The start to the season has been somewhat of a mess for Sunderland. They occupy the bottom spot in the Premier League with only one point from their first four games.
The aura of the whole club at the moment is chaotic. Some may say manager Paolo Di Canio doesn’t help with this perception. Brought in as a short term fix to keep Sunderland in the top flight last time around, the long term negative effect of appointing a character such as this now seems to be taking hold and the Italian’s criticism of his players in the aftermath of their game against Crystal Palace on the 31st August compounded the feeling of indifference at the Stadium of Light.
Things just aren’t going well for Sunderland at the moment. They were unlucky not to claim an equaliser at the weekend against Arsenal due to a ridiculous refereeing decision in which he saw no advantage for Jozy Altidore even though the American was through one on one with the keeper.
However, critics will point to more than this in analysing Sunderland’s poor performances so far this campaign. After bringing in no less than 14 summer signings Di Canio recently claimed he needs more new faces. He is probably right, not because 14 isn’t enough – but because the 14 signed are somewhat mediocre players with very little experience of a competition anywhere near the intensity of the Premier League.
This is bound to have unsettled their incumbent players. Sunderland need some genuinely exciting quality in January otherwise it looks certain that they will be embroiled in a second successive relegation battle, with or without Di Canio at the helm.
Click on Yossi Benayoun to see FIVE players for Sunderland to consider
Arsenal picked up their first win of the new season on Sunday, beating Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield.
New summer signings Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla both found the back of the net to give the north Londoners the three points on Merseyside.
Arsene Wenger was happy with his team’s showing and also admitted that seeing the new players score was a source of pleasure.
“It’s always a test when you arrive at a club like Arsenal,” Wenger told Sky Sports.
“People have seen many, many, many great players so you have to convince people. They know what makes a good player.
“I think slowly they can convince our fans they are good enough to play for us.
“It’s like scoring goals, as long as you don’t concede everybody defends a bit better as they want to keep the record, and that helps.
“But overall credit to the whole team, they defended well,” he concluded.
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Arsenal take on Southampton next at the Emirates Stadium after the international break.
Leeds fans have been heaping praise on Bailey Peacock-Farrell, after their young goalkeeper got his first clean sheet in the final match of the season.
It’s been a long and painful season for Leeds fans, but if there’s one thing they can compliment Paul Heckingbottom for it’s his trust in youth.
The ex-Barnsley man has won just four games since taking over from Thomas Christiansen in February, but that hasn’t stopped in from handing debuts to some extremely impressive youngsters.
Tom Pearce, Paudie O’Connor and Ryan Edmondson are the latest additions to the long list of academy graduates to play for the Leeds first team, but by far and away the most impressive has been Peacock-Farrell.
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The 21 year-old keeper was thrown into the action against champions Wolves earlier this year, thanks to the shocking form of Felix Wiedwald.
Despite some growing pains, the Northern Irishman has gone from strength to strength, and finally got the clean sheet he deserves in Sunday’s 2-0 win over QPR.
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Fans aren’t exactly optimistic about the future at the moment, but Peacock-Farrell has shown he could be the next Leeds great, and fans are showing the love for the young stopper.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
There’s been a lot of buzz around Emirates lately, with chatter that Arsenal’s acquisition of Petr Cech from rivals Chelsea was the final nail in the coffin for the defending champs.
But if swiping Cech didn’t do it, this target surely will.
The Gunners are locked in another transfer battle with Chelsea, this time over £21m Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette.
Should Arsenal win the race for his signature, it would be just the addition to bring them one step closer to mounting the ever-elusive title challenge spoken about in North London.
Lacazette netted a career-high 31 goals across all competitions for Lyon last term, topping his previous best by nine. Twenty-seven of those goals were in Ligue 1 matches, making him the French league’s top scorer.
Arsenal’s leading scorer, Alexis Sanchez, notched 16 Premier League goals.
Lacazette is a supreme finisher, and flourishes inside the penalty box. Eight of his goals in the last campaign were penalties, and he draws fouls often to get his side free kicks.
But that’s not all there is to his game. The Frenchman can score from set pieces, long shots, and one-on-one situations. You thought Theo Walcott’s FA Cup volley was cool? Watch Lacazette put forth just as pretty a finish (below).
Besides raw goal-scoring ability, the 24-year-old striker also fits perfectly with the Gunners’ rhythmic passing game. His style is distinctly in line with the rapid ball movement Arsene Wenger values, demonstrated by the short passes and through balls that led to eight assists.
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Though he may be small in stature, he has enough upper body strength to hold off defenders and maintain possession. Lacazette started every game he played in, and was dispossessed an average of 2.5 times per game. Olivier Giroud’s dispossession average was 4.4.
