All posts by h716a5.icu

There has seemingly been a common theme to Celtic’s Champions League outings so far this term, with the Old Firm outfit having typically been left to rue their profligacy in front goal, after spurning numerous chances in each of their four group stage encounters.

That wasteful nature was evident in Tuesday’s crushing defeat to RB Leipzig at Parkhead as the Hoops failed to capitalise on a brilliant spell of early pressure before eventually slipping to a seventh successive home defeat in the competition – the worst record in the tournament’s history.

Speaking after that 2-0 loss to Marco Rose’s men stand-in skipper Cameron Carter-Vickers had vocalised his frustration at those notable missed opportunities, while manager Ange Postecoglou stated his side had paid the “ultimate price” for their failings in front of goal, with progression to the knockout stages now out of reach.

That latest result had seen Kyogo Furuhashi, in particular, once again come up short when it matters most, with the Japan international notably squandering an inviting headed chance in that blistering period around the half-hour mark.

The 27-year-old has typically been a clinical figure for the Scottish champions since his £4.6m arrival from Vissel Kobe last summer – top scoring with 20 goals in all competitions last term – although is currently enduring something of a dry spell with just one goal in his last nine outings.

The £18k-per-week menace still boasts an impressive record of seven goals in just eight league games so far this term, although has failed to find the back of the net in Europe, with his only goal involvement having come as an assist for Jota away in Germany last week.

As pundit John Hartson stated, both the diminutive gem – and teammate Giorgos Giakoumakis – will likely feel they “should have done better” with regards to their failings in front of goal in the group stage thus far, with Kyogo having been particularly wasteful in the defeat in Saxony, notably heading over from close range.

While pundit John Collins has rightly lauded the £5.4m-rated speedster for his stunning work rate and the way he “hounds defences”, the player’s inability to couple that with a golden touch on the elite stage has seemingly played its part in Celtic’s undoing.

With the aforementioned Giakoumakis having netted a dramatic late winner at the weekend, the 16-cap gem could now be under pressure to keep his starting berth moving forward, having done himself little favours after struggling once again on Tuesday night.

West Bromwich Albion’s search for a new manager looks to be finally over, with reports suggesting that Carlos Corberan will be the new man in the Hawthorns dugout.

The Baggies sacked Steve Bruce earlier this month after a woeful start to the Championship season but things have barely improved since, with West Brom languishing in the relegation spots after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against Millwall.

However, the positive news for the Midlands club is that a replacement for Bruce should hopefully be through the door before next weekend’s game against Sheffield United.

According to The Athletic, the Spanish manager will take over at the Hawthorns after winning over the board in his two interviews and the former Huddersfield Town boss faces a mammoth task if he is going to realise West Brom’s pre-season ambitions of promotion.

The 39-year-old’s first priority will be to add some stability to a side that has won just twice so far this season and ensure that any worries about relegation become a distant memory for the Baggies.

Corberan impressed during his time with the Terriers as he turned them from relegation candidates into promotion outsiders, taking Huddersfield to the Championship playoff final last season.

After losing to Nottingham Forest at Wembley, the former Leeds United coach would move to Olympiacos shortly before the new season, where he took charge of just 11 games, winning four, drawing four and losing three, before his sacking.

During his time with Huddersfield, Corberan would take charge of 102 matches with a points-per-game average of 1.41, which was a significant increase on Bruce’s 1.13 points per game at West Brom.

It will be interesting to see how Corberan adjusts after overachieving with Huddersfield, as the expectations will be much higher at West Brom, but there is little doubt that the Spaniard arrives as an exciting young coach with a pedigree in the second tier, and CEO Ron Gourlay will surely be delighted to have got his man.

West Brom have held at least two interviews with Carlos Corberan, according to journalist Alex Crook.

The Lowdown: Manager search accelerating…

The Baggies appear to have picked up the pace when it comes to bringing in Steve Bruce’s successor following Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat to Bristol City.

Simon Stone stated on Wednesday that West Brom are closing in on a new manager, with Corberan the first to be interviewed for the vacancy. An update has now emerged on the attacking 4-3-3 style boss, who is currently out of work.

The Latest: Crook’s update

Crook took to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to share an update from West Brom.

He said that ‘Corberan has had at least two interviews’ and added that Plymouth Argyle’s Steven Schumacher is ‘also admired’.

