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Arsenal are amongst a number of clubs who are ready to scrap the early end of the Premier League transfer window, according to The Sun.

What’s the story?

The Premier League took the decision to end the transfer window before the start of the season in 2017, with the summer of 2018 being the first to see the effects of the change.

Whilst this has forced English clubs to have their houses in order before the beginning of the campaign, it has given an advantage to the rest of the sides in Europe.

As such, it is being reported that there are several outfits who want to see the idea scrapped. Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham are all said to be in agreement, although Chelsea believe that the new regulations should stay in place.

“They have the bigger mentality” – Spurs fans come to blows after the North London Derby in the video below…

Surprising after a successful window

On the face it, having more time to bring in new faces should be a no-brainer. It eliminates competition for the top European forces in regards to players also targeted by the Premier League.

However, it is surprising that Arsenal would back a return to the old system after a strong transfer window. The Gunners have addressed some key areas by bringing in David Luiz at centre-back and Kieran Tierney at left-back, whilst Dani Ceballos and Nicolas Pepe are big-name, quality players who should bring a lot to Unai Emery’s squad.

In the past, they have made a habit of signing players at the last-minute that have not worked out. Danny Welbeck, Lucas Perez and Andre Santos are three key examples. This time around though, they did good business early and, although Tierney was signed on the final day, he had been on the radar of the north London team for the whole summer. Luiz was a little last-minute, and it remains to be seen how he gets on, but he does bring a wealth of experience.

The Gunners were also able to get rid of a lot of deadwood, with 15 players departing – in short, it is hard to remember the last time Arsenal had such a good window, using both the period in which they could buy players and the remaining European window to good effect.

Bringing back the old deadline could see the return of some old habits, such as feeling confident in having so much time to get things done and dragging deals out over the first few weeks of the season. For Arsenal, the change has been a blessing in disguise, but it seems the club doesn’t wholly appreciate that as they seek a return to former regulations.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking to Football Insider, Danny Mills has revealed he worries for Newcastle this season due to their lack of goals.

What did he say?

The Magpies currently find themselves in 14th in the Premier League table after picking up just one win from their opening four games of the season.

Now, Mills has suggested the Tyneside club’s lack of legitimate goal-scoring options could lead them to have a “tough” campaign.

Watch Newcastle United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He said: “No, no. I worry for them, I worry for Newcastle. I look around and I know they had the good win but where are these performances going to come from week in, week out. Where are the goals going to come from? I think it’s going to be another long, hard, tough season for them.”

Cohesion

After a rough start to the campaign against Arsenal and Norwich, Steve Bruce’s side pulled off a shock victory away at Tottenham. The performance and result spoke of what Newcastle could potentially achieve this season if they fully applied themselves and stuck to a game-plan.

Club-record signing Joelinton has shown glimpses of what he has to offer with his strong hold-up play and sheer physical presence. Last season however, the Brazilian bagged himself 11 goals at Hoffenheim – not the numbers of a prolific striker.

But his nine assists across all competitions shows he also has a selfless side to his game, and that will only benefit the likes of Miguel Almiron and Christian Atsu.

Both Joelinton and Almiron only arrived this calendar year and it is difficult to expect them to be firing on all cylinders so soon into their Premier League careers. But, if they can form a partnership together, they can no doubt allay some of the concerns Mills has.

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West Ham United are looking to record a fourth successive win in all competitions when they face Aston Villa at Villa Park on Monday night.

With everyone else already playing, the Irons know that they will jump into third position should they bring the three points back to east London, and would subsequently only sit behind Manchester City on goal difference.

Manager Manuel Pellegrini could name an unchanged side for the third Premier League match running, but he would be wise to make at least one change.

Here’s the starting XI we think the Chilean should select against Dean Smith’s men…

When it comes to his back five and with no new injury problems to report, it makes sense for Pellegrini to continue with the players that are serving him so well right now – Lukasz Fabianski between the sticks, Ryan Fredericks and Arthur Masuaku at full-back, and Angelo Ogbonna partnering Issa Diop at the heart of the defence.

The latter duo will be looking to stop the physical threat of Wesley, who has made a decent enough start to his Villa career with one goal in four outings.

One of the Midlands outfit’s main strengths appears to be in the centre of the park where they have the likes of John McGinn, Douglas Luiz and Jack Grealish, and it is an area which already looks as though it could be an interesting one when you bring Declan Rice and Mark Noble into the equation, too.

Pellegrini should bring in another battling player in Carlos Sanchez into the middle for his first Premier League start since September 2018, in order to win that important battle.

That means that Manuel Lanzini moves into a wide position in attack with Felipe Anderson and Sebastien Haller, with Andriy Yarmolenko the man to drop out.

