All posts by h716a5.icu

Leeds are currently enduring a rather rocky start to the new year. They have won just two of their six matches and appear to be lacking consistency.

So, what’s the issue?

On the chalkboard

One of the biggest issues can undoubtedly be attributed to the defence. They have shipped 38 strikes – the second most in the division – and have a woeful record from set-pieces.

Of course, the Whites have had numerous injury concerns. At one point, Liam Cooper, Robin Koch and Diego Llorente were all out injured. The club captain has now returned but after the latter received yet another setback last week, their problems are only mounting.

How they could do with a player like Ben White. The centre-back was an imperious figure for the Whites last term and featured in all 46 league outings. His health was always perfect and on his way to winning 2.5 interceptions per game, topped the team’s statistics for that area of the game.

He epitomises everything Marcelo Bielsa looks for in a defender and it was unsurprising they tried so hard to bring back last summer. Victor Orta submitted three bids for his services – all of which were turned down by Brighton.

That being said, it’s another man on the treatment table that Leeds miss more.

Forlorn Forshaw

The last time Adam Forshaw set foot on a pitch in a Leeds United shirt, they were still a Championship side.

The club’s transfer record was still £18m for Rio Ferdinand and the thought of £50m investment from the 49ers was far-fetched.

Such is the length of time that he’s spent out with an injury that he’s almost become a forgotten man at Elland Road.

He has not featured for the Whites since the 28th September 2019 because of an ongoing hip problem and his return date is still relatively unclear. Though, given the issues Leeds have had in midfield, he has been a massive miss.

Leeds have been able to patch together their defence by shifting Luke Ayling inside to centre-back and playing Pascal Struijk at the back but midfield remedies are hard to come by. When Kalvin Phillips doesn’t play at the base of the midfield Bielsa’s men tend to find life difficult.

They lost 3-0 to Crawley when Phillips was absent from the midfield while Struijk struggled when he deputised for the England international during the 1-0 loss to Brighton.

However, if they had Forshaw fit, he would be a very simple remedy. The 29-year-old is your typical box to box player and is as good going forward as he is in defensive phases of the play.

In 2018/19 the £23k-per-week earner recorded 2.2 tackles per game but after being given more freedom in 2019/20, managed 1.1 tackles before his injury. Although he didn’t find the net, the experienced midfielder got forward on a regular basis and provided 1.9 shots per match.

It’s hardly a surprise that Bielsa loves him so much. Speaking in October 2019, the Argentine said; “He has a feature that is very difficult to get. He defends similar to Kalvin, he attacks similar to Klich.”

Both Phillips and Mateusz Klich have been hugely influential since Bielsa took over in 2018 so that’s quite the appraisal. It also speaks volumes about how much they miss him.

Stuart Dallas has recently been moved to midfield and with his tenacious movements, we’re starting to see shades of Forshaw in his performances.

However, in the words of Bielsa; “you are not going to find a lot of players with this kind of characteristic.”

Forshaw is one of a kind and is being missed greatly.

AND in other news, Leeds may have their new Ben White in rarely-seen 18 y/o who’s “very calm on the ball”…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Premier League forward Dean Windass has backed Tottenham Hotspur to secure an “unbelievable” return for ex-midfielder Luka Modric.

Earlier this week, reports emerged in Spain claiming that Spurs boss Jose Mourinho had spoken to the 35-year-old Real Madrid star over a potential reunion back in north London.

Modric was signed by the ‘Special One’ at the La Liga giants for £30m back in 2012 and has been there ever since, though his current contract at the Bernabeu is set to expire at the end of the current season.

Although, it is thought that the Croatian veteran is in talks over an extension, so Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy may need to act quickly if he’s to tempt the “terrific player” back to the club.

And Windass believes it would be a smart move to make…

He told FFC:

“Say no more. That would be unbelievable, wouldn’t it?

“That would strengthen the side. Would he come back? I don’t know what relationship he had [with Jose]. I watched the Tottenham thing on Netflix when Modric was there.

“Listen, he’s a great player isn’t he, wow. Hopefully yeah, we all want to see the best players in the Premier League, and he’s certainly one of them.”

Modric has still proven to be a valuable player for Zinedine Zidane despite his advancing years, starting 11 of 13 matches in the Spanish top-flight this season.

Per WhoScored, the World Cup runner-up and 2018 Ballon d’Or winner has averaged 1.6 key passes, 1.6 dribbles, 1.2 tackles and 0.8 shots per game. He’s certainly still got it.

