All posts by h716a5.icu

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Marcelo Bielsa continued to captivate the British media in the build up to Leeds United’s season-defining clash against Norwich City by revealing his starting XI two days before kick-off – a decision which ultimately backfired.

Daniel Farke’s travelling Canaries put a dent in Leeds’ promotion ambitions by coasting to a stunning 3-1 victory at Elland Road. In the absence of Kalvin Phillips, Norwich exploited a gaping gap between the line of midfield and attack, with the likes of Onel Hernandez and Marco Stiepermann running riot in a pulsating encounter.

Plenty of supporters had expressed their concern over Phillips’ omission in the build up to kick-off, and the manner in which Leeds were exposed vindicated those pre-match fears.

The Canaries enjoyed plenty of space inside the final third and threatened almost every time they broke forward with purpose.

With the bitter disappointment of defeat still fresh in mind, Leeds fans have taken to Twitter to urge Bielsa to recall Phillips ahead of another vital weekend trip to Middlesbrough.

Boro, under the watchful eye of long-ball extraordinaire Tony Pulis, are a physical outfit capable of causing Leeds serious problems at the Riverside Stadium.

Restoring Phillips into the side to solidify the midfield seems like an obvious decision for Bielsa to make under the circumstances, and if the fans were picking the team it seems he would be one of the first names on the team-sheet.

Indeed, the supporters on Twitter have turned out in their numbers to urge Bielsa to recall the 23-year-old in a midfield anchor role against the Teessiders.

Here’s a round up of what the Whites faithful are saying about Phillips…

The January window slammed shut this past week with both Premier League, Championship, and Football League clubs concluding their business for the season.

For the top flight, it was a busy enough window again, and although there wasn’t the blockbuster signings we might have seen in years gone by, there was still a few big names and quality players who made their move into the English game.

One such player who we in the Tavern feel will be a superb signing is Youri Tielemans, who secured a loan move to Leicester City with Andre Silva going in the opposite direction.

The young Belgian midfielder, a victim of a poor Monaco team and set-up this season in all honesty, has bags of talent, and he could be a real difference maker for the Foxes if he can hit his top form and really show the Premier League what he is all about.

Still very young and raw, Tielemans has all the ability in the world really, and Leicester might be getting one of the finest young midfielders in the world if Tielemans can get it right.

Powerful in the middle of the park, but equally impressive with the ball, Tielemans might well prove to be one of the finest signings in the January window this time round, with his ability warranting that of a player who can play for a top four side.

Leicester didn’t bring in bags of new players, but in the Belgian midfielder, they might have got themselves a real player.

Foxes fans, what do you think? How good a signing is this? Let us know in the comments!

Celtic have been the standout performers in the Scottish Premiership in recent times as they continue to march towards the Scottish Premiership title. 

The Hoops currently find themselves six points ahead of bitter rivals Rangers in the race for the title, so it’s very much in their hands at this moment in time, with a perfect month pushing them even closer.

But, things haven’t always been perfect as a number of players have failed to impress this season, with the club’s January additions making it even harder for the underperforming first-team members to secure minutes.

Cristian Gamboa has managed to make seven appearances in all competitions this season, which can be put down to his lack of quality on the field. Indeed, fans have been quick to criticise Mikael Lustig in the current campaign, but even he’s offered more on the field than Gamboa has. The South American looks past his best and has done more harm than good this season, so it comes as some surprise that Rodgers didn’t manage to offload him last month.

But, he isn’t the only player letting Rodgers down, as Jonny Hayes has been just as disappointing.

The Irishman has been one of the worst signings that the Glasgow club have made in recent years, having offered very little in the final third ever since he joined the club. It comes as no surprise that Rodgers drafted in attacking reinforcements last month as Hayes has featured in eight games in all competitions this season, with just one assist to his name. And, with Oliver Burke already thriving in Glasgow, it looks as if Hayes’ Celtic career may be over.

Celtic fans – thoughts on the two players involved? 

Steven Gerrard’s Rangers have played some stunning attacking football this season and a youngster to have helped that is young Ryan Kent.

The loanee from Liverpool has become a fan-favourite at Glasgow, with his electric demeanour producing brilliant moments throughout the season.

