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It’s just bonkers how things can go on for this long.

Leeds United played out a 1-1 draw with Preston North End, having been bailed out by a late Eddie Nketiah goal, but some attention last night was placed on the man he replaced, Patrick Bamford.

Bamford has now gone two months without a goal, having last found the back of the net in the 3-0 victory over Stoke City back in August.

Last night was certainly one of his worst performances in front of goal, taking six shots but not managing to get a single one on target.

The Nketiah v Bamford debate has been a controversial one among Leeds United fans, and as the latter scored the equaliser last night, there were a number of supporters who took the opportunity to more or less try and put the final nail in Bamford’s coffin as a starter.

Taking to Twitter after the game, they had the following to say about a man who hasn’t found the net for eight games.

Whilst pressure from fans might not be the best way to pick the team, as Philadelphia Eagles head coach Joe Kuharich once said, “If you listen to the fans, you’ll find yourself sitting with them”, it’s hard to deny that the dissenters are going to keep growing and growing and growing until something changes.

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

According to the Daily Mail, Championship side West Bromwich Albion are one of many clubs taking a look a non-league ace Ronald Sobowale after his prolific start to the season.

But he may not necessarily be the answer to their striking department woes.

What’s the word?

The reports suggest that the Whyteleafe striker, who is the cousin of Bayern Munich star David Alaba, is being tracked by Premier League clubs Watford and Leicester City.

He is currently undergoing a trial at league rivals Middlesbrough while Fulham also hold interest in the 22-year-old.

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It is not the first time he has been in this situation as the forward has frequently been handed opportunities to impress over the last year or so for clubs like Cardiff City and Barnsley, where he scored in matches for both teams.

Sobowale was part of the same Chelsea setup as Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke but was let go because of his size, resulting in a drop to the depths of non-league.

So far this season, he’s netted ten goals in 11 matches for the Isthmian League South East side, who play in the eighth tier of English football.

Won’t atone for £12m blunder

By the time Alaba reached the age of 22, he was well established amongst the Bayern Munich ranks, whereas his cousin has been forced down the English pyramid to revive his career.

He may well have finally hit red hot form, but the fact that he hasn’t secured a move anywhere despite numerous trials speaks volumes.

Sobowale has even scored in those trials, yet the clubs involved do not pursue it any further.

Baggies boss Slaven Bilic splashed £12m between Charlie Austin (£4m) and Kenneth Zohore (£8m) in the summer with them only returning the three goals between them, so a striker is definitely needed.

But whether or not this non-league star is the answer remains to be seen, it would be a monumental risk considering the level of football he’s played at.

Everton fans continue to express their anger at Marco Silva following his comments in light of the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

The comments arrived after VAR once again played a significant role in the game. Dele Alli was seen to handle the ball in Everton’s penalty box but, after a VAR check which took three minutes, officials concluded it was accidental.

Silva told Sky Sports: “It’s really tough for me to talk, but it’s tough for the referee as well. We as a club have to keep really strong to respect the decisions and me as a manager it’s something I pass on to my players as well.

“It’s not easy for us but we have to do that. To respect the football we have to respect the decisions, referees and the VAR as well.”

Fans have hit out at Silva once again for his comments following the match, with many of them calling for the sack.

One fan said “get out of this club”, whilst another simply said he is “too soft” to run the club.

It does seem that the pressure is continuing to build on Silva, and it already seems he has lost large portions of the fan base.

Up next for the Toffees are season-defining fixtures against Southampton and Norwich, both of whom are below them in the table.

Dropped points in these games could send the fans into meltdown and, inevitably, represent the final nail in the coffin for Silva’s future.

Here’s what some of the fans had to say in response to the Portuguese manager’s latest comments…

This article forms part of our Profit Players feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how well a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how good of a deal the club managed to achieve.

It all started in the summer of 2016, Queens Park Rangers had finished the season languishing in mid-table of the second-tier in English football, and Matt Phillips needed a new club. In came West Brom, and after agreeing on a fee of just £6m, the English-born player made the move to the Midlands.

