We’re yet to fully translate the complexities of emoji language, but we assume what Gerrard is trying to say is: “Good luck on the new season Rhian because if you don’t perform you’re going to end up at Rangers with me *OK hand*”
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Nemanja Matic is certainly not your average goalscorer.
The 31-year-old veteran midfielder has many qualities but he was never really known for his lethal finishing.
He arrived at Manchester United from Chelsea in 2017 and has since then played a total of 87 games, scoring or assisting only three goals in the process.
Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
By all accounts, that is not really an impressive tally but then again, his role is simply not to score that many goals.
But that doesn’t mean he’s unable to do so. And when he actually does score, there’s a good chance it will be a screamer.
Now, Matic has taken to
/B1cHb9alXXS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram to share an incredible long-range effort that rattled the net against Crystal Palace in 2018.
He even dubbed the goal his favourite in the Manchester United shirt so far.
And it’s not really a surprise because it was an incredible shot and a goal that gave the Red Devils the eventual 3-2 victory in the dying moments of the game.
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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 Don Balon, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is keen for the club to explore the possibility of bringing Marco Reus to Anfield.
The German coach worked alongside the Borussia Dortmund attacker for three years at the Signal Iduna Park, where Reus played a key role in helping Klopp reach the Champions League final as well as two DFL-Supercup successes.
If the Dortmund No.11 did arrive on Merseyside, where would he even play?
“It reminds me of a bus seat!” – Watch a damning verdict on Chelsea’s new kit in the video below…
The Champions League winners have what is arguably one of Europe’s best attacking trios, so he wouldn’t get into the side in any forward positions where he played sporadically last term.
Instead, the 30-year-old would probably be used as an attacking midfielder, where he featured 22 times last season.
In Klopp’s preferred 4-3-3 system, he opts to play with Fabinho as a deep-lying defensive midfielder, and Jordan Henderson is used as the more forward thinking No.8 – Wijnaldum can also feature in this role, as we saw by his two-goal haul against Barcelona.
So, assuming that Reus would be vying with Henderson and Wijnaldum for that role, it can be argued that the 41-cap Germany international would give Liverpool a new dimension in midfield.
Firstly, Reus’ goal tally from last year is vastly superior to any of the Reds’ other midfielders. He managed to notch 17 Bundesliga goals last term, whilst Henderson and Wijnaldum scored four between them with one and three respectively.
Unexpectedly, however, it is the German attacker’s work going backwards that would offer a new dimension along with the added bonus of goals.
When you think of Reus you probably don’t associate him with defending, yet he averaged 1.2 tackles and 1.2 clearances per game last term, as per WhoScoerd, compared to Henderson’s 1.4 and 0.4 in the same departments – Wijnaldum is the weakest defensive performer with 1.2 and 0.7.
Those defensive stats aren’t too dissimilar to two of Klopp’s most regular starters, but Reus offers a shed-load of goals whereas Henderson and Wijnaldum do not.
If he were to be signed and thrown into the side in that No.8/No.10 role that Henderson and Wijnaldum occupy between themselves, it would hand Klopp a new dimension that he doesn’t already have at his disposal in midfield.
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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to Football League World, West Ham are once again set to include Sam Byram in their latest offer for West Brom’s Salomon Rondon.
According to technical director Luke Dowling, Albion are willing to see Rondon leave the club this summer.
The Venezuelan striker has a £16.5m release clause in his contract as Newcastle remain interested in the player. Wolves have also been sniffing around the forward but West Ham seem to be at the front of the queue at the moment.
They previously had a bid rejected involving Byram and Jordan Hugill but Football Insider claim that they’re set to return with a renewed £14m offer.
And a part of that, per Football League World, is Byram once again.
Watch West Bromwich Albion Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
With the Baggies happy to lose Rondon this summer, they should arguably be looking to just cut their losses, especially after a reduction in parachute payments.
A first offer involving Hugill was quite rightfully rejected given the £10m fee and his record at Middlesbrough last season where he only scored six.
However, if a renewed bid of £14m plus the 25-year-old right-back comes in, they simply have to accept.
Why? Because the Hammers man could be imperative next season.
