UEFA bosses intend to boost the profile of the Europa League by sending out a memo to top club managers imploring them to talk up the competition.
In recent times it has become an afterthought when compared to the Champions League and domestic campaigns, and UEFA want the importance of participating in Europe to be recognised.
Liverpool and Newcastle have not named full strength sides in the competition this season, which has led to some perceiving the Europa League as something that it is no longer valued.
The ‘rich heritage’ and the prestige of the competition providing some of the finest names definitely appear to be lost, but The Sun reports that UEFA insist the competition is still “dramatic”.
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas appears to be the only one who has heeded this instruction so far, insisting on fielding full strength teams with the intention to win.
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The next round of Europa League games commence on Thursday 25th October.
Tottenham have announced that 22-year-old Harry Winks has signed a new deal with the club via their official Twitter channel.
Winks, a life-long Spurs fan, joined the club’s youth set up at the age of 8. The central midfielder made his Premier League debut under current manager, Mauricio Pochetinno, at the start of the 2016/17 season.
The academy product is from Hemel Hempstead, a small town 24 miles northwest of London, and is well liked by Spurs fans who amicably refer to the player as “one of our own”.
The player’s progression from U18s captain to first team squad member is testament to the good work Pochetinno has done in North London.
Pochetinno has developed his reputation as a coach who is skilled at bringing players through the academy and integrating these talented prospects within the first team.
The Spurs manager has an unorthodox, Ferguson-esque policy when it comes to bringing through youth players, a policy which he has used to incredible success with Harry Kane.
If the Argentine rates a young player, he does not want that youngster to be coached by anyone else. He will call them up into the first team picture so that he can monitor their progress firsthand and see their attitude on the training field.
Winks, it would seem, is the next youth product to make the step into the first team picture and Tottenham fans are delighted – taking to Twitter to post their support for the young lad.
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Arsenal supporters have taken to Twitter to emphasise their frustration following Petr Cech’s below-par performance against the Reds in their crucial clash for the top four places.
A collection of individual mistakes were responsible for the fact that six goals were scored at the Emirates Stadium, shared evenly between Liverpool and Arsenal.
The experienced Czech goalkeeper was deceived on the first goal, as Coutinho looped a header over his reach to give Jurgen Klopp’s side a 1-0 lead.
To his credit, the former Chelsea goalie was mightily unlucky on Liverpool’s second goal of the game, as a deflection from Mustafi took the ball beyond his reach to double the Reds’ advantage.
Nonetheless, the third goal that Liverpool scored was solely applicable to the actions of Petr Cech. The 35-year-old failed to divert Roberto Firmino’s shot away from goal, and the ball landed in the back of the Arsenal net.
Here’s how the Arsenal fans reacted to his display on Twitter…
Manchester City did quite well this weekend, eh? Manuel Pellegrini’s men effectively annihilated the league’s, so far, most greedy defence, making a shambles of every pre-match tip of a close encounter. Tottenham may feel the result was slightly unfair, as the stats hardly reflect the utter humiliation of a 6-0 score line, but essentially we need to give Man City credit for their immense striking force.
At the start of the season, I felt that the blue Mancunians were favourites to the title as they strengthened their squad in key areas. Fernandinho, who spent far too long tearing the Ukrainian premiership apart before anyone grabbed the opportunity, provides a creative anchor while simultaneously releasing Yaya Toure from his shackles of defensive responsibility. Alvaro Negredo was received with inexplicable doubt. Only in England could a striker with his scoring record be received with scepticism. But most importantly, I believe Man City acquired an asset that gives the team a completely different attacking dimension.
Jesus Navas claimed both the first and the last goal in Sunday’s demolition at the Etihad Stadium. Although his performance against Spurs, with two goals and an assist was near perfect, I believe we are yet to see the best from the little Spaniard. There’s always going to take a certain amount of time for players to adapt when moving to a new country and Navas has had a slow start to his season. But as the season wears on, and Pellegrini must rotate to keep his players fresh, his contributions will become more and more crucial to City’s campaign.
