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…
Well, that was a quick turnaround wasn’t it? Having opened the campaign in miserable fashion, including a truly shocking 2-0 defeat at Newcastle, Manchester United appear to have turned the proverbial corner.
The Red Devils’ sharp revival got kick-started with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Premier League leaders Liverpool, before securing three consecutive away wins against Partizan Belgrade, Norwich and Chelsea, in impressive fashion. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are once again on their travels when they take on Bournemouth on Saturday, and judging by the form book, this looks like another banker for a victory.
How much money could you make busking for a week as a freestyle footballer? Find out in the video below…
Whilst the Manchester side have bounced back in fine fettle, their opposition have floundered in recent weeks. Since beating rivals Southampton 3-1 at St Mary’s, Eddie Howe’s men have suffered a sharp drop in form – and quite significantly, goals. They have failed to hit the back of the net in four out of their last five games, including going scoreless in their previous three.
That despite them boasting the likes of Callum Wilson, Josh King and Dominic Solanke as their forward options. So when United take to the field on Saturday afternoon, they will no doubt be licking their lips of claiming another priceless win in the league. And that is exactly the kind of frame of mind Solskjaer has to absolutely ensure doesn’t creep in.
Confidence is a great thing in small, measured doses. But if it spills over into arrogance, then you’ve got a huge problem. For all their recent run of form, it has only been four games. And that too, only over the space of a week or so. The sense of excitement could quickly be shattered if they fail to maintain their composure and work ethic when they take on Bournemouth.
Make no mistake about it, however bad things get at United, they will always remain a prized scalp for the opposition. And if they get overly complacent against the Cherries on Saturday simply because of both sides’ recent form, then they will get brought back down to Earth with a heavy thud.
West Ham welcome Sheffield United to the London Stadium on Saturday in what promises to be an enticing clash, but Irons supporters aren’t too confident of picking up a result against the Blades.
It is only the second time the two sides have met since falling out over the Carlos Tevez affair in 2007, so there could still be resentment amongst both sets of fans, with neither impressed with the behaviour of the other.
Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
On this occasion, the talking should be done on the pitch, and the visitors should be up for the match after a brilliant 1-0 victory over Arsenal – a result which took them above Manuel Pellegrini’s side in the league table.
They now have 12 points from nine league games, with four clean sheets in that time, and therefore West Ham face a difficult task.
The Hammers struggled at home on the last occasion a well-organised came to visit – Crystal Palace – and with some of their most creative players lacking form, such as Manuel Lanzini, things don’t look promising.
That is the feeling from some fans, and from their reactions it is fair to say they would be pleasantly surprised if their side managed a result.
[ad_pod ]There were plenty of positives to take from Aston Villa’s 3-1 win away at Brighton on Wednesday evening.Not only did the Villans beat fellow Premier League opposition in the Carabao Cup, but Matt Targett returned from injury against the Seagulls.The left-back had picked up a problem in Villa’s previous Carabao Cup match against Crewe Alexandria, and on Wednesday he made his return to the first team.Watch Aston Villa Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
The defender took to Twitter to share his thoughts after returning to the pitch.
The full-back proclaimed that it was great to be back playing for the Midlands outfit.
Targett has to be hoping that this performance can kickstart his career at Villa Park. Away from struggling with injuries he’s also been the second choice in his position, as Dean Smith has opted to use Neil Taylor in all of their Premier League games so far this term.
Based off of the responses to his tweet the former Southampton man made a good account of himself against Brighton as a number of supporters called for him to be placed in the starting lineup sooner rather than later.
This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
It’s nearly time for Barcelona’s second game of the Champions League group stage.
The Catalans will welcome Inter Milan at the Camp Nou and the key to overcoming them just might lie in the middle of the park.
On the chalkboard
It hasn’t really been a dream start for Barcelona in Europe this season.
Their opening clash against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park ended in a goalless draw but the Catalans surely wanted to claim more than just a point for their efforts.
Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
Still, that was only the first game and seeing how Inter Milan also drew their game with Slavia Prague, Group F is very much open.
This particular clash, however, is huge for both teams and if Barca want to pick up all three points, Sergio Busquets will have to outshine Marcelo Brozovic.
Midfield generals
Busquets is very much the linchpin of Barcelona’s midfield.
In many ways, the experienced Spaniard is the Catalans’ general and everything starts and ends with him in the middle of the park. But Brozovic certainly looks like Busquets’ direct counterpart in Inter’s camp.
Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…
The Croat is heavily involved in everything that’s happening on the pitch and most of it flows directly through him.
Just this season, in the six games he’s played in Serie A, Brozovic has registered a 91.5% passing accuracy with a total of 83.8 passes per game. This becomes even more impressive when we compare it to Busquets’ 90.6% passing accuracy and 76.8 passes per game.
Barcelona are very much known for their passing game, which only emphasises Brozovic’s importance to his team since he managed to edge out Busquets in both aforementioned categories.
But the Croat falls short only slightly in key passes as he tallied 1.2 as opposed to his rival’s 1.4 per game.
Both players are pretty active going the other way as well, often dominating the defensive phases of the game. Busquets registered 2.6 tackles and one interception per game in La Liga while Brozovic averaged 3.2 tackles and 1.8 interceptions under his belt in Serie A.
By all standards, this is looking likely to be an impressive battle of two highly skilled players – Barcelona’s midfield general vs Inter Milan’s engine.
The winner of this battle just might tip the scales in his team’s favour.
Looking at Real Madrid’s summer transfer window of 2019, one could easily spot flaws creeping up on the Spanish giants.
To be honest, many have done exactly that but no one could do it sooner than their own media based in Madrid.
Marca covered their variety of flaws, bashing Los Blancos for spending too much, not covering their weak spots, failing to ship off the deadwood and many more. In fact, they went through all the trouble of finding eight mistakes in total, slamming Zinedine Zidane and Florentino Perez for failing to finish their long-overdue revolution.
But despite just one Galactico joined the squad in the form of Eden Hazard, he is not the only signing that should bring optimism, hope and a breath of fresh air for the Whites.
The other signing that should definitely excite the Madridistas and Zidane himself is their newcomer from Serbia, Luka Jovic.
The former Eintracht Frankfurt man arrived for a reported sum of €65m (£57.2m) before certain add-ons are calculated into the equation and comes as Real Madrid’s new and prolific forward to lead their lines.
But so far, although he has played in all four of Real Madrid’s opening games in the new 2019/20 La Liga season, he was in the starting 11 only once, tallying just 106 minutes over the course of those fixtures.
By the look of things, at least for now, he is bound to be a rotational player; one coming from the bench to possibly make the difference in that way.
How is that kind of a player, a player not even a Galactico, supposed to lead Los Blancos to glory once again? He may not be the main man at the moment but Jovic certainly looks he could be in the future.
His traits are obvious.
After all, last season, only Robert Lewandowski and Paco Alcacer netted more goals than Jovic’s 17-goal tally with 23 and 18 respectively in the Bundesliga.
Lewandowski is already a well-known finisher, one of the world’s best in fact, and Alcacer had a season like none before, enjoying his career-best spell.
But Jovic produces on the biggest stages as well.
His ten goal-run in last season’s Europa League campaign for the German team was only surpassed by Olivier Giroud’s 11-goal haul as he led Chelsea to eventual glory, which, interestingly enough, made them cross paths with Jovic and his Eagles as well.
Soccer Football – La Liga Santander – Real Madrid v Real Valladolid – Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain – August 24, 2019 Real Madrid’s Luka Jovic reacts REUTERS/Juan Medina
The goal-scoring part of his skill-set is definitely there for everyone to see and so is his clutchness and the ability to perform when it matters the most.
When we revisit the fact that the last time Real Madrid splashed out on a young and mostly unproven striker in a 21-year-old Karim Benzema, it ended up being a true gem. Their move for Jovic, therefore, now makes slightly more sense.