Kent’s been a nightmare for defenders in the Scottish Premiership, lighting up The Light Blues’ left wing. Not only is Kent a pacy winger, but his close-control and dribbling ability are also unprecedented. The 22-year-old has turned out to be a Steven Gerrard favourite, as the gaffer’s given him the opportunities and freedom to express himself.

Kent has scored 5 goals and assisted 4 so far for the Light Blues, forming excellent chemistry with his team-mates. He’s shown impressive ability to wheeze past his opponents on the left flank, often bamboozling defenders with his cunning trickery.

A confident man going forward, Kent also possesses the ability to make inwards into the box and going all the way to score amazing goals. The youngster’s dribbling prowess was on show against Celtic when he provided a delightful assist for Ryan Jack’s winner.

The left-winger’s heroics against Celtic, whom he terrorized with his pace and trickery, proved how crucial he is to their fast-paced attacking style. However, Jurgen Klopp’s also licking his lips watching Kent’s growth and probably can’t wait to have him back. Indeed, Gary McAllister hinted (via the Scottish Sun) there’s little chance of keeping him at Ibrox, making it all a bittersweet for Rangers fans right now.

Clearly a level above most other players north of the border, it’ll be very hard to replace him in the summer, especially in their price range. Still, if he can help the Gers win a title, who really cares?

What will be Liverpool’s gain is a huge loss to Rangers, who are growing more reliant on Kent’s influence to play their best football.

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Sheffield United are desperately trying to gain promotion to the Premier League this season.

The Blades are currently second in the Championship, ahead of Leeds United on goal difference and two points behind leaders Norwich City.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side have a game in hand but, as it stands, it will be Sheffield United and Norwich promoted automatically.

But do Chris Wilder’s men have the ability to stay up if they do gain promotion?

Football FanCast takes a look at the cases both for and against.

Biggest strength

Sheffield United know how to score goals. The Blades have a gluttony of strikers at their disposal, with Billy Sharp surely the best of the bunch.

Sharp has scored 23 goals in all competitions this season, while David McGoldrick is in double figures and Gary Madine has also hit the back of the net twice. Scott Hogan and Conor Washington are back-ups.

Their 58 goals scored this season is the third-highest in the league, behind only leaders Norwich and fourth-placed West Brom – they have 65 and 64 respectively.

Indeed, they scored four last time out as they thumped Reading 4-0, and have also been involved in 3-3 and 2-2 draws with Aston Villa and Norwich respectively since the turn of the year.

It cannot be guaranteed that Sharp would take to the Premier League like a duck to water – he has played just 18 minutes in the competition in his career, across two games for Southampton in 2012.

But, as it stands, it could be his goals that power them to promotion and beyond.

Biggest weakness

Sheffield United lack a plan B.

They tend to play with three-at-the-back and it can leave them open in defence, while their formation of 3-5-2 also relies on having two strikers up top.

That rarely works in the Premier League.

One would expect Wilder to dip his toes into the transfer market to strengthen his back-line if their season does end in promotion but currently, the signs are not good.

A back four would surely be needed in the top-flight, but the Blades use it so rarely it would take some acclimatising to.

Heading into the Premier League with a 3-5-2 formation is a good way to start yourself off on the back foot, with points dropped and goals conceded. Wilder needs to find a solution.

Transfer targets

Sheffield United need bodies more than anything else.

There isn’t a single player in the squad who can claim to be a seasoned Premier League campaigner and they need some general quality.

In goal, of course, Dean Henderson is on loan from Manchester United and will likely return to his parent club in the summer. The Blades could attempt to take him on a permanent deal but he has not played a single minute of top-flight football.

Fulham, once promoted, embarked on a scattergun recruitment approach and Wilder and his team should learn from that – the Cottagers are 19th and seemingly doomed – and implement a more measured approach in the summer if they do seal promotion.

But quality is the name of the game. The likes of Sharp, John Fleck and John Egan will surely be given a chance to prove their worth in the top-flight but they are not guaranteed to succeed.

Wilder will know that, and he should already be scouting for potential upgrades to his starting XI. If they are to survive, they’ll need them.

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Celtic are waiting on scan results to determine the extent of Callum McGregor’s calf injury.

The midfielder missed his first match of the season through injury as the Hoops beat Motherwell 4-1 on Sunday to restore their eight point advantage at the top of the SPFL table.