If Wenger wants to add a reliable striker with stamina, speed and finishing ability, Lacazette is the total package.
With both clubs already safe Southampton and Stoke shared the points in a low-key end of season encounter at St Mary’s.
Mauricio Pochettino post-match… “I’m satisfied with how the season has gone but I’m a bit disappointed that we haven’t been able to win today and climb positions up the table. We’ve played very well today but as has happened in the last few games, we have played better than the rival teams but we haven’t been able to get the win.”
Tony Pulis post-match… “It was a good game. I thought they created two great chances after half-time which Asmir’s made two great saves from and we’ve had a couple of opportunities second half. But, all in all, it was a boiling day out there and I thought the two sets of players approached it in the right manner.”
Man of the Match…Morgan Schneiderlin: Illustrated why he picked was crowned as Southampton’s Player of the Year with a typically industrious display in front of the defence. Tackled, broke up attacks and ran till his lungs ached for air.
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Flop of the Match…Marc Wilson: Difficult afternoon for the Stoke left back up against the pacey Clyne. Penned into his own half for much of the 70 minutes he was on the field until an injury forced him off.
As reported by The Scottish Sun, Nottingham Forest are one of the sides showing interest in Rangers goalkeeper Wes Foderingham ahead of the summer transfer window.
What’s the story?
With the reported imminent arrival of Hull City shot-stopper Allan McGregor at Ibrox, the long-term future of current Gers number one Foderingham is in doubt.
That’s alerted Nottingham Forest to his situation according to The Scottish Sun, who say the Championship side are monitoring his situation alongside division rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
Rated at £630,000 by Transfermarkt, is he the kind of player that the Reds should be looking at this summer?
Would he be a good signing?
Cycling between Jordan Smith, Costal Pantilimon and Stefanos Kapino this season, the goalkeeping position has been one of the less assured areas of the Nottingham Forest team of late.
There are certainly question marks ahead of the upcoming transfer window and if the right goalkeeper comes along then they’d be foolish not to consider adding another.
Wes Foderingham could fit the bill. After four seasons in League Two and League One with Swindon Town, Foderingham has earned a reputation as being an excellent pure shot-stopper in Scotland with Rangers.
Although he still has improvements to be make in his all-round game, he’s proven he can cope with the pressures of performing consistently for a big club and could boost Forest’s hopes of reaching the play-offs next season.
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There are certainly worse options and if Forest find themselves in the market for a ‘keeper, the 27-year-old is someone they should consider.
We’ve started a little earlier this year because, quite frankly, there are only a handful of games across Europe that anyone really cares about anymore.
We will have a Champions League final with fairly nailed-on favourites in Barcelona, a couple of Premier League games with relegation importance, and a few Europa League-chasing teams will be in action. I guess we’re all feeling a little underwhelmed just now.
So we’re entertaining ourselves with the hope that this summer will see Manchester City carve out a new squad over the summer. One which can challenge Chelsea right to the end of next season. And so we’ve been subjected to a lot of Paul Pogba speculation over the last few weeks.
Pogba, they say, is a Yaya Toure replacement, a literal translation of the big Ivorian. He combines strength and power with a vision and coolness that Yaya brings to the game, and if City are to lose their African icon this summer – and bear in mind he’s now on the wrong side of the big three-O – the Pogba stories will just simply intensify.
The truth is that he’s a little different. He doesn’t have the swagger of Yaya, he’s not as ‘classy’ but he’s every bit as good.
The young Frenchman has suitors galore, though. PSG look to get their greasy, oil-slick mits on any young Frenchman and Pogba is surely on their radar. Real Madrid and Barcelona appear to be Pogba’s preferred destinations – in fact, countryman Zinedine Zidane is said to have been in contact with the beefy starlet.
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And like just about any big player with big potential, he’s been linked with Manchester City too. There’s a lot of hoo-ha about Pogba.
In the English media at least, City is the most heavily-suggested choice for the Juventus midfielder. As a direct replacement for Toure, they say, he’s worth every penny. He’d get the chance to prove his worth in Manchester, a City where he was never given a chance, of course.
He’d fit right into the Premier League with his power and physicality, and he’d come into a side who – with Komany, Mangala, Fernandinho and Bony – seem to be based upon a mix of brutal, US-style overwhelming force and silky finesse around the box. A dreamy cocktail for the Premier League indeed.
But that ageing cocktail is what gives City such banging post-title hangovers.
