept waiting for them to relinquish a top six place and return to mid-table, the position many thought the newly-promoted side would occupy at the beginning of the season, but they just kept going.
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As the side heads into the festive period, they have been dealt a reasonably decent-looking run of fixtures – an out-of-form Arsenal away, West Ham at home, Norwich at home, strugglers QPR away before a tricky test awaits them at Old Trafford and they see in the new year at home to a Fulham side in free-fall.
It’s entirely conceivable to see them take around 10 points from a possible 18 during that sequence of games and you suspect that their season hinges on how they come through out of the end of it – will they stop the rot early, or has their blistering start merely been a blip? Intriguingly, it looks too close to call at the moment, but the lack of pressure or expectation surrounding the Hawthorns should stand them in good stead to keep progressing as the campaign goes on and they look certain to improve on last season’s points total and league finish at the very least.
Stuart Armstrong has become the latest Celtic player to make the switch to English Premier League side Southampton, with his move to St Mary’s confirmed on Tuesday evening.
The BBC report he signs on a four-year deal for a £7m fee, following in the footsteps of Victor Wanyama, Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster, who all signed for Saints off the back of impressive spells at the Hoops.
Having had just a year left on his contract, the reported fee is a significant one for Celtic, who are already flush with cash after two successive seasons in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.
Armstrong contributed plenty in his time at the Hoops, with his standout season undoubtedly coming in 2016/17 when he scored 17 goals and provided 7 assists on Celtic’s march towards an invincible treble of domestic trophies.
He was a popular figure with the Celtic support, but some are now happy to see the back of him considering the fee involved in his exit.
These supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his exit…
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Rangers are in exceptional form right now, delighting fans with a series of attacking performances, progressing in the Scottish Cup and closing the gap on Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership season.
Graeme Murty has done an excellent job organising a fresh group of players after a big January transfer window and the Light Blues look as good an outfit as they have for years.
Despite the recent optimism, there’s no doubt that Rangers could improve further and there are two players who could help out significantly – Graham Dorrans and Ross McCrorie.
The duo have both been out for extended periods and a return to the first team could help out massively in the closing stages of the season.
Here’s the lowdown on when fans can expect to see them back in action:
Graham Dorrans
When was he injured: The midfielder limped off with an ankle injury during a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock in October, way back when Pedro Caixinha was in charge. He later had to undergo surgery in December which extended his absence from the first team.
Potential injury return date: 15/03/2018, according to Transfermarkt.
How important will he be?: Dorrans has actually only made 13 appearances for Rangers since joining last summer, but established himself as a key performer in Caixinha’s struggling Light Blues side. Scoring five goals and providing three assists in that time, he was well on his way towards having an excellent debut season. His return will only enhance the first team, especially if Graeme Murty can help him find his best form.
What the manager has said: “Graham is really unfortunate and I feel for him. On medical advice we took a conservative path with his initial rehab and that didn’t work. He’s had to have ankle surgery and that leads to him having an extended time out. We have to make sure Graham as a person is taken care of and then we’ll take care of the player after that.”
Ross McCrorie
When was he injured?: The young defender collided with an advertising board against Ross County in December and had to be substituted off with a foot injury. Initially receiving injections and recovering to play more matches before the end of the year, the problem was aggravated during the Gers’ Florida training camp in January and he’s been missing ever since.
Potential injury return date: 22/03/2018, as reported by The Scottish Sun.
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Has he been missed? McCrorie has been one of the success stories of Rangers’ season, winning plaudits from supporters even when the team as a whole was under-performing. Now they’re improving, his return would be a massive boost to Graeme Murty, who knows the player well from his time coaching the U20s side. Whether in defence alongside Russell Martin or bolstering the midfield he’s a stand-out and more games will only improve the 19-year-old.
What the manager has said: “At the moment, we are just waiting and seeing. The injection was prescribed by the specialist who thought it would clear it up. We are just having to wait and see. What we don’t want to do is rush it. We must make sure we get him back fully healthy. We don’t want to put too much pressure on it and irritate it further by doing too much too soon.”