The Verdict: Corberan the man?

It looks as if Corberan could well be leading the race to take over at The Hawthorns, with club officials speaking with the Spaniard on more than one occasion.

The Baggies won’t have to worry about a compensation fee as the 39-year-old is out of work, so a move could go through relatively quickly.

If he does make a return to England with a move to the Midlands, West Brom will be hoping he can replicate his work at Huddersfield after he took the Terriers to the Championship playoff final last season, and not his time at Olympiacos where he lasted just 11 games in charge.

Everton have been enjoying a much more comfortable season in the Premier League so far, and Frank Lampard will surely be relieved that his side is showing signs of improvement during their promising start.

The Toffees are now 12th in the league table and are four points clear of the relegation zone which is a much better position than where they found themselves last season, only surviving the drop into the Championship in their penultimate game of the season.

Lampard will be thrilled with the impact that the eight new signings have made since they arrived at Goodison Park this summer, but it isn’t just the newly-appointed players who have been shining lights in the improved form that Everton have displayed in their 12 Premier League outings.

Anthony Gordon has often been highly praised for his contributions in the forward line, but his teammate Demarai Gray has been just as effective since he made the move to Merseyside for just £1.7m last summer.

Despite Rafael Benitez’s ill-fated tenure at the club, one of the only good things to come out of his short spell managing the Toffees was the signing of Gray, who has been a consistent and reliable performer when called upon to represent the club in the final third.

Only Richarlison (11) and Andros Townsend (seven) scored more goals than Gray (six) last season, with the talented winger netting more than striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin (five) overall, and this season he has continued to prove that he is worth his tiny transfer fee many times over.

Across 12 appearances this term, the 26-year-old has scored one goal and created one big chance, making 1.2 key passes, taking 1.9 shots and winning four duels per game, proving he is a trusted key player for Lampard as he has started and featured for 86 minutes on average in every single league outing so far.

Gray has been the recipient of high praise during his time with the Toffees so far, with BBC pundit Garth Crooks dubbing the winger a “real talent”.

Lampard has also expressed his admiration for the player after he scored a late equaliser against Nottingham Forest earlier this season, saying: “I was really pleased with Demarai’s performance and the goal.

“Against players that are committed to defend in numbers, you need players that open the game up. Demarai did that with his movement, with his speed and with his one-v-one stuff. The goal was fantastic.”

With that being said, it is clear that Gray has become a key player at Everton; and if he can continue to influence games positively,  there is no doubt that the team could enjoy a much more comfortable season than in 2021/22.

Goncalo Guedes’ time at Wolverhampton Wanderers is turning into something of a nightmare, with his poor form since his summer switch likely to cost him a spot at the World Cup with Portugal.

The Old Gold paid £27.5m to sign the 25-year-old from Valencia during the summer after an impressive 2021/22 campaign which saw the winger contribute 11 goals and six assists in LaLiga.

It was hoped that Guedes could help improve an ailing Wolves attack which managed just 38 goals in the top flight last season but after the Midlands club managed just four goals in their opening eight Premier League games, Bruno Lage was sacked.

Since then, the former Paris Saint-Germain man has made just one start in the top flight under interim manager Steve Davis and was hauled off at halftime against Chelsea after a truly anonymous display.

The Portuguese forward has managed no goals and one assist in his ten Premier League appearances this season, which has seen him earn a shocking 6.24 average rating from WhoScored, which ranks him as the 18th-best performer at Molineux.

It is perhaps no surprise therefore that recent reports have suggested that Guedes is likely to miss out on Portugal’s final squad for the World Cup later this month, as his form has been truly shocking.

Even with the injury suffered by former Wolves man Diogo Jota which ruled him out of the trip to Qatar, it seems unlikely that Guedes should make the cut, as he looks extremely low on confidence after his move to the Premier League.

The report from Portugal insists that the 25-year-old is going through a crisis at Wolves, much like the rest of the squad, and it is now ‘very complicated’ for him to make Fernando Santos’ squad, despite having already earned 32 caps in his career.

When he made the move to Molineux during the summer, Guedes was tipped to be “absolutely fantastic” by talkSPORT’s European expert Andy Brassell, and given the success of Portuguese players at Wolves in recent years, there seemed no reason why he couldn’t be a big hit in England.

