All posts by n8rngtd.top

Leeds United’s disastrous home form in the Premier League continued on Monday evening as they were dealt one hell of a beating by Leicester City.

The Whites succumbed to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Foxes, who played the perfect counter-attacking display at Elland Road.

Versatile utility man Stuart Dallas scored their only goal of the game in the 48th minute but it was costly error after costly error which was their ultimate downfall.

Robin Koch slipped in just the second minute to let Jamie Vardy tee up Harvey Barnes for an early opener before scoring himself in between a brace from Youri Tielemans.

The Belgian rounded off the victory with a last-minute penalty, which was conceded by Polish midfielder Mateusz Klich, who was playing in what would usually be Kalvin Phillips’ position.

It’s fair to suggest that it’s not the role for him as aside from the error, the 30-year-old lost possession 16 times from 110 touches, won just 33% of six duels, committed two fouls and was dribbled past twice too, via SofaScore.

Uncharacteristically, Klich was a mere passenger in this tie – the €15m-rated (£13.5m) maestro also failed to record a single key pass, successful dribble and just one accurate cross.

Considering he’s had notched ten key passes and two assists in their last five outings, per WhoScored, he was underwhelming and certainly not at his best.

Beren Cross at LeedsLive graded the Elland Road favourite a meagre 5/10 and claimed: “The pressure was on in the first half there was no protection for the defenders. Klich was out of position plenty and there were costly errors thrown in too.”

Klich is sat on £45k-per-week, which is among the high-earners in Yorkshire. On Monday night, he badly let his manager, Marcelo Bielsa down, especially considering he’s one of the first names on the team sheet – he played all but one league game last term.

Perhaps some of the blame can be attributed to the unfamiliar role he was deployed in, though still, it simply wasn’t good enough.

AND in other news, Bielsa must give OUTCAST the Jean-Kevin Augustin treatment…

West Ham United are reportedly eying a hazardous swoop for Spezia Calcio striker M’Bala Nzola, who is enjoying a career redeeming shot at the Serie A side.

What’s the word?

According to Tuttosport, via Sport Witness, the Irons and Newcastle United have both approached Spezia after showing an interest in Nzola, only for a potential deal to lure the 24-year-old away from Italy to be rebuffed by the player.

Premier League interest failed to turn the French forward’s head toward leaving the Liguria-based outfit, having only signed for Vincenzo Italiano’s side permanently this summer following an initial half-season loan spell.

Nzola is focused on succeeding with Spezia for the time being after aiding their successful promotion bid last term with six of his seven career Serie B goals, before netting a brace away to Benevento Calcio last weekend to open his top-flight account.

Tuttosport claim interest from West Ham and Newcastle following an exclusive interview with Nzola’s agent Didier Pingsi, who noted that his client’s experience in Serie A will ensure he’s ready to take the next step of his career.

“I think M’Bala must now consolidate his experience in Serie A,” Pingsi noted. “Then he’ll be ready for the five most important European championships: England, France, Spain, Germany and precisely Italy.”

A hazardous move

West Ham moving to sign Nzola in January would be a pursuit riddled with potential hazards, as the 24-year-old has only ever tackled four Serie A fixtures and appeared set for a future in the third-tier of Italian football until Spezia registered the Frenchman on a free transfer.

Nzola is now enjoying a redeeming moment of his career under Italiano, who sought to bring the striker back after opting against acquiring his services at the end of his loan spell only for Trapani to release the £810,000-rated attacker just a month ago.

The 6ft centre-forward’s time as a senior player had been met with relentless challenges before joining Italiano’s side, too, with L’Equipe noting how Nzola struggled during the six-years spent between leaving academy side Troyes at 18 and joining Spezia permanently this summer.

Nzola is now being revered in Italy, with Metropolitan Magazine lauding the forward for his enviable physical strength and for connecting the entire Spezia attack.

Those two attributes would play out nicely for David Moyes at West Ham by handing the Scot another Michail Antonio-type, but the signs of Nzola making a successful switch to the Premier League are thin and far between.

AND in other news, David Moyes is “worried” by a West Ham blow that a Manuel Pellegrini favourite can capitalise on.

Given how much he has struggled since arriving from Hoffenheim in a club-record deal, there was something deeply satisfying and relieving when Joelinton bagged in the dying moments of Newcastle’s win on Friday night.

The Brazilian has endured a tough time at St James’ Park following his move, managing just six goals in 55 games before the Premier League game against Crystal Palace.