After his brilliant start to the Championship season, Phillips is proving to be a crucial player for West Bromwich Albion this season. The winger has already matched his tally of five goals from last season in just 12 games compared to 30 games last year. His hunger to get on the end of chances this year have been apparent with Phillps averaging the second-most shots per game in the West Brom squad.

Goals against Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers and Huddersfield Town have won the league-leaders six points this season, showing his knack for being in the right place at the right time.

Manager Slaven Bilic has lauded his contribution to the attack this year compared to last. He said: “He likes to be around the box, but I said to him sometimes he wasn’t in the box enough.”

“We’ve seen this season that, most of the time, when the ball comes in from the other side, he’s inside the box. At the moment he’s doing it well, long may it continue.” (Source: Express and Star)

His output has already seen his transfer value rise to just over the £6m that was paid for him, as per Transfermarkt, and with the Midlands side in a strong position for Premier League promotion that could skyrocket given the value of promotion to the top-flight.

According to Deloitte (via The Daily Mail), promotion to the top-flight is valued at over £170m, and if Phillips’ goals can contribute to the cause, there’s no reason why his value won’t increase beyond the £6.3m it stands at.

West Brom fans, can Phillips aid your promotion push this season? Let us know your thoughts!

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

Mauricio Pochettino has requested that Tottenham Hotspur try to sign Carles Alena from Barcelona, per Calciomercato.

What’s the word?

The 21-year-old has struggled to make an impact at the Camp Nou this term, making just one appearance, in the opening game of the 2019/20 La Liga campaign.

In total, Alena has 35 Barca appearances to his name (excluding Barcelona B), scoring three goals, and has also won two caps for Spain U21s.

Interested parties are monitoring his situation and Pochettino is said to “dote” on Alena to the point where he has asked the club to secure a deal for his services.

AC Milan are also interested and Barca are said to be willing to loan him out in January.

Extra midfield depth not needed

This feels odd.

Spurs don’t really need another midfielder, especially on loan.

They currently have a number of options in the position, with Tanguy Ndombele, Moussa Sissoko, Christian Eriksen, Giovani Lo Celso, Harry Winks, Oliver Skipp, Eric Dier, Dele Alli and Victor Wanyama all capable of playing in the role.

That’s a total of nine options; if Alena were to join in January, would he do anything to actually solve some of the issues Spurs are facing?

He cannot play at right-back, where Serge Aurier is struggling – WhoScored states that he has garnered ratings below six on three occasions this term – nor is he a potential replacement for Eriksen, whose contract expires in the summer.

Alena tends to play deeper than the Denmark international with Transfermarkt documenting 82 out of 89 appearances there for Barca B.

Defence is another position that should take greater priority too, with Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen having contracts that run out at the end of the season as well. Bringing in Alena won’t remedy that in the slightest.

Signing him would be like buying the cherry before you’ve even made the cake; it makes precious little sense at this stage. That Pochettino has reportedly requested the deal himself is even more nonsensical.

When Manchester United signed Nemanja Matic for £40m in the summer of 2017 there was hardly a river of tears shed by the Chelsea faithful.

Many among the fan-base had long arrived at the conclusion that the Serbian – not exactly known for his mobility anyway – was on the decline while the securement of Danny Drinkwater from Leicester and Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco offered a new and bright direction for the Blues’ midfield.

Perhaps the less said about that the better.

Their point on Matic stood, however, so there was no little consternation in west London when the then 29-year-old got off to a flyer at Old Trafford, patrolling the central area; in the words of one tabloid ‘having a blinder’ on his home debut. Perhaps being reunited with Jose Mourinho was the key in unlocking the past form of a player who was once a Premier League powerhouse? Perhaps Matic was a long way from being finished after all?

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Fast forward 15 months to November 2018 and another disappointing league performance led to talkSPORT offering this damning assessment: “The penny has finally dropped for Manchester United fans: there was a reason why Chelsea gave them Nemanja Matic.”

