Category Uncategorized

[ad_pod ]

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has been left in a very awkward situation following a reported bust-up with striker Charlie Austin.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Austrian has made no secret of the fact that he would be happy to sell the centre-forward if the price was right, even saying it both during the January transfer window and then again later on during the 2018/19 season.

It appeared as though the 30-year-old could be edging closer to a St Mary’s exit after he was omitted from the 26-man squad that travelled to Austria for a pre-season trip last week, but The Sunday Mirror, via HITC, say he turned down a move to West Bromwich Albion.

Watch Southampton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

A further report from The Sun now says the former Queens Park Rangers man called Hasenhuttl “disrespectful” for leaving him behind in England, and that he wants to stay and fight for his spot in the team with just a year remaining on his contract.

Austin was signed for what was a bargain £4m fee in January 2016, but he has scored just 20 goals in 81 appearances in all competitions since then, including two in 25 Premier League outings last term.

Southampton’s new man Moussa Djenepo divides opinion amongst fans in the video below…

Awkward situation

It has left the former RB Leipzig boss with a bit of a problem.

He clearly wants Austin to go – not only for the fact that he appears to be sixth-choice striker right now with Danny Ings, Che Adams, Shane Long, Michael Obafemi and Dan N’Lundulu all going to Austria ahead of him, but probably also to remove his wages – but the striker isn’t keen as he knows he will be entitled to a potentially lucrative signing-on fee next summer, according to The Sunday Mirror, via Tribal Football.

The Daily Echo reports that both he and Mario Lemina are training separately from the rest of the squad at Staplewood, with Saints preferring a permanent exit for Austin if he is to go.

With just over three weeks until the transfer window slams shut this is a real sticking point, and it has left Hasenhuttl in an unneeded awkward position ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.

Southampton may be better off simply paying up his contract should an exit fail to materialise, in order to get a player that could prove to be a distraction off of the books for good.

[ad_pod ]

Lots of Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to slam Roberto Carlos’ reasoning behind why he prefers Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson over Alisson Becker.

The former Real Madrid left-back told the Raw Take podcast: “I like Alisson because he is tall and has good positioning but Ederson can play in any position – goalkeeper, centre-back, midfielder – he has great quality.

“So I am sorry Alisson, but to me Ederson is a bit better because he plays better with his feet.”

You can relive Liverpool’s Champions League celebrations in glorious 2D thanks to the guys at 442oons in the video below…

Some Reds supporters down below have taken exception to these comments as they feel a goalkeeper should be judged on things a keeper is expected to do, not for their ability to play in a position away from the goalmouth.

One fan sarcastically said that Andres Iniesta is a better goalkeeper than Iker Casillas in a humorous retaliation to Carlos’ strange comments, whilst more fans are just outright baffled by the former Brazilian international’s reasoning for his choice.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Alisson completed more passes per game in the Premier League last season in comparison to the former Benfica goalkeeper anyway, recording an average of 28.3 compared to Ederson’s 24.2 – Carlos really doesn’t have much weight behind his argument.

Let’s take a look at some of the best tweets…

[ad_pod ]

Reports claim Thomas Meunier could be one of two high-profile signings Manchester United make in June, but would he be a good signing?

According to The Sun, the Red Devils want to complete two big signings before pre-season starts in July.

The report claims that Ajax’s Matthijs de Ligt is the primary target, while Napoli centre back Kalidou Koulibaly and PSG right back Meunier are also on the shopping list.

And while right back is a huge problem position for the Old Trafford outfit, there are doubts whether Meunier is the right solution.

We asked some of the writers here at Football FanCast for their thoughts on the PSG ace and Belgium international. Would he be a good capture? Or just another panic signing from Ed Woodward and the board? Let’s find out…

Could Harry Maguire be on his way to Old Trafford? Check out the video below to see why it would make so much sense…

Luke Glanville

“In my opinion, Meunier can only be seen as the correct right back choice at Manchester United. We all know that if he isn’t now, Diego Dalot will be the first choice at Old Trafford soon enough. Therefore, he needs a back-up with experience but one that can still step in and do a job to his standard if needed. At 27, the Belgium international is perfect for that role, bringing bags of domestic success with him from Paris Saint-Germain.”