Manchester City are not short of striking options. Even before they signed Navas and Negredo, they could field two almost equally strong attacking fours, and on their bench on Sunday we found Edin Dzeko, whilst David Silva is still unavailable due to injury. But despite the abundance in their, frankly, frightening attack, there has been something missing for City going forward on occasion this season. At times, City have become far too narrow. Their wingers – Silva, Samir Nasri and possibly James Milner – all have a tendency to jam into the centre of the park. This is where Pellegrini will draw great pleasure from having a player like Navas at his disposal.
Unlike City’s other attacking midfielders, Silva in particular, Navas is a premium example of a winger. Although the Blues aspire to play a very modern style of football, with a creative attacking three that tucks in behind a striker, they will draw huge benefit from the versatility that Navas presents. Rather than searching for the play through the middle, Navas sticks to the side-line. He’s in his element when he is put one on one with the full-back and can sprint for the by-line to make an inch perfect cross.
That is the strength City need to utilize are they to take full use of Navas. The challenge of facing the 28-year old is terrifying for any left-back. He prey on the defenders obligation to restrict his passage inside, and open the wide area. Every full-back in the league knows that they have no choice when a wide player receives the ball in their half. But when that space near the corner flag opens up, there is simply no stopping Navas. He will get a cross in nine out of ten times, and with strong aerial players like Negredo, Dzeko and Aguero up top, the probability of the winger getting and assists tips in City’s favour.
If Pellegrini can find the answer to his away form issues, I can’t see anyone claiming the title ahead of Manchester City. They have the best squad player for player, and their record at the Etihad is already mind-blowing. All they lack is that little bit alternative when goals are coming easily.
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Hugo Rodallega scored on his return to the DW Stadium as Fulham secured their first away win of the season after seeing off the challenge of Wigan.
The Colombian striker came back to haunt the club he left on a free during the summer scoring his first goal for the Cottagers to put them on the road to victory in the North West. The result lifted Martin Jol’s men into the top four for 24 hours at least while the Latics find themselves in familiar territory in the bottom half of the table.
An incident involving referee Lee Probert dominated the early stages as the he played the literal middle man in a a full-blooded challenge between Steve Sidwell and Ben Watson. Fulham started to take a foothold in the game and went close to taking the lead with Dimitar Berbatov denied a goal by Ali-Al Habsi on two occasions. The Wigan keeper first kept out the Bulgarian’s header before pushing his 24th minute strike over the bar.
Emmerson Boyce then headed wide for the Latics before Rodallega gave Fulham the lead, heading home after being expertly picked out by Berbatov. The home side’s went close to equalising on no less than three occasions before the break with Jordi Gomez hitting the bar, while Watson and Arouna Kone spurned good chances.
Bryan Ruiz came on for Fulham at half time and drew a good save out of Al Habsi from a 20-yard free kick before Mauro Boselli shot wide after James McCarthy’s effort was pushed into his path my Mark Schwarzer. Fulham made them pay two minutes later as Damien Duff produced a clinical finish after being teed up by Ruiz.
Roberto Martinez’s side did eventually find the net through Kone’s turn and finish in injury time but it was too little too late.
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The battle for second place in the Scottish Premiership is set to go to the final day after Rangers and Aberdeen played out a 1-1 draw at Pittodrie on Tuesday night.
Kenny McLean put his side ahead from the spot after going down under the challenge of Alfredo Morelos in the penalty box before Ross McCrorie levelled midway through the second half to earn a crucial point for the Light Blues.
The two sides are separated by just one point heading into the final match of the season, with Hibs also breathing down their necks.
It could be seen as a point earned for the Gers and while fans were generally dissatisfied with the team performance they did have praise for hard working players like Morelos.
The Colombian striker has scored just once in his last 10 appearances. That lack of contribution is notable but supporters were still happy with his all-round performance on Tuesday, even if he did miss a good chance to net.
Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts…
West Ham United boss David Moyes has revealed that Mark Noble ‘is making progress’ in his recovery from injury, but Michail Antonio is yet to resume first-team training.