Rarely do Los Blancos and Perez get these things wrong and if history is any indication, when Real Madrid spend big, they also spend well.
The signings of Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo can attest to that. Granted, €65m (£57.2m) definitely sounds on the lower side, especially considering the state of the modern market. But it’s still a huge amount before add-ons and it’s on a 22-year-old striker who is yet to do it at a major club.
It may not sound like that much of a gamble considering how good Jovic was for Frankfurt but with all due respect to the German team, Real Madrid is a serious step up.
Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
One other aspect the Galacticos likely took into account when they were weighing up whether to buy the young Serbian or not, was the tactical flexibility.
Granted, on paper, the forward has mostly been deployed either as a clear-cut striker or something as a second-striker/ attacking midfielder, just behind the designated no.9 of the team.
But in reality, the youngster can still function in different systems regardless of his preferred role on the team sheet.
It’s a trait that could even see Jovic and Benzema play alongside each other.
A tactical switch that would revert Real Madrid to a system that deploys two strikers up front could, in that case, maybe even get the best out of both players.
The Serbian assisted six goals last season in the Bundesliga and while that may not sound like a sublime figure, it becomes better when we find out three of those were to one of his forward partners in Ante Rebic.
It wouldn’t really be a stretch to say that their summer signing and Benzema could complement each other the same way or even better. After all, the Frenchman assisted 11 goals across all competitions last season himself.
The striker may not have slipped right into Real Madrid’s starting lineup as of yet but that very much feels like it’s just a matter of time, especially with his French teammate ageing.
And once Benzema does eventually move on, the limelight will be Jovic’s for the taking.
Understandably, it was seemingly a very emotional occasion for the midfielder. His caption mentions how happy he is to be back and how much he missed playing for his country during his time on the sidelines, while also reminding us all what a great teammate he is as well, congratulating Mason Mount on his first senior cap.
This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Leicester City have gone two draws from two to open the 2019/20 Premier League season by following up the Wolves stalemate with a one-goal apiece encounter at Stamford Bridge.
Wilfred Ndidi’s mistake allowed Mason Mount to open the scoring early in the first half but the 22-year-old made amends by bagging the equaliser with a nicely-timed header from James Maddison’s corner.
Leicester’s number ten should have won it for the Foxes after drilling a close-range effort well over the bar with less than 20 minutes left in the match.
Although it was another draw, Brendan Rodgers’ side remain unbeaten and there were plenty of positives to take from the game against Chelsea.
Most notably, with the role of Maddison who looked to be a completely different player to the one we saw against Wolves only eight days ago.
Watch Leicester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
On the Chalkboard
The 22-year-old looked a despondent and frustrated figure out wide last week, proving to be fairly ineffectual and ultimately wasted.
However, against Chelsea he proved that he is more than capable of having an impact in that very role after it appeared that Rodgers gave him more freedom to express himself.
That subtle change resulted in a Man of the Match performance on Maddison’s part.
He recorded 67 touches, six of which were in the opposition box (and the most of any player), two shots, three chances created including the assist for the equaliser and completed 24 of 36 passes – all stats according to Sky Sports Statto.
Both of Leicester’s full-backs were pushed forward in the attacking phases of the game as seen by both Christian Fuchs’ and Ricardo Pereira’s heatmaps from the match which allowed Maddison and his wing partner Ayoze Perez, freedom to cut in and operate more centrally at times.
Could it be “game over” for Kelechi Iheanacho at Leicester? Find out in the video below…
The England U21 international played primarily in the centre of midfield last season – in 26 of his 38 appearances to be precise, where he scored six and assisted three.
The remaining matches he played out wide where he could only manage one goal and four assists.
Certainly after the Wolves game, the same trend looked to be repeated but if he’s continued to be given the ability to roam freely then he may well thrive and be the asset Rodgers needs in attack.