The fact of the matter is that Rondon doesn’t fit in at West Brom anymore.
What the club do need, though, is a right-back.
The fans in the video below had some very strong words for Michel Platini who was detained over alleged corruption this week…
In their squad at the time being, the only player they have capable of playing in that position is Allan Nyom.
The former Watford man spent the 2018/19 season on loan in La Liga which was arguably evidence that they don’t exactly trust him.
As a result, bringing in Byram is a necessity.
He’s shown in the past just what he can do at Championship level, and as documented with previous target Famara Diedhiou, signing proven players who have cut it in the second tier could be key.
He spent a period out through injury but when he was at Leeds, he was hugely promising, making 1.7 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game during his final full term with the Whites.
Not agreeing to the reported new terms for the 6 foot 1 forward, therefore, would be a mistake.
Miguel Almiron is a top player who a lot of Newcastle fans were over the moon to see sign for them back in January for around the £20m mark, BBC. Now, though, it looks like Real Madrid want him a matter of months later according to an article from The Mirror.
At face value, the idea of losing their record signing just months after welcoming him to the club is not what the Magpies will want this summer, but the fact that they could be set to make £14m profit on a player who is yet to score a goal for them has to be positive.
The issue that the Newcastle fans may have is that with Rafa Benitez confirmed to be leaving, as per the Newcastle website, and little to get excited about at St James Park at the moment, losing a big player like Almiron would just be another negative, but that only depends on how the money gets reinvested.
When the South American ace signed for the club it was very clear that he was a marquee addition and now that Rafa is gone, what’s the point in holding onto a player who he specifically wanted when you could potentially make a massive profit by allowing him to leave and bolstering this summer’s transfer budget.
The need at Newcastle at the moment is for a proper #9, a winger, a central midfielder and full-backs. That’s only because Salomon Rondon, Kenedy and Mo Diame will leave this summer whilst full-back has been an issue all season. That’s a lot of players to sign and with Mike Ashley’s history of reluctant spending, taking in £35m for a player who cost them much less back in January would make plenty of sense.
Newcastle fans, what do you think of the Almiron rumours? Let us know and comment below!
أعلن نادي الإسماعيلي عن تولي خالد القماش المهمة الفنية للفريق الأول لكرة القدم خلفًا لـ أبو طالب العيسوي.
وكان الإسماعيلي يرغب في التعاقد مع إيهاب جلال المدير الفني للمقاصة، ورفض النادي الفيومي التفريط في خدماته.
طالع أيضًا.. مصدر لـ بطولات: تاكيس مرشح لتدريب الإسماعيلي.. ويكشف مصير المفاوضات مع إيهاب جلال
ويتولى القماش قيادة الفريق الأول بنادي الإسماعيلي بشكل مؤقت لحين التعاقد مع مدير فني جديد.
الإسماعيلي خسر في أخر ظهور له في الدوري المصري أمام المقاولون العرب بهدف نظيف في المباراة التي أقيمت الإثنين الماضي.
جدير بالذكر أن الإسماعيلي يحتل المركز الخامس عشر في جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري برصيد 6 نقاط.
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Rangers are looking to get rid of left-back Borna Barisic this summer, according to Football Insider.
Steven Gerrard knows that in order to challenge Celtic next season, the Gers need a really successful summer transfer window and that process will involve both bringing players in and letting the right ones go.
Football Insider reckon one player the club are preparing to axe is Croatian international Barisic, ready to listen to offers for him and even hoping they can score a profit on the £2.2m it took to sign him from NK Osijek last year.
However, is it the right time to sell him, especially when there is no obvious replacement currently at the club?
With the long serving Lee Wallace also leaving the club this summer after the expiration of his contract, only Jon Flanagan is available in the position heading into vital summer qualifiers and he is a natural right-back.
There’s no doubt that Barisic had a disappointing debut season at Ibrox, especially since the turn of the year, but he’s a player with obvious talent that shouldn’t be written off so quickly, even if a profit can be made.
Injuries and fitness issues blighted his season and clearly more consistency needs to be found in that regard, but saying goodbye to a current Croatian international who is capped regularly could be something the club later come to regret.