Harry Sherlock

“Meunier is a bit of a strange one in the sense that he’s probably the only semi-decent right-back available on the market at this point. But, even so, it feels a misstep to move for him. Ligue 1 is not the best judge of quality and Serge Aurier kept him out of the team at PSG; now he can’t get a look-in ahead of the desperately poor Kieran Trippier at Spurs. United should probably look elsewhere or else he’ll be yet another flop.”

Jack Saville

“Signing Meunier would be brilliant business from Woodward. The flying full-back is a unique talent in the modern game, blending height, speed, defensive solidity and forward-thinking dynamism to devastating effect. He would certainly be a fantastic mentor for Dalot given his experience at both club and international level and, if United can secure his signature at a reasonable price, it’s a deal they absolutely have to secure.”

[ad_pod ]

According to the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool are planning to find another loan move for Marko Grujic this summer.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Serbian international spend the entirety of last season out on loan with Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin, where it is safe to say he impressed given the glowing review he received by manager Pal Dardai.

Dardai said: “Marko is by far the best midfielder I’ve seen in my time at the club.” That is a very lofty compliment given the fact that Dardai spent 14 years as a player at the club, and has also spent seven years managing the youth team and the first-team.

You can relive Liverpool’s Champions League celebrations in glorious 2D thanks to the guys at 442oons in the video below…

Grujic, 23, netted five times last term and recorded one assist in 22 Bundesliga outings for Hertha, and the Echo report that Jurgen Klopp still thinks the midfielder has the potential to succeed at Anfield.

A loan is best for all parties

There is no doubting that the former Red Star Belgrade man has quality.

The 6 ft 3 powerhouse hasn’t done much wrong whilst on loan with Cardiff and then Hertha over the last two years, but there simply isn’t room for him to develop properly at Liverpool right now.

Klopp’s midfield currently consists of seven players – yep, seven.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Adam Lallana are all at Klopp’s disposal, so it appears to be near impossible that Grujic would get any meaningful game time.

A loan would also allow Liverpool to retain an asset who clearly has something about him given the praise he has received, whilst Klopp is no fool when it comes to making a judgement on a player.

Loaning him out would allow his value to be retained – or even see it increase – whilst he also gets to carry on honing his skills at a club where he will hopefully be given regular game time.

أصدر نادي ليفربول المنافس في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز بيانًا رسميًا يؤكد من خلاله ترحيبه بقرار الحكومة البريطانية بعودة الجماهير إلى المدرجات بداية من الشهر المقبل.

وأعلنت الحكومة يوم أمس، الإثنين، الموافقة على حضور 4 آلاف متفرج أو 50% من السعة للأحداث الرياضية في الأماكن المفتوحة بالبلاد. (طالع التفاصيل)

وأكد ليفربول من خلال بيانه الرسمي أنه كان يفتقد لجماهيره في ملعب “أنفيلد” طوال الفترة الماضية والتي دامت أكثر من 8 أشهر بسبب جائحة فيروس كورونا المستجد، كوفيد 19.

وشدد النادي الإنجليزي أنه سيواصل العمل مع مجلس مدينة ليفربول وشرطة ميرسيسايد، من أجل وضع أفضل الإجراءات الاحترازية التي تحمي الجماهير من أجل استمرارهم في الملاعب.

الجدير بالذكر أن عودة الجماهير ستكون فور انتهاء الإغلاق الجزئي في بريطانيا يوم 2 ديسمبر المقبل.

Rangers fans have seen some fantastic players signed on amazing deals down the years, and as they continue to work on a tight budget compared to the size of the club, they’ve worked themselves some bargains. One of the more recent impressive coups is that of Glen Kamara, the Finnish midfielder who bossed the Old Firm yesterday.

