All posts by n8rngtd.top

It wasn’t quite the embarrassing night of the 1986/87 season but Wolves tried their best to fluff their lines against Chorley on Friday evening.

Nuno Santo’s team have been desperately poor in recent weeks, and after their win over the National League North side have now only won three of their last 11 outings.

If anything summed up their abject performances of late it was the display they put in as they made it through to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

On paper, this was a mismatch. Wolves should have been easily out of sight given the opposition, but although they didn’t lose as they did to Chorley over 30 years ago, they were incredibly poor.

Going forward, Nuno’s side were devoid of confidence and authority. For large spells of the game, their non-league hosts looked comfortable and dare we say it, they even looked the better team.

Wolves’ only shot on target in the entire game produced the goal. It was a special one too from Vitinha who let fly from range, but beyond that, there was nothing to write home about.

The Old Gold completed just 25% of their crosses and carved out fewer goal-scoring opportunities than Chorley. A large reason behind that was the performance of Patrick Cutrone.

This was the Italian’s first start since returning from a loan spell with Fiorentina and on his big audition to Nuno, he completely failed. This was a week where Cutrone simply had to prove himself to the manager too.

Willian Jose has arrived from Real Sociedad on loan and thus, the Italy international could be heading for the exit door. After this performance, it proved why.

The striker isn’t good enough and cut an isolated figure against non-league opposition. Truth be told, Cutrone was anonymous.

He completed just 11 passes from 18 attempted, finishing with a success rate of only 61%. For context, only goalkeeper John Ruddy and substitute Adama Traore completed fewer passes in the Wolves side.

The 23-year-old’s tally of 24 touches, meanwhile, was the same as Ruddy’s and only more than Traore and another of Nuno’s substitutes in Pedro Neto.

Against opposition like Chorley, Cutrone should have run riot. Instead, his effort was minimal, registering just two attempts at goal.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-latest-wolves-news” title=”Read this week’s latest Wolves news”]

It would be extreme to call this a horror show but Nuno must be incredibly fed up of the Italian now. He has scored three goals in 27 outings for the Molineux outfit. Time and time again he has not been at the races.

Wolves need to get rid of him as soon as possible.

AND in other news, Wolves could find their dream Traore successor by landing “extremely quick” 31-cap ace…

Tottenham Hotspur advanced into the Carabao Cup semi-finals as they managed to escape an upset on Wednesday evening.

Jose Mourinho’s men made the trip to Staffordshire to face Championship outfit Stoke City and returned to north London with the prospect of being just two more victories from clinching their first piece of silverware since 2008.

Spurs superstar and fan-favourite Gareth Bale headed home an opener before Ben Davies and Harry Kane goals were needed to put them back on course following the Potters’ early second-half equaliser.

With the encounter broadcast live on Sky Sports, the commentary team handed the ‘Man of the Match’ award to Harry Winks in what was a rare start for the England international.

And whilst he quite rightly deserves some plaudits, we believe that Matt Doherty shone the most with an underrated display at right-back. He just like Winks made the most of his return to the starting XI.

Per SofaScore, the 28-year-old was heavily involved, recording a whopping 109 touches, which was only bettered by central midfielder and engine room orchestrator Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

He also accurately made 73 of 87 passing attempts, recorded two interceptions and provided one clearance.

In addition to that, the Irishman, who is valued at €50m (£45m), was strong in his battles, winning a total of eight duels, which included a win rate of 77% on aerials, and Doherty even successfully pulled off 75% of his longballs, so he was much safer than his full-back counterpart, Davies, in that sense.

The £15m addition from Wolves has been usurped by Serge Aurier in the pecking order under Mourinho in the Premier League so far this season, but with a performance like that, he is surely back on Mourinho’s radar.

He has now given the Portuguese boss an interesting conundrum ahead of Doherty’s return to Molineux on Sunday night.

Aurier has started each of their last six top-flight outings but was hooked for his horror-show against Leicester at the weekend, which is further reason to why Doherty may have raised his game tonight.

If you’re Mourinho, you’re surely not going to ignore the 6 foot 1 monster after that display, regardless of how big a headache he’s been dealt.

AND in other news, Levy can land Spurs their next Eriksen in £45m swoop for massive “goal threat”…

David Sullivan must sanction a January swoop for Burnley defender James Tarkowski amid renewed links to West Ham United.

What’s the word?