Unless Steven Gerrard has a ready made replacement that can come in early this summer and get up to speed, Barisic is worth keeping around.
With his contract running until 2022, there’s plenty of time to sell him if it doesn’t work out again next season.
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Loads of Sunderland fans have been sending their best wishes to Lewis Morgan after the youngster said his goodbyes to the club on Twitter.
It was a heart-breaking end to the season for the Black Cats, but there are reasons to be optimistic going into their second consecutive season in League One.
The Wearsiders have an owner who clearly cares about the club, have reunited the fans with the players and also improved their stadium.
One big advantage the Black Cats have over most others in League One is the allure of a big club, which should allow them to sign more loan players like Morgan.
The 22 year-old was snapped up by Celtic after some impressive form for St. Mirren, before joining Sunderland on loan in January.
He scored twice and added four assists, and will now head back to Parkhead with the hopes of cracking the first team in Glasgow.
Sunderland fans have nothing but good things to say about the young Scot, as you can see from the Twitter reactions down below…
It’s felt like forever since Arsenal last finished above Tottenham in the Premier League table.
What once used to be an annual occurrence has turned into a power struggle in north London where Arsenal have fallen ahead of Tottenham in the league as Spurs have finished above the Gunners in the table for the past two seasons and are on course to do it again for the third season in a row.
A moment in time – Arsenal catch Tottenham, 2013
It’s still mathematically possible that Arsenal can still finish above Spurs in the league, but in the mind of every Gunners fans they know it’s probably too little too late with two games of the season remaining.
But that’s not to say it won’t happen, after all, there are countless examples of Spurs slipping up from unthinkable positions and allowing Arsenal to finish above them in the league table, and none are more famous than what happened in the 2012/13 season.
Under Andre Villas-Boas, Tottenham had mounted one of their best assaults on finishing in the top-four, with Gareth Bale single handily winning games for Spurs and the other supporting characters in the squad doing enough to assist the Welshman.
Arsenal, on the other hand, had been struggling all season long in the league. The Gunners had not been in the top-four all campaign with poor results against the likes of Norwich City, Fulham and Swansea City holding Arsene Wenger’s side back from a Champions League finish heading into March.
With Tottenham hosting Arsenal on matchday 28, it was likely the winner of the latest edition of the North London Derby would go on to take the fourth and final Champions League spot in the table, and to the surprise of many, it was Spurs who took the three points in a 2-1 win.
Now seven points clear of Arsenal, it was looking like Tottenham would for the first time in the 21st century finish above the Gunners in the table, but as we all know, Tottenham Spurs’d it up.
Two defeats in their next two games saw Arsenal close the gap on their rivals to three points, and as the Gunners went on to win all but two of their final nine games of the season, draws against Everton and Wigan saw Wenger’s side leapfrog Spurs in the table as the red side of north London yet again finished above their cross-city rivals.
It is unlikely we will see a similar Tottenham slip-up this season, but we have seen in the past that they are a team who can bottle a seemingly comfortable position in the league, and Arsenal are the team who more than once reel in the awards.
Arsenal fans, can the Gunners finish above Spurs this season? Let us know!
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Loads of Sunderland fans have been reacting to an article on popular fan site Roker Report, discussing the impact of Josh Maja’s departure.
Maja was the most crucial part of Sunderland’s campaign until January, bagging an incredible 15 goals in 25 League One appearances.
The 20 year-old used his contract situation to force a move away from the club though, and swapped Wearside for Bordeaux for an undisclosed fee, per BBC.
The Black Cats weren’t slack in replacing the youngster either, bringing Will Grigg to the Stadium of Light in the hopes his incredible lower-league scoring record would carry them through to automatic promotion.
Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals why Tyne-Wear is a more intense derby than anything London can offer – check out the video below….
Of course, that hasn’t happened, as Grigg has mustered just four League One strikes since January, and fellow front man Charlie Wyke just cannot seem to find any sort of consistent form.
With the daunting play-off gauntlet looming, fans appear to be split on Maja’s departure, with some saying good riddance to a player who didn’t want to stay, while others wonder what could have been.
Either way, take a look at the best Twitter reactions down below…