Steven Gerrard struck up a deal with Dundee to sign the young Kamara, with the initial deal being one that meant he would join this summer. However, a deal was agreed for him to join early and now both the player and the club are reaping the rewards of having him at Ibrox, with Celtic probably wishing he had waited until summer after his performance against them.

The former Arsenal academy man will be loving life at Ibrox as he’s found a new gear to kick into. At his young age of just 23-years-old there is plenty for the youngster to do in football, and learning off of one of the best midfield players of the previous generation in Steven Gerrard will be just what he needs as he looks to develop and kick on in Glasgow.

Scottish football is already proving to be a good leveller for the classy youngster. He looked like one of the best players on the park against Celtic, keeping things neat and tidy in the middle of the park as he chipped in at both ends of the pitch. In truth, Neil Lennon’s side just could not handle the former Dundee man, and they will be signs that the Gers have a real player on their hands.

Should Kamara stick it out and decide to stay at Rangers then the Bluenoses could have themselves a legend in the making. Goals and assists may be few and far between for the workhorse midfielder, but Ibrox knows when they’ve got a quality player in front of them and Glen Kamara is just that. Whatever happens in the future is yet to be seen, but the midfield man could become an icon if he plays his cards right.

Do you think Kamara could become an Ibrox hero, Rangers fans? Comment below!

[ad_pod ]

Southampton’s spectacular run of form continued with a brilliant 3-1 win over Wolves, who appeared to be suffering from their FA Cup heartbreak, with goals from Nathan Redmond (2) and Shane Long enough to ensure all three points remained on the south coast.

The performance was the latest in a sequence of stellar showings from the Saints, who now look certain to avoid relegation despite the dire mess they were in when Ralph Hasenhuttl took over before Christmas.

One man certainly won’t be pleased with his efforts considering the extremely high standards he sets for himself these days.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is just one of many beneficiaries from Hasenhuttl’s arrival at St Mary’s Stadium, with the Dane having been handed the armband on a permanent basis by the former RB Leipzig boss having previously deputised as captain for Ryan Bertrand while the left-back was injured.

A recent interview with the 23-year-old on Southampton’s official website offered an insight into why Hasenhuttl made that decision, with Hojbjerg’s excellent attitude evident in this excerpt:

“I don’t do very much, but what I do has to be the best possible.

“I don’t like the word perfectionist, because it can sometimes be overdone and overthought, but to be the best you can be and still have an edge is very important. That creates who you are.”

Indeed, the former Bayern Munich man has hardly put a foot wrong in 2019, although he will have been highly frustrated with his sloppy display in the middle of the park on Saturday.

Usually a reliable distributor of the ball, Hojbjerg was well below his 83% passing success average for the season, registering 65% accuracy against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, and also took a team-high three unsuccessful touches.

A Southampton fan shares his most gutting moment of the last 10 years supporting the Saints in the video below…

Regardless, he was always on the ball and looking to be involved, with 62 touches to his name, but he was uncharacteristically wasteful on Saturday and, on another day, that could cost his team. There is no doubt that the number 23 will be keen to get back to his best when the Saints travel north to face Newcastle this weekend.

أوضح مدرب بوروسيا مونشنجلادباخ ماركو روز، أنه لا يمكنه إلقاء اللوم على فريقه بعد نجاح ريال مدريد في تحويل الهزيمة إلى تعادل إيجابي بهدفين لمثلهما في المباراة التي جمعت الفريقين بـ دوري أبطال أوروبا.

وكان جلادباخ متقدمًا بهدفين وتعادل ريال مدريد في آخر دقائق المباراة عن طريق كريم بنزيما وكاسيميرو، لتنتهي المباراة (2-2)، ضمن منافسات الجولة الثانية لدور المجموعات.