But even despite the return of Callum Wilson to the starting line-up, Joelinton kept his place in the team, and delivered a monstrous display to slightly ease some of the pressure on Steve Bruce.

The Magpies boss has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks over the side’s poor performances and results, with fans voicing their frustrations over the team’s negative style of play.

A switch to the 4-4-2 appeared to give Newcastle a bit more impetus going forward, and no-one came out of the game on Friday better than Joelinton.

The 6 foot 1 powerhouse was every bit of the battering ram Magpies fans were hoping when they shelled out big-money for him in the summer of 2019, and he ran the Palace defence absolutely ragged over the course of the 90 minutes.

As per Sofascore, he contested a mind-blowing 32 duels on the night, winning a whopping 15 of them, and he was so relentless in trying to do his part for the team – his tally of four tackles was the joint-second highest of any Magpie, whilst he also earned four free-kicks too.

And then of course he made the telling difference at the other end. He set up Wilson for Newcastle’s opening goal with a nice little reverse pass into the England international’s feet, whilst his hard work and endeavour were rewarded when his rather tame effort took a slight deflection and squirmed in. But make no mistake about it, if there was any luck involved in the finish, he fully deserved it.

What with all the pressure that was on Bruce’s shoulders before the game, Joelinton came up big for his manager, and at least for the short-term, has bought him some time.

West Brom have a lot of decisions to make ahead of the January transfer window otherwise they truly risk their place in the Premier League.

Finances are tight, so incomings may be scarce but perhaps funds can be raised through sales of many of Slaven Bilic’s fringe players. You’d imagine Charlie Austin and Kamil Grosicki will be the first two out the door.

But perhaps there is some value left in Hal Robson-Kanu, who is just not favoured in the Premier League by the Croatian. The two-time Championship promotion winner would surely attract some interest given his experience.

The versatile 31-year-old forward hasn’t started a single game in the top-flight and despite being fit was snubbed entirely from the matchday squad as the Baggies were thrashed 5-1 by Crystal Palace.

Indeed, Robson-Kanu has featured in the Carabao Cup as captain, scoring three goals in two matches, but both outings were against lower-league opposition, which only goes to show that he may well be out of his depth in the Premier League at this point.

According to Spotrac, the Welshman is among the highest-earners at the Hawthorns, bringing home a tidy £30k-per-week, which is more than Grady Diangana (£20k-per-week), Kyle Bartley (£13.5k-per-week) and Romaine Sawyers (£12.5k-per-week).

All of those three have started and featured more than Robson-Kanu.

Therefore, it only seems like a wise decision to look to offload him in January as he’s merely bleeding Guochuan Lai’s pockets dry by not playing, and it’s not as if the Chinese businessman will be prepared to invest much more in terms of a transfer kitty.

WBA legend Kevin Phillips hailed the veteran’s impact during their promotion run-in, he told the Express & Star: “Hal Robson-Kanu has really performed. He has always been an exciting player, I’ve always liked his work ethic and his hold-up play. But this season he has added the goals that perhaps in previous seasons he hasn’t.”

That’s merely a thing of the past now though as Albion face a desperate battle to survive in the top-flight. Robson-Kanu could well take a bit off the wage bill and every little bit will help.

AND in other news, West Brom must take a risk on prolific EFL marksman who scores once every 75 minutes…

Wolves head into their clash with Burnley with the bit between their teeth.

After back to back defeats, they sensationally beat Chelsea at Molineux, putting the Premier League high-flyers to the sword in a 2-1 victory.

On the chalkboard

Nuno Santo has a pretty big dilemma as his side get ready to travel to Turf Moor on Monday evening.

His side have swapped between a three-man and four-man backline over the last month or so but it was the switch back to their tried and tested system that worked so well against Chelsea.

Consequently, the head coach will probably go with the three-man defence once again when they head up north.

That being said, who plays in attack alongside the effervescent Pedro Neto is interesting. Of course, Raul Jimenez is still out and recovering from a fractured skull which means that in any normal scenario Fabio Silva would take his place.

The club-record signing is enjoying his first real run in the Premier League side but it hasn’t proven altogether very fruitful.

He may have scored twice in the EFL trophy but he is yet to come close to netting when it really matters in the top-flight.

The solution

When Wolves forked out £35.6m for the young Portuguese striker, they knew they were paying for the potential more than the instant impact.

