This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
According to talkSPORT, Crystal Palace are eyeing up a move for Rangers captain James Tavernier, as the Scottish giants monitor Leonel Di Placido as a potential replacement.
Tavernier has emerged as a key member of Rangers’ squad since signing from Wigan back in 2015, becoming a real attacking force as well as being appointed as the Gers’ skipper.
The 27-year-old racked up a quite astounding number of goal involvements for a right-back last term, netting 11 goals and recording 14 assists in his 33 Scottish Premiership appearances, whilst he scored 17 and assisted 20 across all competitions – world-class attackers would be proud of those figures.
Whilst those numbers will presumably excite some Palace fans, the Eagles may have to adapt differently to life with such an attacking force down the right side.
Roy Hodgson hasn’t really had a genuine attacking force at right-back since arriving at the club, using only Joel Ward and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the position – the latter has since left for Manchester United.
Both of them are nowhere near as attacking as Tavernier, reinforced by the fact that Ward has only ever scored 12 goals and got 14 assists in 345 career appearances, whilst Wan-Bissaka has just four assists in 47 appearances.
Contrastingly over on the other side of defence, Palace do have a left-back who loves to attack in Patrick van Aanholt, a man who has scored 17 goals in the four Premier League seasons before the current campaign.
Given that fact, if Palace deploy the Dutchman and Tavernier together, they will have two attacking full-backs for the first time in a while and definitely the first time under Hodgson, meaning the south Londoners will need to adapt.
Whether this means that the two communicate and decide when one should go forward and one should stay back, or if midfielders such as James McArthur and Luka Milivojevic are asked to cover for them whilst they venture forward, Hodgson will have to adapt and overcome the problems that would arise from having Tavernier in his team.
Lots of Leeds fans on Twitter are singing the praises of young centre-back Ben White, after he starred in the 3-0 win over Stoke.
White, who is on loan from Brighton, was one of Marcelo Bielsa’s standout performers against the Potters and his showing has prompted the Leeds fans on Twitter to hand him some lofty praise indeed.
The 21-year-old recorded some simply phenomenal stats against Stoke. White made a whopping five tackles and also made five clearances, whilst also recording three interceptions and one block – it was a real defensive masterclass from the loanee.
One Leeds fan said that White is too good for the Championship and too good for the club in general, whilst another said that he is the best centre-back they’ve had since the club’s days in the Premier League.
Watch the video below to find out how CR7 achieves some his best skills…
Let’s take a look at a few more responses from the dazzled Leeds fans on Twitter…
This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
The future of Idrissa Gueye is beginning to dominate the headlines for Everton with just 15 days of the transfer window remaining, and it is safe to say that nobody knows where the midfielder will end up come the start of the 2019/20 campaign.
Paris Saint-Germain have reignited their interest from January, and are reportedly readying a offer worth £40m in total to lure the Senegal international to the Parc des Princes.
After the former Aston Villa man handed in a transfer request back in January, the Toffees should probably have seen this coming – however, they do appear to have identified a potential candidate to replace the 29-year-old.
Ibrahim Sangare. The dominant Toulouse midfielder has been linked with a move to Goodison Park, and judging by the statistics, there is a case to be made for the Ivorian having a higher ceiling than Everton’s No.17.
As you can see, the 21-year-old Toulouse man recorded some pretty impressive numbers in Ligue 1 last term.
It would be harsh to compare him directly with a man eight years older than him, so we took Gueye’s figures from the 2010/11 campaign when he was the same age as Sangare to weigh up just how good he could be.
The stats don’t lie. When Gueye was the same age as Sangare, his numbers were notably worse than the 6 foot 3 powerhouse’s from the 2018/19 campaign.
He averaged 1.3 more tackles per game, and made 0.6 more clearances – he also averaged 0.7 blocks per game compared to Gueye’s 0.2.
Check out some amazing tekkers in the video below…
Given how good Gueye is nowadays – the interest from PSG serves to prove that he is doing fairly well right now to say the least – it is particularly intriguing to see that Sangare was performing better than he was at the same age.
Who knows how good Sangare will be when he turns 29?
Of course, a lot of this is hypothetical, but it can still be concretely argued that Everton would be getting a player who has considerably more potential than Gueye did at the same age.
Leeds are in danger of heading into the new Championship season with just Patrick Bamford as their main striker following an injury to Kemar Roofe.
Whether they decide to return to the transfer market remains to be seen but Tutto Mercato Web have laid claims that that’s exactly what they’ve done.