According to Eurosport, Premier League interest in Tarkowski is beginning to grow ahead of the mid-season window as the 28-year-old continues to overlook a new contract at Turf Moor.

Tarkowski has entered into the final 18-months of his current £50,000-per-week deal, but he is yet to put pen to paper, saying that the terms presented thus far have been “nowhere near what I was going to sign”.

Recent discussions between Tarkowski and the Clarets have moved the two parties closer to reaching an agreement as they strive to secure continuity to protect the club’s Premier League stability amid a potential takeover of the Lancashire outfit.

But West Ham, who saw a £30m offer turned down in the summer, and Leicester City, who also bid £30m, are now said to be joined by growing top-flight interest in the star centre-back who Burnley valued at £50m ahead of the current season.

Manchester United were understood to have also assessed the merits of a move for Tarkowski, who Irons legend Frank McAvennie believed would have been “perfect” for his former side in the summer.

Tarkowski ultimately remained at Turf Moor and has started all 11 of his Premier League outings, helping Sean Dyche’s side to keep five clean sheets as they battle to avoid relegation.

Winter rescue

West Ham will head into Christmas sat middle of the pack having held one of the top-flight’s better defensive records thus far, with Moyes’ men allowing the same number of goals (19) over 14 games as title-holders Liverpool and European chasers Everton.

Moyes has rarely sought to make changes to his backline with Angelo Ogbonna starting all of the Hammers’ Premier League fixtures to date, while Fabian Balbuena has missed just one of his side’s last 12 through a groin injury.

Issa Diop returned to the XI to replace Balbuena, yet he has seemingly lost Moyes’ full support with the 23-year-old returning to the bench at Chelsea, where he had watched the action for all bar 27 minutes since testing positive for coronavirus in September before facing Crystal Palace.

Moyes seemingly has a lack of belief in Craig Dawson too, who is yet to make his West Ham debut, but any concerns over a lack of depth can be removed entirely with a winter raid on Burnley for Tarkowski, who the former Man United boss would adore.

The 6ft brute is registering 2.1 successful tackles per Premier League appearance this term – only Vladimir Coufal (3.0) is winning more at the London Stadium – while penning 1.2 interceptions, 4.4 clearances and winning a mammoth 7.2 duels, with success in 70% of his aerial contests, per SofaScore.

Tarkowski is only dribbled past 0.4 times a game, too, while offering a threat in the opponent’s box with 1.8 shots and 0.4 key balls, allowing for West Ham to improve their already-stellar record for scoring from set-pieces with only Chelsea, Southampton and Everton netting more often.

AND in other news, West Ham are monitoring a £20k-p/w talent to resolve David Moyes’ “big” blow.

Lots of Manchester United fans have been slamming the news that Amad Diallo still needs a work permit in order to play for the club.

According to Manchester Evening News, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team are still very much in the process of securing a work permit for the 18 year-old ahead of his scheduled move to the Old Trafford faithful in the January transfer window.

Diallo has shown the Man United fans what he is all about in training footage while on loan at Atalanta, and it seems as if he could be an exciting addition to the side for the rest of the 2020/21 term.

However, if a work permit is not sorted for him in time, then the winger will likely not be able to play for his new club this season.

Manchester United fan reaction to Diallo news

These Red Devils slammed the news about Diallo after reading about it on Twitter, with one Man Utd supporter even claiming that it is a ‘joke’:

In other news, find out which global star MUFC are interested in signing here!

Whilst Ademola Lookman may the focal point of a lot of Fulham fans’ anger following his failed panenka penalty attempt in Saturday’s defeat against West Ham, Antonee Robinson should not escape criticism for his disappointing display.

The left-back, who was signed from Wigan Athletic during the recent summer transfer window, made just his fifth appearance in the Premier League at the London Stadium but struggled throughout the game.

As per SofaScore, the USA international picked up a disappointing 6.6 rating for his display, managing to lose possession an extraordinary 26 times, which was the most of any Fulham player on the night.

Although the 23-year-old won five out of nine of his ground duels, and both of his aerial duels in the match, it was his attacking play that seemingly let him down as he completed just 31 out of 45 of his passes.

Scott Parker was clearly angry with Lookman after his penalty miss cost the Cottagers a point on Saturday but looking at Robinson’s stats, he will surely be frustrated that his left-back was so profligate with the ball.