In between that promising beginning and running – slowly – past that judgement that is akin to being written off the tall, two-time title winner made 63 starts in 76 league games for the Reds. He was a near constant presence as United stumbled and toiled under Mourinho, a flailing state that eventually led to the Portuguese coach’s acrimonious departure last year. Was his diminishing reputation then an unfair extension of being too closely associated with Mourinho’s underwhelming outfit? Or were his lumbering performances a sizeable reason United underwhelmed in the first place?

That remains subjective but what we know for sure is that this season, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the wheel, Matic has been very much a peripheral figure. He has played just 160 minutes of top flight action. He is quite evidently not a Solskjaer man.

And this despite the persistent injury problems of Paul Pogba, and despite too the initial risk in throwing in the relatively inexperienced Scott McTominay in his place. This season United have lurched from mini-crisis to mini-crisis so who better to turn to in order to steady the ship than a player who has been there and done it? Instead Solskjaer has relied on a 22-year-old with just 42 professional outings to his name.

This suggests that Matic’s future in Manchester could well have an end in sight and that reasoning is strengthened by recent reports intimating that a move is imminent. A rumoured switch to Inter appears to be off the table now but that still leaves numerous clubs who would be happy to benefit from his seasoned savvy and calming influence.

“The coach is the man who picks the team and when you are on the bench you are not happy,” the midfielder said last month, further fanning the flames.

Should Matic indeed leave how will he be remembered? It is hoped the colossus who bestrode the Stamford Bridge centre-circle for many a season comes to mind but balancing out that will be this undeniable truth: Chelsea fans were right, in the end.

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… 

What a victory it was for England against Montenegro on Thursday.

On a day of celebration for the Three Lions – it was their 1000th game – Gareth Southgate’s side were in irresistible form. They beat the Balkan nation 7-0, with Harry Kane scoring a hat-trick in the process.

Also on the scoresheet was Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. It was the first time since June 2017 that he had bagged for his country, and it come on his first start in 19 months at international level. It is fair to say that he took advantage of the opportunity his boss gave him at Wembley.

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The goal will be the main talking point, of course, but there was plenty more to savour about this performance.

Impressively, he scored with his only shot of the match, but he contributed more from a creative point of view. Only Ben Chilwell – the Man of the Match – made more chances for his teammates than the former Arsenal man’s three. On top of that, he completed two of the three dribbles he attempted, whilst he landed an impressive 88% of his attempted passes.

Defensively, he made his mark as well, winning two tackles and completing two interceptions. Considering this was his first start in such a while at this level, it was an outstanding display from the 26-year-old.

Those watching on will have been happy to see the former Southampton man do so well, but it would have been interesting to get Jordan Henderson’s thoughts. The 29-year-old was suspended for this match, with Oxlade-Chamberlain effectively taking his place in centre-midfield.

His strike was his fifth goal of the season, whilst he also won Liverpool’s Player of the Month award for October. Henderson, meanwhile, continues to be criticised by part of the Anfield faithful and has picked up a Premier League WhoScored rating of just 6.85 this campaign.

The captaincy does work in his favour, but this run of form will surely have the midfielder – who was signed by the Reds for £20m in 2011 – scared of losing his place not just at club level, but internationally as well. Now back to full fitness, Oxlade-Chamberlain is beginning to hit his stride and should be worrying his club captain.

They might have left it late, but Liverpool got the job done in the end. An away game against Crystal Palace in the Premier League has one particular nightmare the Reds would be keen to forget ever existed – that unbelievable 3-3 draw back in 2014 which effectively ended their title hopes.

This season, Jurgen Klopp’s side are once again desperate to end their title hoodoo, and would no doubt have been itching to ensure they didn’t suffer a repeat of what has happened before at Selhurst Park.

After Wilfried Zaha netted an equaliser with less than eight minutes to go, there may have been fears that the Merseyside club were set to lose some crucial points. But, Brazil international Roberto Firmino stepped up to the plate, to poke home what would end up being the winner.