وقال روز في تصريحات نشرها الموقع الرسمي لليويفا: “عندما تستقبل هدفين متأخرين وتسقط النقاط فهذا ليس شعورًا جيدًا، يتعلق الأمر بجودة ريال مدريد، أردنا الدفاع بشكل أفضل حتى النهاية، لكن في بعض الأحيان تحتاج إلى القليل من الحظ ولم يكن لدينا ذلك الليلة”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. زيدان عن تعادل ريال مدريد أمام مونشنجلادباخ: أظهرنا شخصيتنا وفخور بفريقي

وأضاف: “في كلتا المباراتين أظهرنا ما نحن قادرون عليه، نحن لسنا هنا فقط للمشاركة، نحن هنا للتنافس على النتائج، كان بإمكاننا الحصول على أربع أو ست نقاط، لكن لا يمكننا التفكير بهذه الطريقة”.

وأتم روز: “تحياتي إلى فريقي، قدمنا أداءً مذهلاً، كان بإمكاننا إنهاء المباراة مبكرًا، شاختار سجل الهدف الثالث في ريال مدريد، ونحن لم نفعل، ومع ذلك أنا فخور بما قدمناه  الليلة، ولا يمكنني أن ألومهم على النتيجة”.

[ad_pod ]

Manchester United fans on Twitter have been playing down excitement about their club possibly signing young Benfica star Joao Felix, because of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

The 19-year-old shone for the Portuguese team on Thursday night as they defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 4-2 in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals, netting a stunning hat-trick.

After the game there was plenty of Twitter reaction from fans who want to see the teenager signed, seeing as Felix is a player that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men have been previously linked with.

But not all supporters allowed themselves to get excited about the sensational display, a group were being realistic about their sides’ hope of capturing the former wonderkid.

This is down to the tendency of Woodward not to bother with young players, signing older ones and helping to retain a more senior squad core at Old Trafford.

His style has earned him the nickname “Deadwood” and these fans were not shy to use it when articulating why Man United won’t end up signing Felix.

Which “global superstar” has just been named Man Utd’s worst ever January signing? Find out in the video above…

Check out the best Tweets from cynical supporters, below…

Sheffield Wednesday have yet to taste defeat in the Championship since Steve Bruce took charge at Hillsborough, a run that has stretched back to January and includes 11 games.

During that run Wednesday have kept a superb seven clean sheets, thanks in no small part, to goalkeeper Keiren Westwood, who has played in every game since Bruce’s arrival.

The keeper, who has had spells at Manchester City and Sunderland on his CV, is “delighted” at his form and says there has been a “great turnaround” at the club in 2019.

He told the Sheffield Star: It has been a great turnaround and that is credit to everybody at the club,

“I think I have kept nine [clean sheets] from 14 games. I’m delighted. If you were a striker and you scored nine goals in 14 games, you would be absolutely buzzing.”

The Owls’ win at a blustery Bolton on Tuesday means that they now sit just four points off a play-off spot, but still have a number of clubs to overhaul in the remaining weeks of a season in a race that is sure to go down to the wire.

But Westwood’s focus is on the next game — Blackburn Rovers are the visitors to Hillsborough on Saturday — and stressed that all games between now and the end of the season are “massive”.

He said: “We have to keep plugging away. We have another big game on Saturday.

“Every game we have now is massive. If we can manage to get a win at the weekend going into the international break, that would be big.”

“Let’s just get to this international break and see where we are at.”

Certainly, along with fellow play-off chasers Preston, Wednesday are the form team in the Championship, but it is a run that needs to continue if promotion is to be a realistic target.

It would be a fantastic achievement from where the club sat prior to Bruce’s arrival. It cannot be understated the influence the former Manchester United player has had on the squad, and the players are clearly responding.

Whether the Owls can see it all the way through to May is another question, but regardless if they do or not, Bruce has breathed life back into a sleeping giant that was simply treading water beforehand.

What are your thoughts on the impressive run that Wednesday have been on? Are they realistic contenders for a play-off spot now? Let us know your thoughts…