However, little did Nuno know that just months into the new season they’d be without their talisman in Jimenez.

Silva has yet to produce much and failed to have a single shot against Chelsea’s stern defence.

Therefore, we have to worry about how he’ll shape up against Burnley – a side known for being bullies – especially with James Tarkowski and Ben Mee at the back.

The teenager is new to the English game and a trip to Turf Moor is unlikely to be too welcoming for him. After all, Tarkowski has won 4.7 aerial duels per game this season compared to Silva’s meagre tally of just 0.6 a match.

This game isn’t set up for Silva to thrive and as a result, Nuno must take the ruthless decision to axe his £80k-a-week forward.

Against Chelsea, the manager favoured a two-prong attack so Adama Traore could quite easily come in. Possessing immense physicality, he could be exactly what the Old Gold need to upset a rugged Burnley backline in the absence of Jimenez.

AND in other news, Nuno made a COLOSSAL blunder over “exciting” £40.5m star…

It would seem that the year of 2019 was one for Sunderland transfer blunders.

In the January window, Stewart Donald failed to cover himself in much glory when he made a complete hash of their aims to sign a new striker.

Once Josh Maja left, the club were looking to add two new forwards but it took them until the dying embers of deadline day to land just one.

That, of course, was Will Grigg. The Mackems had failed with several bids after former Director of Football Richard Hill left the deal in Donald’s hands.

In the end, he paid considerably over the odds. Grigg set Sunderland back £4m and with it, he has only delivered eight goals. He has been a crippling burden on the club’s finances and it may have stopped them from pulling off a better deal in the summer window later in the year.

The player we’re talking about here is Marcus Maddison. The attacking midfielder grew up a boyhood Black Cats fan and they very nearly signed him but for the finances of the deal.

Speaking about a potential move in August 2019, Hill said: “I had a conversation with Barry Fry and it was about all things football as our conversations are. On this occasion Marcus Maddison was mentioned and I was asked if there was any interest, and was informed that there was a buy out clause in his contract of £2.5m – I said that at that money he was not for me.”

Compared to Grigg, Maddison was cheap as chips, especially for someone who has dominated League One. Last season he netted 11 goals and registered eight assists, proving himself to be a considerable goal threat.

Hill continued: “What I will say, though, is at the end of this season when Marcus Maddison’s contract has expired, then that’s a totally different conundrum in my opinion.”

Unfortunately for the Mackems, he joined Charlton on a permanent deal instead. Sunderland were never in the picture.

Now, had Hill coughed up the £2.5m at the time, it’s incredibly likely they will have had a far greater shot at promotion. After all, their top scorer last season only found the net on ten occasions – lower than Maddison’s tally.

That will have been a lot of money but Donald certainly hasn’t been afraid to wave the cheque book around. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course, but the 27-year-old is a tremendously gifted player.

Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth once labelled him “the best player in League One.” That tells you all you need to know.

Sunderland made a massive mistake not bringing him to the Stadium of Light last year.

AND in other news, Speakman must swoop for £6k-p/w SAFC target with 0 goals all season…

Manchester United maintained their unbeaten record in the FA Cup with a hard-fought victory over Watford at Old Trafford on Saturday night.

Scott McTominay fired the hosts ahead after a sublime pass from Alex Telles, but United struggled to get a foothold in the game against a battling Watford outfit.

After successive victories, United find themselves joint-top of the table with defending Premier League champions Liverpool. Yet there was nothing to choose between the two sides for the majority of the game, as the Red Devils offered very little to suggest the gulf in class with Watford.

McTominay may have opened the scoring, but it was Alex Telles who arguably stole the show at Old Trafford. He took more touches (114) than any other player on the pitch and clearly made all of that possession count as he produced 69 passes out of 86 attempts (80%), as per SofaScore.

Telles was a constant thorn in Xisco Munoz’s side, with a poor clearance the only real blemish. But the rare mistake shouldn’t take the gloss off what was otherwise a sublime performance overall.

He kept on putting passes on a plate for Daniel James, only for the winger to squander several chances to double their lead.

SofaScore graded the £31m-rated 28-year-old with a game-high rating of 8.4 out of ten – he made two tackles, two interceptions and three clearances, whilst he also won six out of his ten duels (60%) overall.

The Brazilian full-back has built a career off the back of his offensive style of play but it was his defensive contributions that didn’t go unnoticed by The Daily Express, with Archie Griggs noting he produced ‘a number of important contributions at the back.’