The young defender has been one of Parker’s better players in the Premier League thus far, having averaged a 6.94 rating across his five appearances, which rates him as their fourth-best player in the top-flight so far this season (per WhoScored).

Therefore, it would perhaps be unfair to criticise the summer signing too much for his performance against the Hammers, as his overall performances since joining have been fairly impressive.

However, he will surely need to work on his passing in particular and ensure that he doesn’t lose possession as much if he is going to keep his place in Parker’s side going forward.

It will be interesting to see if the USA international keeps his place for Fulham’s next game against Everton following the international break.

Arsenal appear to only be eyeing one move before tonight’s deadline and that is a swoop for long-time target, Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey.

According to Goal.com’s Charles Watts, the Gunners are making a late bid for the 27-year-old and are now willing to meet his £45m release clause.

He claims that representatives from the north London outfit have been at London Colney today to try and thrash out the last-gasp deal with La Liga possessing the player’s rights.

However, even if Edu Gaspar lands the midfield enforcer, he’s making a simply unforgivable error by not also pushing for Lyon sensation Houssem Aouar.

Arsenal have had several bids for the French playmaker rejected with the club falling short of Jean-Michel Aulas’ £55m valuation each time, per Football.London.

Now the 22-year-old is set to remain at the Ligue 1 outfit and should he have another outstanding campaign in France, then his worth will not only increase but other suitors will be attracted by his signature.

Across the Champions League and the French top-flight, Aouar delivered four goals and eight assists whilst averaging 1.2 key passes, 1.5 shots and 3.5 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi is a huge fan of the Lyon ace, he once said: “He is always calm with the ball at his feet with an excellent technical quality” whilst Football Whispers claim he’s a got a “touch of David Silva about his play.”

This is merely backed up by Smarter Scout, who label Aouar a “prolific dribbler,” “skilful,” and a “very good finisher.” He’s an all-round dream to fill that Mesut Ozil void in Mikel Arteta’s system.

Former Spurs legend David Ginola can even see it, dubbing the young sensation as the “best replacement” for the costly German and even claimed that he’s the “type of player Arsenal fans would love” when speaking to Sky Sports this morning.

Edu should be put under pressure if he fails to see a move for the impressive wizard one over the line this window.

AND in other news, 20 Bargains For Your Fantasy Premier League Team…

Everton’s transfer window has hit a rapid incline after signing both Allan and James Rodriguez in quick succession.

Whilst Carlo Ancelotti showcases his pedigree in the transfer market, the Toffees’ business has dealt a blow to Chelsea.

According to The Telegraph, Everton were on course to sign Blues castaway Tiemoue Bakayoko before the long-awaited deal for Allan was announced.

The Brazilian midfielder became Everton’s first signing of the summer window after joining from Napoli for £21.7m (via BBC Sport).

Allan had been linked to the Merseyside outfit for months and some fans were losing hope in him making the switch from Italy. As a back-up option, Ancelotti was keen on fellow midfielder Bakayoko, who has been left on the shelf under Frank Lampard.

The Frenchman has a Transfermarkt value of £22.9m and could have yielded a decent fee to fund Frank Lampard’s lavish summer spending. Having not made an appearance for Chelsea since 2018, Bakayoko is a player that the west Londoners would have benefitted from offloading in this window.

Whilst money hasn’t been a problem for the Blues, Roman Abramovich still wants to see Lampard balance the books amid an impressive haul of new recruits.

The likes of N’Golo Kante and Michy Batshuayi could be leaving the club ahead of the new season, despite both still arguably being beneficial to the team. However, for a surplus player like Bakayoko, Chelsea will be frustrated that the opportunity to cash in has wriggled away from them.

They must now shift into a higher gear in order to offload some of their castaway players to make back some of their outgoing transfer fees.

Do you think Chelsea should push to sell Tiemoue Bakayoko? Join the conversation in the comments below…

Aston Villa could be about to solve one of their biggest issues and it involves swooping back into the Championship for another potential star…

What’s the word?

According to Italian journalist Gianluigi Longari, the Midlands outfit are in talks with Bristol City over a deal for their winger Niclas Eliasson.

The 24-year-old is entering the final year of his contract at Ashton Gate and has previously been linked with a big move to Scottish champions Celtic, who reportedly had a ‘substantial’ bid rejected during the January transfer window.

Meanwhile, BristolLive claim that a sale “seems almost inevitable” this summer.