With Scott Brown suspended it meant a brand new midfield, with Nir Bitton returning to the side alongside Ewan Henderson who was starting his first ever top team match.

“He’s picked up an injury from the midweek,” Rodgers said, as quoted by The Daily Record, when explaining McGregor’s injury.

“We would’ve taken him off but we were down to 10 men and he didn’t feel it too bad. But then the last few days its stiffened up so we’ll see what the result of the X-ray is on that.”

Rodgers will be hoping to have McGregor available to face Hearts on Wednesday but surely won’t take any chances with a Scottish Cup quarter-final against Hibs following three days later.

McGregor has been a crucial member of Rodgers’ plans this season – his appearance against Valencia was his 54th match for club and country this season.

With Ryan Christie picking up a hamstring knock in the win over Motherwell, Bitton or Henderson could retain their place in the side to face Hearts if McGregor fails to prove his fitness.

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Should Liverpool go on to win the Premier League this season, it will be interesting to see quite how this title bid comes to be remembered.

History always has a knack of recalling things slightly differently; sometimes that is due to the benefits of hindsight, retrospect and new information, but often its our ingrained desire for simplified, romantic narratives taking precedent over the accuracy of the nitty gritty. Constant inconsistencies and permutations are just too inconvenient to digest and retell. It’s much easier to shape events and themes around basic stories we can all follow.

So there’s every chance this Liverpool team will come to be misremembered, because of our preconceptions of Klopp’s side going into this season. The Reds didn’t quite match Manchester City for goals last term but going forward – and especially in the Champions League – they were decisively rampant. Mohamed Salah set a new record for Premier League goals in a single season, Sadio Mane netted 20 times and Roberto Firmino seemed to be redefining the role of a centre-forward in a modern 4-3-3.

That’s how we like to think about this Liverpool side – an unrelenting attacking force spearheaded by a world-class front three, perhaps the best front three around in terms of quality and compatibility. But Liverpool’s season hasn’t been built around the supreme performances of their forwards; vast improvements at the other end of the pitch have taken them to the table’s summit with only 11 games left to go.

Klopp would argue that his teams defend from the front, and that Firmino particularly is as important out of possession as any of his centre-halves. But the numbers are telling – by this point last season, Liverpool had scored six more goals in the Premier League, and across all competitions the front three had netted 65 times. This term, their combined tally is just 44 (stats worked out via various pages on Transfermarkt).

Sunday’s Northwest derby seemed to capture the rebalancing of which players Liverpool are suddenly so dependent on in a microcosm. Manchester United – albeit a Manchester United drastically depleted by injuries within the first half an hour – could barely get past the industrious Jordan Henderson and Fabinho in midfield to test the back four. But at the other end of the pitch, the front three that were so fearsome last season couldn’t find a moment of individual brilliance between them.

Of course, there are important caveats. Firmino withdrew through injury early on, so this was by no means Liverpool’s attack at its best. Likewise, due to the gravity of the situation, Klopp picked his sturdiest midfield, which somewhat limited the flow of supply into Salah and Mane. Nonetheless, you feel that the front three of last season, or at least the Salah of last season, would have twisted a few defenders inside out to pop up with a winning goal. Instead, both of Liverpool’s widemen produced their worst performances of the campaign.

And it inevitably highlights the contradiction behind Liverpool’s title bid; rather than the scintillating attacking football of 2017/18, defensive resilience and a new-found grit has got them through games.

But that isn’t how we’d like to remember them – historically, both Liverpool and Klopp are synonymous with excitement, entertainment, ambition and flair. The resident result-grinders, at least in the context of the Premier League title, are Chelsea, a club Liverpool are supposed to be the antithesis of. The idea of Liverpool winning the title ugly just doesn’t fit into our preconceptions and historic assumptions.

Perhaps the phrase ugly is a little overzealous, but Liverpool have certainly been a less beautiful beast than last season – immovable rather than irresistible. History, however, will unlikely remember them in that way; the two campaigns will be fused together, a brush of romanticism will be applied and while the impact of Liverpool’s defensive recruits over the last year will of course be acknowledged – chiefly Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Alisson – the relentless nature of the front three will be in the forefront of our minds.

Thing is, they just haven’t been quite so relentless this time around, when history’s spotlight is firmly set on them. And history, eventually, will only recall what we want it to recall – a Liverpool side that always thrilled, rather than one that relied on being almost impenetrable.