After seeing the 5 foot 11 star’s goal-scoring display, Liverpool fans took to Twitter to hail the former Hoffenheim man for rising to the occasion.

Many supporters of the Anfield side hailed his abilities as a number nine, with one fan, in particular, insisting that he is the greatest Brazilian to have graced the Premier League.

You can certainly make a case for him being the best in the world in terms of creation from a centre forward position. He’s assisted eight goals already in 2019/20 which is ahead of players like Lionel Messi.

Check out some of the reaction of Liverpool fans below:

Newcastle are currently enjoying a three-match unbeaten run but face a tough trip to Villa Park on Monday in a bid to extend their good form.

Steve Bruce seems to have hit upon a winning formula and with players beginning to understand their role in the team, it is unlikely that he will look to change too much.

The front three have looked dangerous of late, particularly on their last away outing at the London Stadium, and if they can produce in the final third this time around the Magpies may have too much for Aston Villa.

However, the home side aren’t short of dangermen of their own. Bruce is looking to get one over on his former side but admitted that midfielder John McGinn is his one of his best ever signings, and so far the Scotland international has 10 goals this season.

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Getting the better of him will be key, and the same can be said of Jack Grealish, whose impressive form has seen him touted for an England call-up.

In response to their threat, it is very likely that Isaac Hayden will start once again. He has played well this term, particuarly from a defensive point of view with 2.9 tackles and 1.8 interceptions per game.

It is important he is effective, as Newcastle will likely have to bring two fresh faces into the backline due to injuries to Jamaal Lascelles and Ciaran Clark, and therefore it is probable that the visitors will line up like this.

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Paul Dummett and Fabian Schar have both performed well at times this season, with the latter producing the highest number of interceptions of any Newcastle defender so far.

His return to the side will likely please fans and should make-up for the loss of Lascelles, though it will be interesting to see how they cope without the leadership and organisation he brings to the team – as he is yet to miss a league game so far.

As for Dummett, he put in a solid display against Bournemouth when replacing the injured skipper, and with Bruce organising the defence effectively they may be able to shut out the home side.

Other than that, the starting XI is likely to be the same from the victory over the Cherries, with a few players beginning to find good form – DeAndre Yedlin even scored last time out for example.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Jose Mourinho brought his own brand of ruthlessness to north London on Tuesday night.

As Tottenham Hotspur fell 2-0 behind to Olympiacos in a Champions League game that they needed to win to secure qualification to the knockout stages, there was a familiar air of disappointment.

Under Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs had been too passive this season, too willing to let bad performances slide and too tactically inflexible to fix it.

But on Tuesday evening, Mourinho pulled an old trick out of the bag. He made a first-half substitution.

This is not the first time the Portuguese has done this. He replaced Eric Bailly with Juan Mata in the first-half when Manchester United manager against Newcastle United and the Spaniard had a decisive impact, scoring for his side. He did similar for Chelsea, taking off both Shaun Wright-Phillips and Joe Cole after less than 30 minutes against Fulham, sending on Didier Drogba and Damien Duff.

It worked. Eriksen was in superb, game-changing form and provided a gorgeous assist for Harry Kane in the second half, floating in a perfectly-weighted free-kick from the left flank; the England international simply nodded the ball in. Another free-kick, this time from a more central position, whistled just past the post, with the Dane in the mood.

Mourinho took the time to apologise to Dier after the game, insisting that the change had nothing to do with his performance and everything to do with his desire to make a tactical switch.

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Of course, it paid off, but this speaks to a wider issue that Mourinho is attempting to address.

This was a message that mediocrity will not be tolerated and that there is now a win-at-all-costs mantra being installed at Hotspur Way and beyond.

Spurs have fought back under Pochettino before, of course they have, but it all too regularly came down to individual brilliance; think Lucas Moura in Amsterdam or Kane against West Ham.

On Tuesday, Mourinho rolled the dice and came up with two sixes, while also sending a stark warning to his players: this is his team now and he has no room for any passengers.

Meanwhile, Christian Eriksen’s future may have been decided.