All posts by h79snht.top

Well, that was some weekend for Arsenal. Although the atmosphere at the club was far from perfect heading into their clash with Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday evening, it’s safe to say that few Gunners were expecting things to unravel as much as they have from the announcement of the starting XI through to the events of the following day.

Indeed, the north London club slipped to a worrying 3-1 loss at Anfield with star man Alexis Sanchez confined to the bench in what Arsene Wenger talked up as a tactical tweak. The Chilean was needed at half-time, though, with the travelling side 2-0 down, and although he put in a decent performance, reports have since revealed the extent to which things have turned sour between the 28-year-old and the club behind the scenes.

The Mirror have revealed that Sanchez has had multiple bust-ups with Wenger and his team-mates, with the 5-1 Champions League loss at Bayern Munich a couple of weeks ago seemingly the straw that broke the camel’s back. When it became clear that he was to be dropped for the Liverpool game, the South American allegedly stormed out of training and is now edging ever closer to a summer switch to Paris Saint-Germain.

With the return leg against the Bavarians Tuesday evening, there’s been a debate brewing in FootballFanCast Towers: should Wenger play Sanchez?

Tell us what you think…

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Inspired by Iain Macintosh’s journey with Everton on CM01/02, I’ve decided to boot up Football Manager 2017 and take Aston Villa back to the glory days of the 1980s.

Previous episodes: Episode One, Episode Two, Episode Three, Episode Four, Episode Five, Episode Six, Episode Seven, Episode Eight, Episode Nine, Episode Ten, Episode 11

As the old cliche goes, it’s been a rollercoaster of a season.

It began with optimism, a ridiculous pre-season schedule that meant going backwards and forwards between the Midlands and France and, of course, the type of tactical experimentation that should’ve had had Tony Xia handing me my P45.

There was a stage where I expected to be sacked; deserved to be, in fact. I had exposed myself as a fraud, a tactically undercooked manager who had no idea what he was doing. The players could not be fooled, they knew what the club had employed, yet they stuck with me.

Now, despite winning just one of my opening six Championship games of the season, including a 7-0 home drubbing at the hands of Huddersfield in just my third game, we go in to the final five matches of the season with an outside chance of automatic promotion. It’s unlikely, granted, but we still have the play-offs to fall back on if we fail.

Tony Xia set me a minimum target of finishing in the top six before a ball was even kicked. At least I’ll be achieving the targets given to me, unless something goes catastrophically wrong.

We head in to this run-in on the back of a 2-1 defeat away to Burton Albion. That result has dented our hopes of finishing in the automatic promotion spots, but I’m still hopeful we can topple either QPR or Newcastle from their perch.

We now host sixth-placed Reading in what is the first of five remaining cup finals, or so the cliche goes. They also lost their last game, 1-0 to Norwich, but won four games on the bounce before then, so they’ll be eager to get back to winning ways.

I’m determined to put the defeat to Burton down to a glitch in the matrix. It wasn’t in the script, but nor was me keeping my job after the start to the season we had, and somehow I’m still here.

It’s an unchanged XI for this one. It’s too late in the season to start tinkering again – I need to stick with what works and at the moment, barring that Burton game, I know this works.

A thrilling game but not the result we wanted. Three times Reading pegged us back and our finishing costs us dearly once again. I thought we’d won it when Tom Ince converted from the penalty spot with just nine minutes to go but Dominic Samuel rescued a point for Reading in the 87th minute.

And with that, our chances of automatic promotion are pretty much dead. While we drop points, so do QPR and Newcastle who both look to be feeling the pressure at the top as we edge closer to the end of the season. Newcastle lost 3-0 at home to mid-table Leeds, which hurts even more. Had we beaten both Burton and Reading we’d have had the momentum going in to the final four games. Instead I think play-offs are our most realistic target now.

That draw also means we’re mathematically out of the title race, and the fans are understandably gutted…

We must pick ourselves up against Fulham now. Our season isn’t over yet and there’s still promotion to play for. Fulham have had a tough season and go in to this in 17th place. They have absolutely nothing to play for other than ruining my play-off hopes.

Once again it’s an unchanged XI, I’m convinced this team can produce something special on their day…

Guess what? QPR and Newcastle both drop points again, each grinding out 1-1 draws. It’s the sort of ridiculous, pathetic scenario a club like this should not be involved in.