But his time at the club has so far proven to be a disaster and unless he can drastically improve his form when the new manager arrives, he could go down as another huge waste of money by the Midlands club.

Chelsea continued their poor Premier League form with a defeat away to Newcastle United that will give Graham Potter much to ponder over the winter break.

It means the London side have not won in the league since a 2-0 win over Aston Villa on 16 October and the hiatus for the World Cup comes at the perfect time.

Newcastle – backed by a boisterous home crowd – started the brightest, and although Chelsea created a few chances themselves in the first half, Potter’s side were far too passive.

Conor Gallagher came closest to opening the scoring with a great effort that drew an even better save from Nick Pope and it proved to be a crucial moment in the match, with Joe Willock scoring a few minutes later.

That was all Newcastle needed as they secured a win that takes them to third place in the table and the feel-good factor around the club continues to grow.

Chelsea, on the other hand, were poor, with players such as Kalidou Koulibaly – who lost possession 16 times – putting in performances far below their best last night.

It was perhaps a Blues star who is heading to Qatar that was Potter’s weak link, however, as Mason Mount flattered to deceive up against Eddie Howe’s side.

Mount received a SofaScore rating of just 6.7 and he even had fewer touches of the ball than Edouard Mendy (29 to 52), showing just how far off the pace he was – something doesn’t bode well with England’s first World Cup match just nine days away.

Usually so creative in attack, the 23-year-old struggled to assert his authority in the match, having no shots and completing just 12 passes, although he did succeed with his only dribble attempt. With four goal contributions in his previous 13 matches, more would have been expected of the player and he let Potter down.

There’s no denying the club are going through a rough patch at the moment, yet quality players like Mount should be stepping up and contributing more in tight matches such as these.

Gareth Southgate will more than likely thrust the 23-year-old into his starting XI against Iran in their first World Cup fixture, yet he will need to drastically improve if he hopes to make a positive impact in the tournament.

The Athletic’s Southampton correspondent Jacob Tanswell has said he is ‘absolutely gutted’ that James Ward-Prowse won’t be going to the World Cup.

The Lowdown: England squad announced

On Thursday afternoon, Gareth Southgate named his official 26-man squad to travel to Qatar later this month, and it may have come as a surprise that the Saints midfielder’s name wasn’t on the list.

The Three Lions manager had instead replaced the 28-year-old with Conor Gallagher from Premier League rivals Chelsea, despite the Blues youngster only starting six top-flight games this season.

The Latest: Tanswell’s reaction

Taking to Twitter, Tanswell expressed his disappointment at Ward-Prowse’s omission and claimed that, whilst the Southampton captain might not have played regularly at the tournament, he more than deserved a place on the plane.

He tweeted: “Absolutely gutted for James Ward-Prowse. Should have made at least one of the last two major tournaments. Neither he nor Conor Gallagher would have probably played much. But who could make the difference in Southgate’s inevitable, attritional, tight games?”

The Verdict: Wrong decision

Whilst Gallagher is an exciting young prospect who excelled on loan at Crystal Palace last season, selecting him and deciding to omit Ward-Prowse was completely the wrong decision by Southgate.

The Saints star already has 11 international caps to his name, making him the more experienced option in the middle, while he also scored two goals in three games during the World Cup qualification stage.

With Ward-Prowse also a natural set-piece and penalty taker, Southgate has missed out on including a useful option in his squad, and he will no doubt hope it doesn’t come back to bite him in the weeks ahead.

Liverpool haven’t had the best start to their Premier League season, however, Jurgen Klopp may have the opportunity to invest in his squad over the next few transfer windows, and now a new potential target has been revealed.

What’s the latest?

According to The Guardian, the Reds are tracking Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount ahead of his contract talks being put on hold at Stamford Bridge.

As per the report, the West London club have struggled to reach terms to keep hold of their talented player and now the club have put contract talks on hold until after the World Cup in a situation in which Liverpool and Juventus are keeping a close eye on.

Huge Naby Keita upgrade

There is no doubt that Liverpool’s main area of concern in terms of personnel in the squad is in the centre of the pitch, with many key players out of contract alongside several midfielders reaching the latter stages of their careers.