The squad is one of the oldest in the league and has little to boast about in the way of young talent. City’s ‘holistic’ approach to club-building, appointing made-in-Barcelona directors and trying to create a club that includes a title-winning trio of elite men’s, women’s and youth sides is a wonderful vision to have.
But the insatiable thirst for immediate success in the men’s department has – paradoxically – left City with a squad without a future.
Saudi billions could work their magic, but City will have to work within the Financial Fair Play constraints. Put simply, they’ll have to sell before they can buy.
And what do they sell? What asset do City possess that could possibly net them the (hundreds of?) millions they need to revamp the squad? The only answer, it seems, is Sergio Aguero. And they can’t/won’t get rid of him.
City would be lucky to get over £30million the out-of-favour Samir Nasri, the wantaway Yaya Toure or even an ageing yet electric David Silva, whose next birthday will be his 30th. So if they want to buy young stars like Pogba or Kevin De Bruyne who could become mainstays of the side over the next decade, they’ll need to offload quite a few of the old guard.
This is the conundrum floating above east Manchester this summer. And papers have been reporting that a deal for Pogba could include a part exchange including Toure, Nasri, Jovetic or Dzeko. Maybe even a combination of these.
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One thing is certain, though. City need a refresh. They can’t afford to simply add players to the squad as they did last season. They cannot simply add another Fernando or Mangala – players who have warmed the bench a fair amount this season. They need starters, they need better than what they already have and most importantly, they need to be young.
Silly season has come early this year, but with good reason. City need it. We’re stuck for excitement in the Premier League, mostly because City couldn’t handle the Chelsea pace.
Chelsea’s little horse is the younger horse, and City’s is ageing gracelessly. It’s time to put the horse out to pasture, and bring in some new prize-winners.
Maybe then we’ll get a real horse race next time around.
I had originally intended to write this blog and had planned it all out before Luis Suarez decided to chow down on Branislav Ivanovic’s arm. Alas, we digress and it gives more argument and debate to the following blog.
Despite what drama circulates Luis Suarez, it is clear to see the boy has incredible talent. Spellbinding footwork, excellent dribbling and a deathly finish. The Uruguayan has had his best season for Liverpool, scoring 23 goals and grabbing 8 assists in 33 Premier League games. A form which has seen him nominated for PFA Player of the Year. With his unique playing style Suarez has built up a dangerous reputation. Suarez’s stats for Uruguay are just as impressive with a total of 31 goals in just 62 games. Suarez embeds a technique where he tends to turn and run into players rather than dribbling round them. This without speaking the obvious, terrifies defenders, all Suarez needs is a lucky bounce or a deflection and he’s away with his electrifying pace.
With all the praise Suarez deserves for his incredible skills, there is still a very ugly side to his personality. Almost like the Jekyll and Hyde of football. Here is a list of the controversies Luis Suarez has been involved with:
2007: Suarez makes his senior debut for Uruguay and gets sent off in the 85th minute after receiving two yellow cards.
2007: In his first season for Ajax, Suarez was fine for a half-time altercation with fellow team-mate Albert Luque.
2010: Historically one of the most recognisable incidents of the 2010 World Cup, Suarez hand balled on the line to stop Ghana scoring in the 90th minute. Rightly Suarez was sent off, however Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty which could have sent Ghana through. Uruguay went on to triumph in the penalty shoot out and proceeded into the Semi-Finals.
2010: Suarez was banned for 7 games in the Dutch league for biting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal in a domestic match.
2011: After a month long investigation Suarez was found guilty and charged with racially abusing Manchester United left back Patrice Evra. Suarez was fined £40,000 and given an 8 match ban.
2013: In the 2-2 draw between Liverpool and Chelsea, Suarez was involved in a tangle with Blues defender Branislav Ivanovic, in which he bit down on Ivanovic’s right arm. The incident was not seen by the referee and Suarez stayed on the pitch. Causing more controversy, Suarez then scored a late goal to level the game. Liverpool went on to fine their Forward for an undisclosed amount and the FA banned him for 10 games.
With the overwhelming evidence shown it’s pretty clear that Suarez has an evil streak within him. Reds defender Jamie Carragher even stated in his column for the Daily Mail that: ‘Rather than hounding him out of the country, shouldn’t we be helping him?’. Liverpool fans, as much as they would prefer Suarez to do the things he does, will also be very quick to forgive and forget. With what he brings to the team, Liverpool will not want to lose him and if Suarez feels like the fans are against him it wouldn’t be too long before he walks. At the age of 26, Suarez is starting to enter the prime of his career, with already impressive statistics next to him name, the question begs how much better can Suarez get?