That’s three consecutive games that we’ve failed to win, three consecutive games we’ve had the chance to gain some ground on the top two. Two consecutive games in which we’ve conceded in the final five minutes.

Newcastle secure promotion and QPR need a single point from their remaining three games to join them in the Premier League. It means six teams will battle it out for the four play-off spots. Here’s how it looks with three games to go…

Next up? Just the small matter of the Second City derby to contend with. Not great timing but Birmingham are 15th and, like Fulham, have nothing to play for in terms of league achievements.

This is the Second City derby, though, and there is more than just points to play for here. Pride and bragging rights are on the line.

Birmingham will love nothing more than to ruin our chances of finishing in the top six, and it’s my job to ensure we beat them for a third consecutive time this season. Fail to do so and I fear we’ll be chased out of Villa Park.

I’ve decided to revert back to a 4-2-3-1 formation for this one as it’s clear we were lacking width and conviction in a 4-3-3 approach that has cost us dearly over the last three games.

QPR have secured promotion with a 1-1 draw at Brentford, while all the teams around me in the race for the top six drop points. This is our chance, we must not mess this up!

Yes! That’s how you win a Second City derby! Villa Park is absolutely bouncing once again. Twice we’ve beaten Birmingham in the final minute this season.

That said, it wasn’t the most straight-forward of games. City took and early lead and kept it until the 64th minute when Jonathan Kodjia equalised. Jordan Ayew then missed a penalty before he redeemed himself by netting the winner in the 91st. He earns himself another delicate forehead kiss. He’s growing to like them.

Both goals came from crosses in from the right, which justifies my decision to revert back to a wide formation. Tactically inept? Not me. Not anymore.

Two games remain. Blackburn away and then Brighton at home. Just one win should do it, as long as other results go our way. Blackburn in 18th are mathematically safe, but only just. It means I’m in for another hard game against a side with nothing to play for.

I’m going with the same XI and formation that beat Birmingham. This is the business end and if ever there was a time to not bottle it, it’s now…

“It’s raining goals at Ewood Park, I can’t believe it. Unbelievable Jeff!” is what Chris Kamara would’ve been screaming down our TVs to an equally excited Jeff Stelling in the studio.

So the good news is that we’ve rediscovered a goal scoring form, the bad news is we’re still conceding too many. Hat-tricks from Ince and Kodjia have them fighting over the match ball at the end of the game. Which is fine by me. That’s the kind of problem I’d prefer. I tell Ince he can have the ball as his treble came in the space of 13 first half minutes. Incredible finishing.

That win means it’s mission accomplished. I’ve achieved Tony Xia’s target of a play-off spot. It also takes us to 79 points, which is a club record. I’m officially a history maker, but that’ll mean nothing if we don’t finish the job by going up via a day out at Wembley.

Going in to the final game of the season and the play-off spots are pretty much confirmed. Wolves need to win and hope Forest lose to sneak in at the final hurdle, but it’s likely I’ll be joined by Norwich, Reading and Forest…

Brighton visit Villa Park and they’ll be disappointed not to have seen their early season form through to the end. Technically both of us have nothing to play for and we do have one eye on the play-offs now, but I really want us to build some momentum.

I should perhaps consider resting a few key players to keep them fresh but where’s the fun in that? It’s another unchanged XI – let’s end the league season with a bang…

Ok, so that technically means nothing other than the fact Reading leapfrog us in to 3rd on goal difference. Incredibly, Wolves’ prayers were answered – they won and Forest lost, so they sneak in at the death and poor Forest will have to make do with another season in the Championship. Hopefully I won’t be joining them.

The final table finishes like this, with Cardiff, Wigan and Preston all relegated to League One.

That means we face Norwich in the play-offs. It’s not going to be easy but I think we can beat them over two legs. They beat us 2-1 on aggregate in our league fixtures, but this is different. There’s more at stake now.

The first leg is at Carrow Road. No sign of Delia Smith holding a bottle of wine and screaming at the fans before the game, which is disappointing. Hopefully we can provoke her in to such behaviour before half-time.

Another unchanged XI. No time for messing around. Let’s do this.

Not the worst result and even more so given that Norwich hit the post twice and missed a sitter, all in the final five minutes.

We got off lightly there as they were arguably the better team, so we’ll need to up our game in the second leg or it’s another season in the Championship, surely there’s no need for extra motivation?