Assist-king on the wing

A new winger certainly seems to be high on the agenda for Dean Smith with Premier League action only two weeks away, and dipping back into the English game would certainly help the player’s availability for the return as they may not have to quarantine.

Not only that, but Eliasson could also fulfil a massive gap in Villa’s side.

Aside from talismanic skipper Jack Grealish, the likes of Anwar El Ghazi, Trezeguet and Jota only combined for a total of six assists all season, thus displaying a lack of creativity.

Well, that’s where the young Swede comes in after he doubled that total on his own, providing a whopping 12 assists in just 18 Championship starts. He also netted three goals and averaged 1.7 crosses, 1.5 key passes and 1.2 dribbles, as per WhoScored.

Only Ahmed Elmohamady comes close for deliveries, managing just 1.1 per game last term.

The PFSA go onto laud his crossing ability further and also mention his “crafty movement” as another key asset to his game, and with Eliasson able to play on either wing due to his two-footed nature, he’d certainly be a welcome threat at Villa Park.

According to his old manager Lee Johnson, the 24-year-old is “one of the best” in the division, so Johan Lange should absolutely press ahead with a move for the £3.6m-rated enigma.

AND in other news, Villa move for “unbelievable” PL flop would be shades of Scott Sinclair…

Daniel Levy has reached out to Tanguy Ndombele’s agent to try and resolve the tension with Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho.

Spurs slumped to a disappointing defeat to Sheffield United last week, although Ndombele finally got some minutes under his belt. The Frenchman was called into action to replace Serge Aurier as Spurs trailed the Blades 2-0 at the time.

Ndombele, who is the club’s record signing, has a strained relationship with Mourinho and tensions between the two have been well-documented over the course of the season so far, as per Football Insider. According to The Athletic, neither side understands the other, and the Frenchman has angrily reacted to Mourinho’s offer to train together.

L’Equipe has now reported, as per @LastWordOnSpurs, that Levy has personally made contact with Ndombele’s representatives as he is keen to find a solution to the problem.

Mourinho has never been one to back down from a confrontation, as he has developed a reputation for losing control of a dressing room on multiple occasions, while the 23-year-old seems to have followed a similar path to Paul Pogba.

As it stands, everybody is refusing to budge, and Levy is trying to bridge the gap between the two sides. Ndombele is clearly a talented player, which makes the situation even harder to understand.

The French international, who has been compared to his countryman N’Golo Kante, has shown supporters what he can do in the Champions League. He has made six appearances for Spurs in the European competition, supplying two assists, making 1.7 tackles per game, averaging one interception and completing 1.3 key passes per game on average (via WhoScored).

The trouble is, his standout domestic performances have been few and far between, which explains why Mourinho has been reluctant to use him since the Premier League restarted. However, the manager was crying out for some creativity in the midfield as Spurs struggled against the Blades, but he only gave Ndombele 19 minutes in the end.

The Frenchman, who is currently valued at £46m by Transfermarkt, seems to have grown frustrated by a lack of minutes and could possibly push for a move if he does not get his own way.

Moreover, Levy’s last-minute intervention may not be enough, as Barcelona have been in regular discussion with his agent over a potential move in the summer.

Tottenham fans, do you think Mourinho should give Tanguy Ndombele another chance to prove his worth at Spurs? Let us know in the comments below!

It didn’t take long for Leeds United to do their first bit of transfer business after their Premier League status was confirmed as the ever-reliable Phil Hay reported that the Whites will be keeping Jack Harrison on loan for a third season, with their option to buy the winger for £8m rolling over to next summer.

It had been reported that Harrison was likely to join Leeds permanently this summer, but it seems as though that is no longer the case.

It’s hard to call this anything other than a good bit of business though, and fans were thoroughly pleased with this news.

Harrison has been fantastic this term, leading the Whites’ assist charts, but despite his good form, he’s still never played in the Premier League level, so having another year to analyse him in the top-flight, while still having the option to keep him on beyond that is a wise move.

Supporters on Twitter seemed to believe this was a canny piece of business, and when you consider everything it does seem like a no-lose situation.

Other supporters were excited about the fact that keeping Harrison on loan for another year frees up another £8m to be spent this summer, and with the likes of Said Benrahma being linked and a potential permanent deal for Ben White still on the cards, you can understand why a bit of extra cash has fans pleased.

Of course, it remains to be seen what Leeds do with the money, but the idea of bringing in new players is always exciting.