Tancredi Palmeri reports on the website that Leeds have submitted a bid worth €15m (£13.7m) for SPAL’s Andrea Petagna.
However, it’s a rumour that has caused debate among Leeds supporters with some refusing to believe it’ll happen.
One said the club didn’t have a prayer of landing him after he was linked to Leicester for €20m (£18.3m) earlier this year. Another simply said there was no chance that it would go through.
Further fans decided to compare the 24-year-old to former Leeds players as one said he was just like Pierre-Michel Lasogga, someone who scored ten goals in 33 matches for the club. He was also branded as the Italian Billy Paynter.
Petagna netted 17 goals in all competitions in Italy last term but according to Palmeri, SPAL are hoping for a fee closer to €25m (£22.9m) for his services.
علق رونالد كومان المدير الفني لفريق برشلونة الإسباني، على واقعة جيرارد بيكيه مدافع البلوجرانا وأنطوان جريزمان، خلال مواجهة باريس سان جيرمان.
وخسر برشلونة برباعية مقابل هدف ضد باريس سان جيرمان، في ذهاب دور الـ16 من بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا، في مباراة شهدت تراشقًا بالألفاظ بين بيكيه وجريزمان “طالع التفاصيل”.
كومان علّق على الواقعة في تصريحاته بالمؤتمر الصحفي الخاص بمواجهة قادش غدًا الأحد في الدوري الإسباني: “من الطبيعي أن تكون هناك بعض المشاعر الصعبة داخل الملعب”.
وأضاف مدرب برشلونة: “الأمر لم يكن جيدًا، بيكيه كان عصبيًا، وكذلك جريزمان، هذا أمر جيد بالنسبة لي، أن يغضب لاعب في فريقي عندما لا تكون الأمور جيدة”.
وأكمل: “بيكيه تعافى، قدم أداءً جيدًا ضد باريس سان جيرمان، وجاهز للمشاركة من بداية المباراة ضد قادش غدًا”.
وأشار: “في هذه الأيام، القوة البدنية أمر هام للغاية، الآن علينا تغيير سياسة انتقالاتنا، وعدم التركيز على المواهب فقط مثلما كنا نفعل، علينا أن نحقق التوازن بين أصحاب القوة البدنية والموهوبين”.
وعن حالة ديست: “سيرجينو ما زال في عمر الـ19، يحتاج للتعلم والتطور، عليه أن يكون أكثر تركيزًا وشراسة، لقد انتقل من هولندا إلى برشلونة، الأمر ليس سهلًا، لكنه يعتمد على مدى تركيزه في النهاية”.
وبسؤاله عن هالاند مهاجم بوروسيا دورتموند، اختتم كومان: “لن نتحدث عن التعاقدات الآن، عندما يأتي الرئيس الجديد يمكننا مناقشة هذا الأمر”.
Arsenal have enjoyed an impressive first-half of their pre-season, picking up three wins from four games and claiming two clean sheets, although their frustrations in the transfer market are well documented.
The Gunners have tried and failed with an optimistic approach for Wilfried Zaha, while a move for Kieran Tierney also looks dead in the water.
Having missed out on Champions League football last term, Unai Emery finds himself with plenty of improvements to make to his squad yet little budget to do so with – reports suggest that the former PSG boss has just £45m to spend this summer, £6m of which has always been shelled out on promising Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli.
There have been slightly more promising signs after bringing in Dani Ceballos and William Saliba, however.
Emery is a manager who loves tinkering his approach, having used a variety of formations in his maiden Premier League campaign in 2018/19, so pre-season offers the Spaniard the perfect opportunity to further explore his squad’s strengths and limitations.
We are sure that he has learned plenty about his squad and so have we.
Here are five things we have already learned during Arsenal’s pre-season…
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Having let Danny Welbeck go this summer, Emery has placed a huge amount of faith in Eddie Nketiah to become the third striker, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette to continue leading the line – it’s no less than the youngster deserves.
The 20-year-old has been linked with a loan move to Championship club Charlton Athletic, although Emery indicated in an interview that the budding hitman has made progress enough to warrant his stay in the first-team picture at the Emirates Stadium.
Having netted against Fiorentina and Bayern Munich in pre-season, the number 49 is establishing himself as one of the most promising English talents around at the moment.
The player is already a fantastic finisher and Emery’s decision not to let him leave even on a temporary basis speaks volumes.
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Calum Chambers spent last season on loan at Fulham, where he impressed as a defensive-midfielder, averaging a 7.01 match rating in nine appearances in that role according to WhoScored, despite arriving at Craven Cottage as a centre-back.