I’ve decided to drop Kodjia for the second leg, with Grealish replacing him. Ayew will lead the line and all of the pressure is on him to lead this club to a play-off final.

We’re 90 minutes from Wembley and the fans are creating one hell of an atmosphere at Villa Park. There’s nothing I want more right now than a place in the play-off final. Come one boys, don’t let me down!

WEMBLEY! We’re going to Wembley! A first-half own goal from Chris Martin hands us a place in the play-off final against Reading, who beat Wolves 3-2 on aggregate.

We only had one shot on target all game, so I think we can feel a bit lucky about getting out of those two games without conceding but who cares!? We just one game away from the Premier League!

I’m out for revenge in this final. The way in which Reading thrashed me 6-0 at the Madejski back in October still hurts when I think about it. We should’ve beaten them just a few weeks ago but now it’s time to put that right in the only game that really matters.

I’m off to get my suit dry cleaned. See you at Wembley!

<< Click here for Episode 11 | Click here for Episode 13 >>

Everton fans have hit back after Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren claimed that he deserves an apology from Ross Barkley for Saturday’s poor tackle.

Merseyside derbies are traditionally heated affairs, and the the weekend clash at Anfield was no different as the Reds went on to claim a 3-1 triumph over their local rivals.

A number of crunching tackles were made, but one from Barkley should have resulted in a red card.

The England midfielder got away with a booking when he lunged into Lovren’s shin with studs up.

The Liverpool centre-back did not suffer any lasting damage, but he has indicated that he did not walk away from Anfield unscathed as a result of Barkley’s challenge.

After the game, Lovren claimed that Barkley should have apologised for the challenge, but he is yet to receive one.

The Daily Mail quotes the Croatian as saying:

“That is the only thing I do not like. If I show you [my leg], you will be like… (grimaces). If you make a hard challenge then be open about it and say sorry or something. Don’t talk to the referee and say it was not a foul. I think everyone saw it, especially me, but now it is over.”

Everton fans have now had their say, with many highlighting dangerous tackles made by Liverpool players in Merseyside derbies gone by.

One in particular that supporters referred to was a two-footed challenge from Steven Gerrard on Gary Naysmith.

Michail Antonio has received a mixed response from supporters after he claimed which positions he believes West Ham United need to strengthen in.

The 27-year-old, who has played in defence, midfield and up front this season, is looking ahead to the new campaign as he will miss the remainder of the current one with a hamstring injury.

The Hammers have failed to build on last season’s seventh-placed finish at the new London Stadium as they currently reside 14th after winning just 10 of their 34 Premier League games.

Despite that, Antonio believes that the team are a few players shy of challenging for European places.

In an interview with ESPN, the versatile player claimed that West Ham manager Slaven Bilic needs a right-back, a central defender and two strikers in order to move up the table.

After Twitter page ‘West Ham News’ posted the quotes, some fans agreed with Antonio’s assessment, while others were confused that he was acting as a mouthpiece for the club’s transfer strategy.

Newcastle United’s 3-0 victory at home to Barnsley on Sunday afternoon saw the Magpies land the Championship title after Brighton & Hove Albion could only draw away to Aston Villa.

The goals of Dwight Gayle, Matt Ritchie and Ayoze Perez played a key role in securing a return to the Premier League, but Ciaran Clark’s performances at centre-back also made a big impact.

The 27-year-old arrived at St James’ Park from Aston Villa last summer, and made 34 Championship appearances during the 2016-17 campaign – scoring three times in the process.

He was part of a defence that conceded the joint-fewest goals in the division, with his form showing just why he has earned 24 caps for the Republic of Ireland.

Clark took to social media site Twitter on Monday afternoon to reveal his delight at what has been a brilliant campaign for Newcastle, and the tweet brought widespread praise for the centre-back.

The Irishman had to go through the disappointment of dropping out of the Premier League last season with Aston Villa, but he will be back in the big time for the 2017-18 campaign.

Just before the Merseyside derby on April 1st, it looked as though Liverpool would end up looking over their shoulders as Everton came up on the rails in search of gatecrashing the top six, a grouping that had seemed like a closed shop for most of the season.

Instead, the Toffees never put up much of a fight; apart, that is, from some overly robust tackles. They took the fight more literally than metaphorically, but dealing more in bluff and bluster than anything else.

The night before the game, Ronald Koeman shifted the focus from the football to injury concerns and player welfare by sending a late-night tweet in order to respond to Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill. The aggressive facade used on Twitter was a prelude to his side’s own aggressive performance. Both were lacking in substance.