This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
BBC journalist Tom English believes Steven Gerrard may be tempted to opt for Jermain Defoe over Alfredo Morelos in big games this season.
What’s he said?
Speaking after Rangers had just trounced Hibs 6-1, the journalist was unable to split Morelos and Defoe.
The Englishman scored a hat-trick before being replaced by the Colombian, who then scored twice himself in his short involvement in the rout.
Morelos has scored seven times and set up another two in his seven appearances so far this season, while Defoe has notched five in six outings, and it’s become quite the tussle over who will be first choice, says English.
He said: “The Colombian has not exactly started slowly this term either having netted seven so far, including two off the bench at the weekend, but Jermain Defoe’s scintillating hat-trick in the hammering of Hibernian certainly gives manager Steven Gerrard food for thought. It will be interesting to see, though, who gets the nod in the bigger games.”
Decision time
In Defoe, Gerrard can call upon a striker with great experience and someone who won’t trouble referees nearly as much as his colleague Morelos, and the Englishman’s red-hot form this season is perhaps a sign he wants to be more than just the back-up.
However, back-up is exactly how he should stay.
If he were to be first-choice this season then he’d have to be replicating Morelos’ impressive stats from last term. This would be difficult at 36. Even as someone who clearly takes his health seriously, breaching 41 goal involvements when you’re closer to 40 than 30 will be an awfully mean feat.
Also, with Morelos posting similar numbers to him so far this year it’s not as if we can claim one boasts far superior form to the other.
Gerrard has hinted that he wants to keep the former Spurs man beyond this season, but at the end of the day, he’s still a 36 year-old loanee with no sell-on value.
Compare this to Morelos, who was only missing one thing from his game last season – goals in the biggest games. If the Colombian can add these to his repertoire, the club may well bank a huge profit for his services in the future, something that simply cannot be said for Defoe.
It’s not exactly a bad headache for the gaffer to have, boasting two lethal goalscorers when plenty of clubs are crying out for just one, but Morelos should stay as the main man.
A number of Aston Villa supporters have thrown their weight behind striker Scott Hogan after bagging a goal in their pre-season victory last Sunday.
They hope the 27-year-old can make an impact in the Premier League next season after barely playing his part in their promotion-winning campaign.
Hogan couldn’t buy a place in the match day squad under Steve Bruce and wasn’t even able to gain a start under his former Brentford boss Dean Smith, coming off the bench just six times for a total of 68 minutes before being shipped out on loan.
His temporary switch to Sheffield United culminated in winning automatic promotion to the Premier League where he scored twice in eight appearances.
The striker joined Villa Park from Brentford in a £12m deal on deadline day in January 2017 and has only made 61 appearances in the claret and blue, scoring ten goals.
Despite his bit-part role at the club, fans are desperately hoping Hogan can make an impact for them next season in the Premier League with one fan calling for him to prove the doubters wrong.
Other supporters replied to his tweet saying they had faith in his ability with one member of the Villa fanbase stating his hard work and dedication will pay off.
Here’s the best selection of tweets from some of the Villa faithful:
Charlton announced the signing of Macauley Bonne on Monday, with the 23-year-old signing from National League champions Leyton Orient on a three-year deal and thus becoming the Addicks’ first signing of the summer window.
The Zimbabwe hitman struck 23 times for the O’s in 2018/19 while also chalking up four assists in 46 appearances – a return money-tight Charlton surely see as real bang for their buck if he can replicate it in the Championship, or even score half as often.
Bonne joins after spending two seasons in the fifth tier, where he has honed his goalscoring skills and notched 45 times in total, and, after an unsuccessful career with Colchester United, he will now be hoping that he can stamp his mark on the Football League with Charlton.
Check out the video below to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!
The Addicks already have a double-figures goalscorer in Lyle Taylor, who was an integral part of their promotion campaign, and the prospect of the former Wimbledon man and Bonne linking up should excite Charlton fans.
You can check out the best of their reaction on Twitter below…