With Mohamed Elneny being linked with an exit and Laurent Koscielny looking for a way out, it could be time for the 24-year-old to step up at Arsenal.
The versatile Englishman captained a youthful Gunners side – testament to Emery’s faith in him – as they emerged victorious over Colorado Rapids in their first game of pre-season.
He’s certainly showed much more than Shkodran Mustafi over the summer and 2019/20 could be his year.
[snack_break title=”Ozil reminding fans what he can do”]
Soccer Football – Premier League – Arsenal v AFC Bournemouth – Emirates Stadium, London, Britain – February 27, 2019 Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Eddie Keogh EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for fur
Mesut Ozil has shown up in pre-season – although this must be taken with a pinch of salt given his penchant to wow fans before vanishing into obscurity next time out – and looks back to his best in the 10 role.
It was a position where he had few opportunities to play last season as Emery chopped and changed formations, creating four chances and recording a 96% passing accuracy in 110 minutes played, according to Wyscout.
Aaron Ramsey’s departure has left the Gunners light in the creative department and 30-year-old Ozil did his utmost to give Aubameyang the kind of service he craves down the line during the victory over Bayern Munich last week.
If there’s any time for the enigmatic German to pull his socks up and prove worth his extraordinary wages, it’s now – Dani Ceballos has signed for Arsenal on loan and Emery’s indication that the Spaniard can play behind the strikers will hopefully be the push Ozil needs to revive his Gunners career.
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Nacho Monreal has been a faithful servant to the north Londoners but he has looked out of place when deployed on the left of a back-three, while he has also offered very little on the front foot when swapped out to his natural role at full-back.
At 33-years-old, the Spaniard doesn’t have the legs anymore, although he is a big upgrade on Sead Kolasinac in the defensive phase – while the burly Serb’s attacking game is an asset, he’s caught out all too often when he plays in a back-four.
Both players’ shortcomings have been exposed in these three pre-season games and their failure thus-far to bring in a left-back who is adept both in defence and attack could certainly cost the Gunners in 2019/20.
Emery will surely be worried about this problem and it’s no wonder links with Kieran Tierney persist.
[snack_break title=”Mustafi getting no better”]
Soccer Football – Premier League – Arsenal v Manchester City – Emirates Stadium, London, Britain – August 12, 2018 Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi in action with Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact yo
Mustafi fast became the butt of many a joke last term, with the German’s defensive ineptitude on display in both home and away fixtures against Crystal Palace in particularly. He scythed down Cheikhou Kouyate inside the box at Selhurst Park and played Zaha in to score the winner at the Emirates Stadium.
There appears to be no sign of the former Valencia man making any improvements this summer, either.
He allowed one of the world’s most lethal strikers in Robert Lewandowski all the space in the world to head home Serge Gnabry’s cross in the Gunners’ win over Bayern – and was all too often guilty of sloppy passing and a lack of awareness.
There’s absolutely no way the World Cup-winner should be anywhere near Arsenal’s starting XI come their opening day clash with Newcastle next month – if he even survives the summer window, that is.
Chamberlain was gracious in victory. He stated that he was happy with the result and the performance, but he showed Arsenal plenty of respect by stating that they were a good side.
He seemingly still has a lot of love for the London club, but he showed where his affiliations lie by signing off the tweet with the hashtag YNWA.
He’s still a very popular figure amongst some sections of the Arsenal fanbase as evidenced by the comments on that post, but seeing him celebrate a victory against his old club and even add the famous Reds motto will undoubtedly sting for those fans.
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to Football Insider, Aston Villa will set their sights on Rangers right-back James Tavernier should current first choice option Ahmed Elmohamady link back up with his former boss Steve Bruce at Newcastle United.
What’s the word?
Recent reports have suggested that Bruce is fighting to get Elmohamady at St James’ Park, after managing him at three different clubs – Sunderland, Hull City and Villa. However, those in charge of transfers at the club would prefer to sign a younger option.
A knock-on effect could lead to Villa boss Dean Smith pursuing Tavernier should his veteran right-back depart Villa Park before Thursday’s transfer deadline.
It it thought that Steven Gerrard’s Rangers will hold out for at least £10m with their club captain being in the peak of his career at the age of 27. He also still has three years remaining on his current contract.
Should the Egyptian leave Villa Park then Smith will be left with an inexperienced and young duo in James Bree and Frederic Guilbert – who the club signed on deadline day of the January transfer window from Caen, before loaning him back to the relegated Ligue 1 club.