There have been, however, some serious injury concerns for Everton this season, beyond just the niggling annoyances of James McCarthy’s muscles. With Muhamed Besic injured before the season started, Yannick Bolasie injured in December and Ramiro Funes Mori in March, Everton have had to deal with three long-term injuries to useful first team players, whilst Seamus Coleman’s broken leg has sidelined a nailed-on starter for months.

And yet, despite serious bad luck with serious injuries, the Toffees have almost seemed lucky with injuries this season when compared with others. Taking data from PhysioRoom.com, since August 1st 2016 – just before the start of the season – Ronald Koeman’s side have registered 35 injuries, whilst their rivals across Stanley Park have registered more than double, with 74. For reference, Arsenal have had 56, and Manchester United, 66.

Clearly 35 is incredibly low: 74 is pretty high.

The reason for pointing this out is not to try and excuse Liverpool’s collapse from January onwards, nor is it to attempt to somehow diminish the job that Ronald Koeman is doing by pointing out that he’s been lucky with injuries. He hasn’t. The long-term nature of Everton’s biggest injuries is what stops their list being so long: Yannick Bolasie, for example, has posted only one injury this season, mostly because he hasn’t had much of a chance to get more. Clearly ruptured knee ligaments or a broken leg is far worse than anything else.

But there is a pertinent reason for pointing it out. And it’s this: Liverpool’s niggling injuries have plagued their progress for a number of seasons now, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

There are numerous reasons for it. For one thing, the most common (and perhaps the laziest) criticism of Jurgen Klopp since his arrival is that his high intensity style wears his players down. In perhaps the most competitive Premier League season in a long time, and one which doesn’t allow for a winter break, maybe that has become a factor. It could well be down to training methods, too: and given the rotten luck that Everton have had with long-term injuries which aren’t down to overwork or training, Koeman probably deserves a lot of praise for keeping the other injuries so low.

But maybe this isn’t a tactical issue. Instead, you might well have to come back to the same topic from which most of Liverpool’s recent problems have grown: player recruitment.

This season, not only have Liverpool suffered double the injuries that Everton have, but they’ve also had key players out at crucial times. But given the lack of depth in the squad, there is a visible over reliance on certain members of the squad, forcing Klopp to play tired players or rush others back from injury. As a result, the likes of Adam Lallana, Emre Can, Joel Matip and – to a lesser extent – Daniel Sturridge have all missed multiple different periods of games through injury. That is, they’ve been out, come back, and then been injured again.

With Sadio Mane and Jordan Henderson now both out for potentially the rest of the season, Liverpool will have to make do with the back-up players who haven’t filled the injured shoes of their teammates at other points this season.

And when you compare all of that to Everton, one team on Merseyside has had terrible luck with horrific injuries, and another has suffered massively with smaller, niggly injuries to players their squad wasn’t good enough to replace. And yet one team has limited their losses on smaller injuries, whilst the other has seen a title charge hamstrung by possibly preventable absences.

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In addition to adding firepower to a somewhat underwhelming attack, Jose Mourinho will need to bolster his defensive options this summer, particularly at left-back.

Indeed, five different players have filled in at No.3 already this season, not least including winger Ashley Young, which shows what a problem position it’s been for the Portuguese during his first season at Old Trafford.

One potential signing to address that comes in the form of Celtic’s highly-rated youngster Kieran Tierney, who won the Scotland Young Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season earlier this week.

Indeed, the 19-year-old has been linked with the Red Devils recently, so we asked United fans  whether they’d back a summer swoop for the youngster.

According to our poll, however, the majority of United fans wouldn’t be in favour of such a transfer deal, with 59% voting against it.

The Red Devils certainly need a left-back this summer, but United fans would clearly prefer Mourinho to look elsewhere.

Following Garry Monk’s shock resignation last week, Leeds United are once again searching for a new manager and one of the frontrunners for the job is former Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka.

Monk left Elland Road after failing to agree new terms to extend his initial 12-month rolling contract, and fans were understandably disappointed with the news considering the 38-year-old made the club a force in the Championship again, despite narrowly missing out on finishing in the play-off positions.

Meanwhile, the Spaniard was sacked by Boro in March following a disappointing Premier League campaign that ended with relegation back to the Championship after just one season back in the top flight.