Working his way up, from club to bigger club Suarez is ready to take the leap to an even bigger club. But where to go? Suarez will not stay in the Premier League after Liverpool, with the reputation he has Suarez will look elsewhere. Three clubs which spring to mind are Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Bayern Munich: Difficult to find where to slot into this impressive side, but Pep Guardiola may look to imbed a striker who will show flair as well as grab assists which is important to the German side. Suarez will certainly find silverware at this club as long as he doesn’t mind being on the bench every now and then.
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Real Madrid: With Cristiano Ronaldo as a linchpin and Benzema and Higuain for goal back up, Real Madrid have a pretty solid outfit. Although with Benzema and Higuain never really sealing full-time positions Suarez could take this role. The rumors are still circulating as to either one of the Real forwards leaving, meaning a position would be vacant. Ronaldo works best behind a forward who he can work with, Suarez definitely has the capability to use his intricate skills to form a deadly frontier with Ronaldo.
Barcelona: For me the most likely out of the destinations. No matter who you have in the squad Messi will still always get you goals but Barcelona need to tie down a solid forward who can also bang them in. With last weeks 4-0 drumming by Bayern Munich and scraping past PSG it’s a big wake up call for the catalan side. David Villa hasn’t managed to tie down a regular start since coming back from injury and increasing speculation about him departing in the summer makes this move the ever more likely.
Suarez does indeed have the world at his feet, but can he take it? More importantly will clubs want to offer him the chance to play there? Suarez needs to show that he isn’t all Mr Hyde and to get his head down and concentrate on his game. If he can do this then Suarez has a very bright future ahead of him. Champions League medals and League winner’s medals await Suarez, time to act your age.
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has regularly been praised by the fans due to his threat at the top of the field.
At the age of just 20, the attacker has established himself as a regular member of the first-team squad, but has been unable to hold down a starting spot.
Manager Jose Mourinho has included Rashford in just 15 of the club’s 33 Premier League matches this season.
In total, the young player has featured in 44 games in all competitions, and in that spell has scored 12 goals and created six assists.
Due to the fact that he is lower down the pecking order at Old Trafford, rumours are rumbling about Rashford’s long-term future at the club.
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According to the Daily Star, bookmaker Betfair has placed Chelsea and – more surprisingly – Manchester City as joint-favourites at 10/1 to sign the forward at the end of the season.
Given that Rashford has come through the academy at United, it would be a huge shock if the England international made the move to the blue half of Manchester.
When Liverpool lost their enigmatic striker Luis Suarez to Barcelona last summer, it was expected the mantle of striking responsibility would move on to his more than able deputy Daniel Sturridge. However, a year after the Uruguayan’s departure, Sturridge has failed to have the impact he would have desired, injuries have continuously and consistently held back the England international.
Sturridge has struggled to get any sort of run of games together and it has hurt both his team and the player greatly. With the striker having again been ruled out for a number of games, questions are beginning to be asked.
As Brendan Rodgers prepares to complete a rejuvenation of his faltering Liverpool team, a striker appears to be pivotal to his summer shopping. Can Daniel Sturridge still be relied upon to lead the line at Anfield?
The partnership that Suarez and he struck up last year took Liverpool to the precipice of the unthinkable, bringing the league title back to Merseyside after nearly two decades. Sturridge managed to net 21 times in a blistering season where only his strike partner outscored him. However, this term only 18 times has the former Chelsea and Manchester City forward managed to be fit enough to perform for Rodgers’ team.
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In his limited time this campaign he has still shown the kind of abilities that finally saw him realise his potential last year. His performance at White Hart Lane was a particular highlight of his turbulent season where he and Mario Balotelli tore Spurs to shreds in one of the few times Liverpool have resembled anything like the attacking force they were last year.
His manager still clearly rates him, as do the adoring fans on The Kop, but as the niggling injuries continue to eat away at his time on the pitch, Rodgers has sent out the first signs that his patience may be wearing thin when he said “I need a striker who will be playing at the top level every week.”
Now this is not to say Sturridge’s time at Liverpool is coming to a close, far from it, but the time may be coming where the 25 year old cannot be trusted as Liverpool’s main man. As Rodgers has recently alluded to, for all of his striker’s abilities, he has not been able to showcase them consistently enough to truly be classed as one of the elite strikers in the division.
It took the move to Anfield for Sturridge to finally feel like he was important to a team, no longer a man on the peripheries, shipped out into positions he derides. It is a cruel twist of fate, or several of them in fact, that may lead to him again being a man on the edge.
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His form at Liverpool has earned him more time before he is completely ruled out, but this summer’s transfer dealings may show the willingness his manager still has to invest in the man that helped take him so close to the greatest prize in English football.