Telles has had to bide his time for opportunities, with just seven starts from 12 appearances across all competitions, although he will have sent Solskjaer a timely reminder with his latest showing.

With Luke Shaw rested for the FA Cup third round, the club legend could face one of the biggest selection headaches he has had to deal with since taking charge at Old Trafford.

AND in other news, Man United must bite the bullet and sell Phil Jones in January…

Steve Bruce risks making a transfer error in the January window with a move by Newcastle United to sign SSC Napoli defender Faouzi Ghoulam.

What’s the word?

According to Le Buteur, the Magpies have approached Ghoulam’s agent to request a potential half-season loan for the Algerian, who finds himself as the third-choice option at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona under Gennaro Gattuso.

Newcastle are seen to be targeting the 29-year-old as Bruce strives to strengthen his backline amid a difficult campaign, with United now only seven points clear of the relegation zone and having played more games than two of the sides below them in the table.

It is believed that there is a strong chance in Ghoulam leaving Napoli in the winter market with interest growing in the Premier League, where Chelsea are also said to be convinced by the £4.5m-rated left-back’s potential benefits.

Ghoulam has only featured for 406 minutes across all competitions so far this season, with one start in seven Serie A outings, two in four Europa League appearances and one in the Coppa Italia against second-tier FC Empoli.

Newcastle must think again

Newcastle must urge Bruce to think again before pursuing a deal for Ghoulam to join the Toon on loan in the January transfer window, as the 29-year-old is an outcast at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for a reason.

Gattuso stated earlier in the campaign that he is not afraid to upset Ghoulam’s agent, Jorge Mendes, by overlooking the left-back, after instructing the Algerian to watch Napoli’s 1-0 win against Bologna in November from the stands.

The Italy icon decided to punish Ghoulam and teammate Mario Rui by forcing them to travel to Bologna without including either in his matchday squad as he felt the pair had been lazy in training.

“They stayed in the stands, because they were jogging around in training yesterday. I brought them along anyway because it’s too easy to just let them stay home and watch it on the couch.” Gattuso told Sky Sport, via quotes by Football-Italia.

Napoli’s Sporting Director Cristiano Giuntoli added: “They weren’t concentrated or sharp enough in the final training session, so he made this decision. He saw they weren’t entirely on their toes and made this choice.”

Bruce would no doubt be reluctant to use his limited resources to sign a player who may not be as committed to the cause as Newcastle need, therefore must seriously reconsider a deal for Ghoulam who has not played regularly for Napoli since the 2016/17 season.

His rare outings in the Serie A this term would suggest Ghoulam may not be an upgrade on any of the players Bruce has already called on to play at left-back in the Premier League this season, anyway.

Jamal Lewis has been offering on average 1.8 successful tackles per game since his summer move from Norwich City, enough to rank first ahead of Paul Dummett (1.0) and Matt Ritchie (0.8) at St. James’ Park, per WhoScored, and ahead of Ghoulam (0.6) for his Italian top-flight exploits.

All Lewis (0.6), Dummett (1.5) and Ritchie (0.8) have also offered a greater number of interceptions than Ghoulam (0.3) to show Bruce they can break up play far better, and provide far more clearances with 1.7, 3 and 3.5 respectively to the Algerian’s 0.1 to show they would be better-placed to clear the Magpies’ line.

Lewis (0.6) and Dummett (0.5) are also offering a higher amount of successful dribbles to Ritchie (0) and Ghoulam (0), who are struggling to bring play forward on the ground, while Lewis (0.8) and Ritchie (1.5) are providing more key passes to the Napoli outcast (0.6) to show their box-to-box threat in the North East.

Bruce may feel Newcastle need more depth at left-back in the January window, but a move for Ghoulam would likely fail to offer the Toon chief an upgrade on his current options at either end of the field.

AND in other news, forget Ryan Fraser: a £46k-p/w Newcastle man who lost 63% duels seriously betrayed Steve Bruce vs Sheffield United.

Everton have been dealt a huge blow in their chase of Zeki Celik with the LOSC Lille right-back reported to favour a January transfer to AS Roma.

What’s the word?

According to Fanatik, Roma have begun negotiations with Lille in hopes of signing Celik in the mid-season window, as they strive to move ahead of the Toffees in the race for the Turkey international.