The unveiling of Victor Orta – who worked with Karanka at the Riverside Stadium – as the Whites’ new director of football this week has only intensified the rumours that the 43-year-old will follow him to Yorkshire.

Here are three reasons Leeds United would be mad not to appoint Aitor Karanka…

He won promotion with Boro

After a seven-year spell in the Championship, Karanka led Middlesbrough back to the Premier League last season as they finished second behind Burnley.

The experience of leading a team out of such a tough and competitive division can’t be forgotten because as well as Garry Monk did throughout his only campaign in charge at Elland Road, he ultimately fell at the final hurdle.

With the experience and the know-how of how to get results at crucial moments, the Spaniard could be the man for Leeds.

His relationship with Orta

For far too long under the leadership of Cellino, Leeds United had an owner that struggled to get on with his manager and they need more stability going forward to get the success that they crave and the supporters deserve.

Now that Cellino has gone and has been replaced by Andrea Radrizzani, the choice to reunite director of football Victor Orta with Karanka – with whom he worked so closely with at Boro – could be the united team that would lead the Yorkshire outfit back to the Premier League next term.

His contacts

Having worked with Jose Mourinho during the duo’s time with Real Madrid, Karanka has a good relationship with the Portuguese manager and it could mean that he could bring some of United’s best youngsters (however controversial that may be) to Elland Road over the summer – if he was to be appointed.

Karanka also brought in Calum Chambers on loan from Arsenal last year which suggests that he has a healthy working relationship with Arsene Wenger, and his contacts throughout the game would surely help him strengthen this Leeds team.

Do you agree, Leeds fans? Let us know below.

According to reports in the Daily Mail, Real Madrid could reignite their interest in Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois should they fail with a move for Manchester United stopper David De Gea this summer.

What’s the word, then?

Well, according to reports in The Sunday Times, the Red Devils are demanding £66m if Real want to sign De Gea before the summer transfer window slams shut, although they could accept the likes of Alvaro Morata as part of the deal too as Jose Mourinho looks to strengthen his squad.

However, the Daily Mail suggests the figure United want is closer to £80m, and if that fee is beyond the Champions League winners then they could turn their attentions to Courtois.

Zinedine Zidane’s men were heavily linked with a move for the Belgian last summer, but a deal failed to materialise as Chelsea wanted to keep hold of their first choice keeper.

Do the Blues need to be worried?

It depends.

With Mourinho reportedly willing to sell De Gea this summer with the Spain international hoping to return to his home nation, there is a deal to be done with Real Madrid – whether it is a flat free or includes a player such as Morata or James Rodriguez, who was left out of the squad for the Champions League final.

However, if the price tag on De Gea’s head proves to be too much the Conte will certainly be concerned considering Courtois enjoyed such a successful spell with Atletico Madrid previously.

How important is Courtois to Chelsea?

He is hugely important and showed what a brilliant goalkeeper he is as the Blues strolled to the Premier League title.

While he has had his dodgy moments, the 25-year-old has brilliant reflexes and commands his area so well that he has established himself as one of the best in the Premier League, if not Europe.

What’s the verdict, then?

Well, all the signs point to De Gea completing a move to Real Madrid this summer unless the Red Devils stand too firm, and a move for the Spaniard would end all interest from the La Liga champions in Courtois.

Even if they fail to get De Gea, Real may find themselves being quoted a similar price should they register their interest in the Belgian.

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As reported by The Evening Chronicle, Rafa Benitez isn’t leaving Newcastle United anytime soon and is expected to lead the team into pre-seaosn next week.

What’s the story?

With Newcastle United needing significant squad additions this summer, they haven’t exactly been forthcoming thus far in the off-season, with only Christian Atsu signing on a permanent basis, and that’s led to speculation that Rafa Benitez was ready to walk away from the project at St James’ Park.

However, The Chronicle reckon that those rumours are wholly unfounded with Rafa Benitez ready to take first-team training on Monday when the team return for pre-season.

They say that the club recognise the squad situation and are putting together deals with a host of representatives to try and bring in the players that Benitez has identified.

The Sun had previously reported Benitez was ready to leave the club before the Premier League begins but that’s been refuted by sources of The Chronicle who reckon he met with managing director Lee Charnley to discuss transfer as recently as this weekend.

That’s sure to be good news for Magpies fans who are hoping a season of consolidation is on its way under the Spaniard after winning the Championship last term.