Dwindling crowds, financial difficulties, year upon year of crushing predictability – the recently retitled Scottish Premiership has not been in a healthy state for a long time, and things are unlikely to get better anytime soon. Trapped in a kind of football league purgatory – too small to be considered a major league like its English counterpart, yet too large to be relegated to the same status as the Welsh and Northern Irish Premier Leagues – the Scottish game has long been on a quest for its true worth. Yet with the recent absence of Rangers removing any credible competition from the Celtic-led monopoly of the Scottish Premiership, the league has become something of a joke, dismissed as nothing more than a Mickey Mouse competition where one can expect the same team to lift the trophy at the end of every season.
Though a separate Scottish league should certainly remain in place, consisting of the teams plying their trade in the lower reaches of the country’s football pyramid (meaning the Scottish Championship and below), it’s about time the Scottish Premiership called it a day, with its teams joining the English football league system instead. The upcoming Scottish independence referendum may make this proposal a tad difficult to realise; nevertheless, here are five reasons why an act of footballing union would be a good idea:
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CLICK ON CELTIC PARK TO REVEAL THE FIVE REASONS
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1. Merging would improve the quality of Scottish clubs immeasurably
At first glance, one can’t help but be impressed by Celtic’s constant success in Scotland – winning the title every season, going far in both domestic cup competitions, and boasting an impressive stadium in Celtic Park. However it is European football that exploits the glaring weaknesses of Scotland’s best side, and therefore of Scottish football itself as a whole. Despite being drubbed 6-1 on aggregate by lowly Legia Warsaw in a recent Champions League qualifier, the team from Glasgow were sheepishly reinstated into the competition due to the Polish side’s disqualification, only to be ignominiously knocked out again by Slovenian side NK Maribor, thus failing to make it to the group stages. In the long term, participating in the English football league against the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool on a regular basis would see Scottish football sides become far more competitive, and as a consequence, stronger.
2. The national side would benefit
As the clubs become stronger and more competitive, so do their Scottish players. Most clubs still retain a prominent Scottish identity amongst their playing staff, and if these players are given the opportunity to play in one of the best leagues in the world on a regular basis, that can only help the chances of the national side to qualify for major international tournaments. One could argue that Wales haven’t benefitted from their two main clubs playing in English football, having failed to qualify for a tournament since 1958. However Scotland possesses a significantly greater number of medium-sized football clubs than Wales. If these clubs were to keep their Scottish identities, there would be an influx of Scottish players in the English league, giving the Scotland national set-up a wealth of players with experience of high-level professional football.
3. Financial issues would become less pronounced
With the possibility of Premier League football for Scottish clubs who make the trek down south comes the irresistible attraction of playing in a league awash with money. Record-breaking TV deals and increased exposure through association with a global ‘brand’ such as the Barclays Premier League would not guarantee permanent financial stability, but would certainly ensure that difficulties such as those experienced by Rangers and Hearts in recent times would be less severe.
4. The end of sectarianism?
The advent of Sky and the English Premier League in 1992 may have had unsavoury effects on the state of the game – the dominance of money, business coming before sport and a lack of mobility to name but a few. However it has also contributed to the modernisation of the sport, which has seen racism, homophobia and hooliganism become less and less pronounced, making matchday experiences generally more pleasant for the spectator. By incorporating Rangers and Celtic – Scotland’s two biggest clubs – into English football, there would be added pressure on both sides to deal with the sectarian violence which so often dominates Old Firm derbies. It may not eradicate it completely, but exposure to a global audience would force the Glaswegian clubs to address the problem more effectively.
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5. Dull football is no more
Most importantly, combining Scottish and English football would lead to the end of the derisory claims that the game north of the border is more boring than beautiful. The Old Firm may not come close to winning the Barclays Premier League; they may even struggle to stay in the top tier. But at least their fans would be guaranteed entertainment and unpredictability every season. Because being bored of victory, as some Celtic and (once upon a time) Rangers fans surely were, is evidence enough that the game is up in Scotland.
Every team has a player who makes the fans, the manager and his team-mates very nervous. This could be for many reasons – a lack of talent, a proneness to errors, off-pitch behaviour or simply the prospect they could lose their heads at any moment. Their individual flaws tend to work to the team’s detriment, often throwing away results or causing rifts amongst the dressing room – sometimes with hilarious consequences.
This is a list of the Top 15 Premier League players, past and present, whose presence alone unsettles the rest of their team, with full details of why their team-mates can never fully relax around them. So read on and check out the stroppy stars, aggressive argumentalists and dubious defenders that are a constant thorn in their own club’s side.
Click on William Gallas to unveil the 15
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