Naby Keita, Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain and James Milner will all be out of contract in June 2023, whilst Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson and former Bayern Munich star Thiago Alcantara are both well into their 30s at this point, proving that reinvestment into the midfield is becoming a very pressing issue at Anfield.

As a result, a move for Mount could be a fantastic solution to replace Keita not just in regards to his quality shown at Chelsea but also his availability and consistency to show up for his team when it matters the most, something the Guinea international has struggled to deliver over his four-year stint on Merseyside.

Keita has had 18 instances of injury that have seen him sidelined for over a year of his contract with the club and has not been seen for the entirety of the season so far due to ongoing injury problems yet again with the most recent coming from training where he picked up a muscle problem.

Mount, on the other hand, has missed just four fixtures with minor injury issues at Chelsea since November 2019, but it’s not just his availability that would make the young talent the perfect fit for Liverpool.

Over last season the £70m-valued gem – who was hailed a “generational talent” by journalist Daniel Childs – outperformed Keita in many attributes including goals scored (11 v 3), assists (10 v 1), shot-creating actions per 90 (4.57 v 3.53) and progressive passes received (212 v 30), proving that he will offer an attacking upgrade on the Liverpool midfielder, via FBref.

With that being said, the powers at Anfield will surely be watching the player closely when he competes with England at the World Cup in Qatar over the next few weeks and will be monitoring his future at Chelsea closely ahead of the upcoming transfer window.

Everton reportedly could return for Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Summer target

It was reported in the summer that the Goodison Park outfit were set to submit a late offer for Chukwueze, who has an €80m (£69m) release clause.

A move never materialised in the end, and the Nigeria international has stayed at Villarreal, scoring five goals and making a further six assists in his first 21 games in total over all competitions so far this season (Transfermarkt).

The Latest: Could return

As per Spanish news outlet Superdeporte (via Sport Witness), the Merseyside club ‘could’ return for Chukwueze in January, and were ‘already interested’ in him from the summer.

Former Villarreal manager Unai Emery is also interested in signing him for Aston Villa, so Frank Lampard’s side may face some fierce competition for him in the winter window.

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The Verdict: Get it done

Chukwueze would offer the Toffees another dimension in a tame attack that has seen them score just 11 goals in 15 games in the Premier League.

Lauded by ESPN journalist David Cartlidge as a ‘ridiculous’ player who ‘tortures’ defenders, the winger has even been likened to the legendary Arjen Robben for his ability to dribble at speed and cut in on his left foot.

Chukwueze ranks in the top 1% of all wingers in Europe’s top five leagues in the past year for dribbles completed, touches and non-penalty expected goals and assists combined per FBRef, so the 23-year-old is clearly a player that would improve the Blues immensely going forward.

Liverpool are set to open talks with the representatives of World Cup star Cody Gakpo in the near future, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Gakpo dazzles in Qatar…

The PSV Eindhoven sensation has continued to build his stellar reputation with some scintillating performances in the Middle East.

Gakpo is currently dazzling for the Netherlands with three goals in his last three tournament matches, scoring in each of their group games against Senegal, Ecuador and host nation Qatar.

Louis van Gaal’s side have cruised through to the competition’s last 16, with the forward playing a major role in their successful campaign so far.

As a result, Gakpo’s stock is rising, and Liverpool are one of the many clubs to have taken note of his exploits.

The Latest: Liverpool line up Gakpo talks…

According to Dutch reports, it appears that the Premier League giants are lining up discussions over the possible signing of Gakpo.

It is believed that Liverpool are planning to open talks with the 23-year-old’s entourage soon, joining what could be a very hotly-contested battle for his services in 2023.

This information comes courtesy of Voetbal International (via Caught Offside), who reported that Jurgen Klopp’s side are eyeing a move for Gakpo.

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The Verdict: Exciting talent…

Called ‘magnificent’ for his performances at club level by members of the media, this form at the World Cup is no flash in the pan, and it’s clear that he is one of Europe’s hottest commodities right now.

Former Netherlands midfielder Theo Janssen has also heaped praise on Gakpo and his ability, saying in a recent interview that the attacking ace ‘has everything’.

The Eredivisie starlet has turned many heads already with his performances for PSV, standing out as their star player with nine goals and 12 assists in just 14 league starts (WhoScored).

Liverpool’s interest isn’t surprising, but there may well be a real auction on the horizon.