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An ideal replacement
Tavernier could prove to be an ideal replacement if not a substantial improvement on Smith’s current options on the right side of defence.
Last season, the 27-year-old was probably one of Gerrard’s most influential players – not only because he was captain, but because of his goals and assists record.
He netted 17 goals and laid on 20 assists as Rangers finished runners-up to Celtic in the Scottish Premier League and were knocked out of the Europa League group stages.
Yes, 14 of those goals were from penalties but that only goes to show his spot-kick taking nous and you’d still take three goals per season from your right-back – that’s better than most in that position and is certainly more than what Elmohamady has managed in his entire Aston Villa career having scored just twice in 87 appearances.
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That assist figure is outstanding too – Liverpool’s Andy Robertson managed seven less, Eden Hazard three less and the Bradford-born ace was only short of Lionel Messi by two. That only goes to show the level of output in which Tavernier can produce.
The former Newcastle man may have little Premier League experience to his name, just like the two that would be behind him in the pecking order should Elmohamady actually depart, but he’s performed at an elite European level by competing in the Europa League on multiple occasions.
£10m in the current transfer market would appear to be quite the steal too – Kieran Tierney is commanding a £25m fee from Arsenal despite facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines through injury, and he underperformed in comparison to Tavernier having scored just once and only assisted a fraction of his figure with six.
Meanwhile young talent in the Premier League has seen some huge figures with 21-year-old Aaron Wan-Bissaka moving to Manchester United for £50m for example.
Villa boss Smith has shown he isn’t afraid to get the cheque book out on multiple occasions this summer – 12 new players have walked through the door at Villa Park for an amount surpassing £130m – there would be no harm in prising away one of the Scottish Premier League’s best players for just another £10m.
Unai Emery has plenty to be happy about so far after a promising start to the season for his Arsenal side.
The Gunners have won their first two games of the Premier League campaign, first beating Newcastle United 1-0 at St. James’ Park before defeating Burnley 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
The former Sevilla boss has so far given some of the club’s younger players plenty of time to impress, with Joe Willock, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson all having started in the first two games.
Find out the truth about why David Luiz joined Arsenal in the video below…
There is some hype surrounding the latter, who looked good on loan at Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga last term. However, he will need to provide a lot more going forward following an offensive display against the Clarets in which he did little of note.
It would even be fair to say that he was a passenger throughout his time on the field, and it came as little surprise when he was replaced at half-time by Nicolas Pepe. During those 45 minutes, he created just one chance and managed one shot.
It was in terms of dribbles and crosses where he was particularly disappointing, though. Not even once was he able to beat his man, and he also failed to complete a cross. Bearing in mind that he is a winger, those numbers are quite frankly not good enough.
All in all, Nelson finished with a rating of 6.22, which was by far the worst of the starting XI. With Alexandre Lacazette and Aubameyang both scoring and record-signing Pepe surely in line to start soon after Saturday’s cameo, Nelson will need to hope that he gets another chance to show his worth in the coming weeks.
كشف علي درويش، رئيس هيئة استاد القاهرة، عن استضافة الملعب لقمة الأهلي والزمالك في الدوري المصري الممتاز.
الأهلي يلتقي مع نظيره الزمالك في التاسعة والنصف مساء الأحد 18 أبريل المقبل في المباراة المؤجلة من الجولة الرابعة والتي تقام على استاد القاهرة الدولي. طالع مواعيد الأهلي من هنا.
وقال درويش في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر فضائية “أم بي سي مصر”: “مباراتي الأهلي والزمالك في الدوري ستقام على استاد القاهرة”.
وتابع: “أتمنى أن يكون هناك حضور جماهيري في استاد القاهرة، ولكن هذا قرار الدولة”.
وتطرق للحديث عن قضايا الاستاد بشأن المستحقات المتأخرة: “هناك قضايا في القضاء بشأن مستحقات قديمة لصالح استاد القاهرة لم تتنهي بعد ونبذل مجهود بالتواصل مع الجهات”
وأكمل: “وتواصلنا مع النادي الأهلي وبدء يحل جزء كبير من المستحقات، وتركنا جزء للقضاء هناك أختلاف عليه، وتواصلنا مع اتحاد الكرة ووعد أن يكون هناك جدولة للمستحقات”.
وأضاف: “نريد أن ننهي كل شىء قبل القضاء، ونريد أن نجمع أموال لكل تسير الأمور”.