Noble has missed West Ham’s last three matches with a hamstring problem, but has been tipped to feature in next week’s clash with West Bromwich Albion.
Antonio, meanwhile, is battling to overcome a groin problem, and the attacker has not yet resumed first-team training ahead of the fixture with the Baggies on January 2.
Javier Hernandez and Andy Carroll are both available for Moyes, but it is thought that in-form forward Marko Arnautovic will again lead the line for the Hammers.
Moyes told reporters:
“Mark Noble is making progress. He’s trained for a couple of days. He’s not joined us yet, but he’s making progress.
“Michail Antonio has not joined us for training yet, he’s recovering. His groin isn’t as bad as we first thought, but will he make the game? It’s probably just a bit too soon to say.”
West Ham beat Chelsea, drew with Arsenal and beat Stoke City between December 9 and December 16, but have lost to Newcastle United and drawn with Bournemouth in their last two.
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After welcoming West Brom to the London Stadium on January 2, the Hammers will make the trip to Tottenham Hotspur just 48 hours later.
Tottenham have not enjoyed the majority of the summer transfer window so far. They’ve been desperately trying to cling onto Welshman Gareth Bale, and the necessity to sign a striker is an ever-present shadow over AVB and Daniel Levy which simply refuses to go away.
It seemed likely that Aston Villa’s Belgian striker, Christian Benteke would join the likes of Defoe, Adebayor and recent signing Chadli, however a sudden U-turn saw him his contract at Villa Park. It seemed Levy had been unwilling to invest the amount being requested by Villa for their striker, and this was the main cause behind the change of heart.
However, with recent news emerging that Spurs are pushing to sign Valencia attacker Roberto Soldado, and for a price similar to that of Benteke’s valuation, it has caused quite a furore on Twitter among Spurs fans, but also the football community. Why is Levy happy to shell out for a 28-year-old when he refused the younger Benteke?
Here’s what the Twitterverse had to say about the debacle…
Adam Johnson will soon know if he is fit enough for Sunderland’s Premier League clash with Liverpool.
The 25 year old was forced to withdraw from England duty due to a thigh injury and has been receiving treatment at Sunderland since.
Yesterday Johnson completed some light training with fellow crocked teammates Wes Brown and Phil Bardsley.
Today when the Black Cats first team regroup after the international period, Johnson’s training performance should gage whether or not the ex-Manchester City man is fit enough for Saturday’s contest.
Martin O’Neill spoke to The Sunderland Echo, “It would be great if Johnson is fit for Saturday. He came back pretty well immediately after the injury.
“He seems to be doing a bit better and he did a bit of training with Wes Brown and Phil Bardsley yesterday. He’s always optimistic so we’ll see how he gets on over the next few days.
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“Today we should be in a better position to see how things are, once everyone is back from the international break.”
Saturday’s early evening kick-off sees a Liverpool side who have taken just one point from their opening three fixtures travel to the Stadium of Light, with the hosts looking to build on two away points in their first home fixture.
Reports this week suggest Jonjo Shelvey will not go to the World Cup despite his impressive season, and Newcastle fans are bashing the decision on Twitter.
According to the Daily Mail, Jonjo Shelvey is likely to miss out on the England squad this summer.
The Mail report claims there are “concerns about the midfielder’s temperament and disciplinary record” which will prevent him from getting the call-up.
Shelvey has gone from strength to strength this season, and unsurprisingly the report says there is no question about his quality.
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The 26 year-old two goals and three assists this season, and has completed over five long balls per game in the Premier League, while also creating an average of 1.4 chances per game.
Understandably, Newcastle fans are furious with the claims his disciplinary record will cause him to miss out, as the ex-Liverpool man has not received a Premier League card in 2018.
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Rafael Benitez has done a great job of controlling the fiery midfielder, and it seems absurd to leave him out while taking a player like Jake Livermore, who was of course forced to apologise for stealing a taxi in Barcelona earlier this year.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…