The 35-year-old played 160 times for Spurs before making the move to Madrid eight years ago. Gareth Bale’s come back, so why not Modric?

AND in other news, Pundit baffled by contract situation of £120kp/w Spurs “liability”…

Sheffield Wednesday are back at square one as Owls chairman Dejphon Chansiri searches for his third manager of the season following the shock sacking of Tony Pulis earlier this week…

What’s the word?

And according to The Athletic’s Nancy Frostick, the same names are once again being linked with the vacant role at Hillsborough Stadium.

Garry Monk was axed by the Thai businessman at the start of November due to the Owls’ poor run of form before he was quickly succeeded by Pulis, who has left after just ten matches in charge in south Yorkshire.

She wrote:

“Familiar names linked to the job when it became vacant just over a month ago, including Paul Cook and Danny Cowley and Ryan Lowe, the Plymouth Argyle manager, have once again been linked with the position, while Sven-Goran Eriksson retains an interest as The Athletic reported last month.”

Not the right man

On the face of it, Chansiri and Cook partnered together already looks like a disaster waiting to happen, considering how things went at the DW Stadium.

The 53-year-old resigned from the post after relegation on the final day of the season last term, and he has since claimed that he nearly went before that 1-1 draw with Fulham because the administrators sold a star player without his consent.

Cook has also revealed that he is “desperate” to return to management, as per talkSPORT (via Wigan Today).

With spells at Chesterfield and then Portsmouth, the former central midfield accrued a very impressive record – a League Two title in 2013/14 and playoff campaigns in 2014/15 and 2015/16 – but his record in the Championship isn’t great.

After gaining promotion from League One with the Latics, he managed only 28 wins from 92 matches (30.5%) and ultimately, took them back down – even if the circumstances were heavily against him.

That feels all too similar to the situation in south Yorkshire – points deductions, finances in a mess and likely contenders for relegation.

The Owls could be dealt further misery if Cook puts himself through all that again – if they do go down, then perhaps he’s the man for the job but for now, move on quickly.

AND in other news, Howard Wilkinson 2.0: Owls must appoint 42 y/o Tony Pulis’ successor

After a couple of impressive results, things looked like they might just be heading in the right direction for Newcastle. And lo and behold, the Magpies saw any momentum gained in recent weeks go down the drain with a 2-0 defeat away to Southampton.

It was a performance that saw Steve Bruce’s side take another two steps back, and whilst the manager will take a lot of the flak – and rightly so for their lack of attacking intent – there was one man in particular who really let him down: Sean Longstaff.

Hilariously obscure Premier League players – Can you name them all?

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After returning to the side last week in the win over Everton, it looked like Longstaff had put a marker down and given Bruce no option but to play him for the foreseeable future. And to his credit, the Newcastle boss rewarded his midfielder with some faith and kept him in the line-up for the visit to St Mary’s.

Sadly for him, he delivered anything but the kind of performance he put in against the Toffees. As per Sofascore, he lost possession a staggering 15 times over the course of the game, and lost eight of his twelve total duels too.

The Saints simply ran over him in midfield, and his dilly-dallying on the ball didn’t help his teammates either, leaving them in trouble more often that not.

He failed with both of his attempted dribbles, made no tackles or interceptions whatsoever, and made just 26 passes too. For someone trying to establish himself as a key part of this Newcastle midfield, it was as bad as it gets.

Bruce gave him the opportunity to impress once again, and he let his manager down big time.

Glasgow Rangers romped to a 4-0 victory over Aberdeen FC to move eleven points clear of reigning champions Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon.

After hammering Hamilton Academical at home in an 8-0 win before the international break, Steven Gerrard’s side extended their unbeaten run by beating third-placed Aberdeen at Ibrox, having beaten the Dons at the Pittodrie Stadium at the start of the season.

Several of Gerrard’s top stars were in sublime form at the weekend, especially in the first half where the home side largely dominated proceedings from start to finish, winning almost every battle in the air and on the ground.

Whilst much of the focus will be on James Tavernier after the Rangers skipper scored his 10th goal against Aberdeen, Ryan Kent was a constant menace throughout the game, as he caused Derek McInnes’ side all sorts of problems by popping up all over the place.

The usually reliable left winger finally answered his critics in style as he forced a fine save from Joe Lewis, before he opened the scoring with a sensational long-range strike to end his 10-game goal drought stretching back to the 4-0 win over Dundee United.