Lille are understood to value the 23-year-old at just €15m (£13.5m), two-and-a-half years on from signing Celik for €2.5m (£2m) and seeing the defender prove to be a key aspect of Christophe Galtier’s plans at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.

Celik has opened 12 of Les Dogues’ Ligue 1 fixtures this term, with an ankle injury sidelining the 18-cap defender for three games following the November international break.

Everton had held talks with Celik’s representatives earlier in the January window to discuss a potential move to Goodison Park, where Carlo Ancelotti is said to be searching for his long-term successor to Seamus Coleman.

But Celik is now said to favour a move to Roma, where Paulo Fonseca’s side sit fourth in the Serie A and nine points behind leaders AC Milan after losing 3-0 to SS Lazio in the Rome derby last Friday.

Ancelotti has one choice to make

Word that Celik is favouring a move to the Stadio Olimpico as the Giallorossi ramp up negotiations with Lille has left Ancelotti with one choice to make: Who does he envisage being Everton’s right-back in years to come?

The Toffees have been linked with a handful of names of late, including Norwich City’s Max Aarons, Rangers’ James Tavernier and more recently Brighton and Hove Albion’s Tariq Lamptey, on top of Lille’s Celik, as Ancelotti strives to find a long-term option in the position.

Ancelotti must decide swiftly if Celik is the one to fill the role, or if the Blues would be better served waiting until the summer when they may have the chance to sign a player like Lamptey.

So far this season, Lamptey has emerged as the best attacking option between Coleman, Celik and himself with a higher volume of shots per game (0.5), key passes (0.9) and successful dribbles (1.2) in the Premier League, per WhoScored.

Celik, for his efforts in Ligue 1, ranks second among the trio for shots (0.4 to Coleman’s 0.3) and key passes (0.8 to Coleman’s 0.4), but third for dribbles (0.6 to Coleman’s 0.8). He also displays better defensive traits with a higher average of successful tackles (3.2), interceptions (1.8) and joint-most clearances (1.5) and blocks (0.2).

Lamptey, meanwhile, is last compared to Celik and Coleman with 1.5 tackles, 0.6 times dribbled past,  blocks (0.1) and clearances (0.8) and second for interceptions (1.7) and for least fouls committed (1.9).

So, for just €15m (£13.5m), Celik would offer a very well-rounded and young option to rival Coleman for honours at right-back, but Ancelotti may be too late in his pursuit.

AND in other news, Everton have requested further information on the availability of a 21-y/o target who “has potential”…

Celtic were dealt a huge deadline day heartbreak as major January target Ben Davies signed for Liverpool on a £1.5million long-term deal. The Hoops had been in advanced talks with the former Preston North End centre-back and he had reportedly agreed personal terms with the Premiership outfit.

Naturally, when the reigning Premier League champions come calling, you answer that call. But that doesn’t take away from the disappointment Celtic must be feeling right now. However, this outcome will be good news for Brighton loanee Shane Duffy, whose loan deal with the Bhoys was at risk of being cut short.

Reprieve for Shane Duffy

Neil Lennon’s squad has been hampered with injuries this season and one man who has missed plenty of action is Christopher Jullien. According to Transfermarkt, the Frenchman has missed a whopping 29 matches through injury so far this term, plus a further three due to self-isolation.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-celtic-transfer-news” title=”Read this week’s Celtic transfer news!”]

Partly due to Duffy’s inconsistent performances, the Celtic defence has been unnaturally soft. Their usual water-tight backline has been subject to a lot of leaks and Davies could have helped patch this up.

Ahead of his first appearance for Liverpool, the £5,500 per week defender has received praise in abundance. He was described as a “Rolls Royce” of a player by Peter Risdale, who is now an advisor to the owner of Preston. His stats for the season back this up – in comparison to Duffy, he has averaged more tackles, interceptions and clearances per 90 minutes this season, according to WhoScored.

Davies is also four years younger than the Brighton loanee and could have delivered a fresher outlook to Lennon’s squad. Missing out on signing the centre-back will be a huge blow to the Bhoys, who will be looking to limit damage caused by a lacklustre 2020/21 season.

However, for Duffy, talks of his loan deal coming to an early end have evidently not come to fruition and he will see out his full spell at Celtic Park. It’s fair to say that he has been a disappointment for the Hoops, now he could be given a chance to put things right and prove why Lennon was so keen to sign him in the first place.

In other news, Celtic suffer deadline day blow over Japhet Tanganga…