Rangers have a great opportunity to capitalise on their neighbours’ uncertainty and signing current Nottingham Forest loanee Joe Worrall could show they really mean business.

Leaving behind a legacy of complete dominance, and now confusion, former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has unwittingly opened up an opportunity for rivals to assert their dominance over proceedings and finally topple Celtic from their perch at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Rangers and Steven Gerrard are surely amongst those ready to pounce.

Currently second-placed in the league, trailing first by eight points, it is probably a little too late for the Gers to mount a successful charge this season; however, it certainly would not hurt their chances if they were to begin preparations for the next campaign.

Indeed, following another quality defensive display at the weekend, we believe it is in the club’s best interests for manager Gerrard and owner Dave King to arrange the permanent signing of Nottingham Forest loanee Joe Worrall.

Discussing Sunday’s draw against Aberdeen, Gerrard said: “I thought Joe was outstanding, it was a man-of-the-match performance and he will be a captain of whatever team he plays for.

“He is a leader and he stepped up today. It was a good corner from Ryan Kent and Joe got the contact. We need to score more from set-pieces and Joe deserves his man-of-the-match.” (source: The Scottish Sun).

It has not always been easy for Worrall this season – there have been some quite shaky games which have drawn a lot of criticism at times.

But, like with any decent player, he has shown time and time again that he can bounce back, and that is the kind of will power Rangers need if they are to overcome the mammoth challenge ahead of them.

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Loads of Crystal Palace fans have been running the rule over their defeat against Brighton, and they are not at all happy with former fan favourite Patrick van Aanholt.

As has so often been the case at Selhurst Park this season, Palace dominated Saturday’s match against the Seagulls but barely mustered a single clear-cut chance.

Roy Hodgson’s decision to start three workhorses in midfield backfired again, as superb goals from Glenn Murray and Anthony Knockaert gave the visitors all three points.

The gaffer is taking plenty of stick for his team selections at the moment, but one of the biggest problems has come in an area where he doesn’t really have other options to choose from – left-back.

Van Aanholt is a very popular figure in south London thanks to his passion for the club, ability to add goals and assists from defence, blistering speed and of course his entertaining social media presence.

However, the 28 year-old is enduring a horrific run of form, and scored just a 6.32 on Whoscored’s player rating system on Saturday.

He was way too relaxed in allowing Knockaert to cut inside onto his stronger foot and score the winner, and the Twitter reactions down below are well and truly fed up with the Dutchman…

Another day, another incorrect decision that costs points in the Championship. Nottingham Forest’s disallowed goal for offside completed a day where VAR was once again in the headlines, and it’s unbelievable how some clubs and fans think it’s not needed.

Match officials are human and they get decisions wrong just like players and everyone else does, so the more help they can get to make decisions correctly the better. Yes, Champions League and domestic cup games have shown it takes too long, but it will get quicker. The correct decision is the most important thing.

Forest were the victims on Saturday, as were Swansea, who didn’t have VAR for their FA Cup game with Manchester City because they play in the Championship. Surely, the FA are more than capable of introducing VAR in Championship grounds in the cups just like they are in the Premier League. However, teams in the top two divisions voted against its introduction at the start of this season.

There should be no sympathy for clubs that voted against the introduction and receive bad decisions, but at least their moaning will encourage them to decide otherwise at the beginning of the next campaign. Tens of millions ride on football nowadays and it’s vital referees have the opportunity to correct mistakes.

Many fans believe it kills the emotion of the game, so does that mean those people enjoy their team facing injustice and perhaps missing out on promotion or a play-off spot because of it? Those people are hypocrites and must understand the game is evolving.

Every change faces opposition, but when it’s implemented and perfected, people wonder what we did before it.

Offside was introduced, substitutions rules implemented, then we had goal-line technology, which so many people were against but now everyone knows it’s necessary. It’s important due to the magnitude of today’s game key decisions are correct. It’s as simple as that.

The Championship is not some farmers league without the importance or infrastructure required for VAR implementation. If it’s being used in Premier League grounds in the cups, it should be used in Championship grounds in the same competition.

Next season, let’s hope it’s rolled out across England’s top two divisions for good.

Forest fans, what’s your opinion on the introduction of VAR in Championship games? Join the discussion by commenting below…