Kent then capped off an impressive performance after he set up Scott Arfield for Gerrard’s side’s third goal.

Per SofaScore, the 24-year-old received a high rating of 8.1 out of ten for his efforts – he took two shots on target, 46 touches of the ball, had one shot blocked, completed three key passes and 31 out of 34 passes at a pass success percentage of 91%, whilst he also made one tackle and two interceptions, which shows that he contributed defensively as well as the Gers kept their 17th clean sheet in all competitions so far this season.

Once described as a “frightening” beast by Arfield after a strong start to the season, Kent’s performances had somewhat tailed off before the international break, with one goal in his past eleven games prior to the game against Aberdeen.

But he bounced back in sensational style which will have reminded Gerrard precisely why he cannot afford to lose the winger in the winter transfer window.

Kent re-joined Rangers from Liverpool for £6.5m plus £1.5m in add-ons on a four-year deal after a successful loan spell last year. Since then, he has become the go-to man for the Gers manager, having scored 20 goals and supplied 20 assists in 96 games for the Light Blues in all competitions.

Brandon Barker is Gerrard’s only other option on the left wing, but the Ibrox boss has been reluctant to use the Manchester City academy product in the Premiership this season, with all but four of his appearances in the top flight as a substitute so far.

Gerrard will be keen to wrap up a deal for the dynamo as soon as possible, amid rumours that Leeds United remain interested in Kent.

AND in other news, Gerrard’s nightmare: Glasgow Rangers chief Ross Wilson must stop Joe Aribo from Ibrox exit…

David Moyes must make a late U-turn on his naïve and baffling decision not to sign Queens Park Rangers full-back Ryan Manning following reports the West Ham United boss is no longer keen.

What’s the word?

According to Irons insider ExWHUemployee, West Ham are now unlikely to be signing R’s star Manning before the close of the EFL transfer window on Friday as Moyes “doesn’t rate him”.

The Hammers have been linked with a potential move for the marauding left-back all summer, with The Telegraph claiming back in July that he and Everton’s Jonjoe Kenny were in Moyes’ sights as he strived to strengthen the full-back options at the London Stadium.

Interest in east London appeared to have remained strong throughout the international window and has boiled over into the domestic market, with more recent claims from the Mirror proposing on Deadline Day that a £5million bid could soon land on the table.

It was believed that the offer would be enough to tempt QPR into selling their full-back, as Moyes had scouted Manning throughout the 24-year-old’s sensational 2019/20 season that featured five goals and seven assists across all competitions.

Manning has been unable to add to his impressive numbers at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium this term as he finds himself frozen out of the first-team picture by manager Mark Warburton, who noted last month that the decision comes amid talks over a new contract with the defender otherwise a free agent next summer.

“There’s contract talks at different stages, simple as that,” Warburton said, via quotes by London News Online. “Everyone doesn’t come in at the same time, at the same stage and have the same negotiation.

“I want to make sure that players are focused on the game and there’s nothing derogatory or negative about Ryan, who trains exceptionally well and is a great lad.”

Moyes must make a U-turn

With West Ham yet to sign the left-sided full-back Moyes had hoped to secure all summer, the Irons boss must make a U-turn on his apparent decision not to land Manning’s signature.

In addition to Warburton praising the Irishman for his exceptional work rate in training despite not featuring in the league this season, former QPR head coach Steve McLaren was left stunned just weeks into his tenure by what he was seeing Manning deliver.

“Ryan is a player that I really like,” he said, via quotes by football.london. “In the first two weeks of pre-season I said to Les [Ferdinand, the R’s Director of Football]: ‘wow, he’s a good player’.”

Another ex-R’s boss in Ian Holloway also had great things to say about the Irishman, labelling him “absolutely outstanding” back in 2017.

Manning made his sole outing of the current season to date in QPR’s 3-2 defeat at Plymouth Argyle in the Carabao Cup, where he recorded a mammoth 106 touches, played 64 accurate passes with a 91% accuracy rating, registered four key balls, took three shots, made three tackles, and won seven duels including all five ground battles and two aerial contests, per SofaScore.

It was a similar story in last season’s Championship campaign, in which he was registered as creating 12 big chances to score and averaging 77.9 touches, 1.9 key balls, 1.7 accurate crosses, 2.0 tackles, 1.7 clearances, 6.6 duels won and 0.9 successful dribbles a game.

AND in other news, the dominant displays of an £8.55m-rated West Ham star are backing the Irons into a corner concerning his long-term future.