That may seem harsh given the Ukraine international scored against Norwich last time out, but having only recently returned from a serious injury it is also sensible not to push him too hard at this early stage of the campaign.

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According to Football Insider, former Scotland international Alan Hutton has revealed he could have re-signed for former club Rangers a few years ago.

What’s the story?

Hutton, now 34, is currently without a club having been released by Aston Villa upon their promotion to the Premier League. After turning down several English sides, the marauding full-back is now contemplating retirement, stating that he’d find it difficult to join a Scottish club other than Rangers.

He told Football Insider: “Not so much but I find it tough to go back to Scotland. Rangers is my team, I came through at Rangers and I just think to go anywhere else would be really difficult for me and I don’t think I would want to.

“Maybe a few years ago there was a chance at Rangers but again it’s probably a position that they’re not in a hurry to fill.”

Of course, Hutton’s regular right-back berth is currently occupied by captain James Tavernier, who ended last season with 17 goals and 20 assists across all competitions. But when asked whether he could rival Tavernier for a place in the side, Hutton cheekily replied: “I don’t see why not, I don’t see why not.”

Watch Rangers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Would a nostalgic return have been worthwhile?

The Alan Hutton of 2007/8 was the very definition of the modern full-back – aggressive, powerful and forward-thinking. His performances earned him a £9m move to Tottenham Hotspur and the Premier League where he would go on to make over 150 appearances with Spurs and Villa.

However, Hutton never quite hit the heights expected in English football. He never made more than 14 appearances in a single Premier League season for Tottenham and registered just seven assists in total from his top flight spells with the Lilywhites and Villa.

While the former Scotland man wasn’t too specific about when he could’ve returned to Ibrox, there’s also the small matter of the aforementioned Tavernier. He joined Rangers four years ago and has flourished in Glasgow, earning the captain’s armband while contributing to more than one Rangers goal every two games.

For all the nostalgia of having Hutton back at Ibrox, that scenario could well have prevented Tavernier from becoming the crucial creative force he is today, while Rangers could currently be stuck with a 34-year-old full-back rather than a 27-year-old about to enter his prime years.

Maybe it’s for the best then that Hutton’s homecoming never came off.

Today’s West Ham United roundup takes a look at the latest news surrounding the Hammers. Fans will be happy about Manchester United’s injury crisis, the club are monitoring Jack Clarke’s situation, and Winston Reid is on the comeback trail.

Man Utd injury disaster ahead of Sunday

Report: As per ESPN, Man United are set to be without Paul Pogba, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial for their trip to the London Stadium on Sunday. All three have missed the last two games, with Shaw’s hamstring injury keeping him out, whilst the French stars have not yet returned to training.

Verdict: This can only be good news for West Ham. Pogba, despite his poor form, continues to be United’s main creative output bagging two assists in the four games thus far, just as Martial has netted twice and provided one assist in the three games he has played.

Ashley Young is expected to come in for the injured Shaw at left-back, which may play in the Hammers’ favour. Young has been a weak link in United’s side over the past year, and the 34-year-old has averaged just 0.3 tackles per game in his three Premier League outings this season.

Club ready to pounce on Clarke

Report: As reported by the Express, Tottenham Hotspur are poised to bring back Jack Clarke, who is on loan at Leeds United, with the Lilywhites set to immediately loan him back out. West Ham, amongst other Premier League sides, are keeping a close eye on the 18-year-old’s unhappy time with the Yorkshire club and are ready to pounce should he become available.

Verdict: Clarke burst onto the scene last season with Leeds winning the Young Player of the Year after bagging two goals and four assists in 22 Championship appearances. The teenager has returned to Elland Road on loan this season having signed for Spurs on a permanent basis, although, he has not yet been involved in a squad for a Championship fixture and has appeared just twice for the Whites in the League Cup.

Clarke may not boast the best goalscoring record as of now, but at 18, winning the Young Player of the Year for Leeds is both prestigious and proof of how important he can be. Indeed, the Hammers are certainly not lacking firepower on the wings this year, with Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko both starting the season in great form. However, Clarke could certainly come in as an alternative.

Reid set for U23’s test

Report: As reported by the Evening Standard, centre-back Winston Reid is set to play for the Under-23s as he steps up the recovery from a knee injury. The 31-year-old has been out of action since March 2018.

Verdict: Reid would be a welcomed addition back in the West Ham squad after he proved his importance time and again for the Hammers prior to his injury. Since 2012-13, when Reid became a regular at the back, he has averaged a performance rating of a 7 or above, and also won the Hammer of the Year in 12-13.

Despite Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna building a decent partnership this season, the New Zealander will certainly come back into the setup and provide admirable backup if one of them were to be sidelined.

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Newcastle may have been thrashed 5-0 by Leicester on Sunday afternoon, but that hasn’t stopped the Manchester United doomsdayers from tipping the Red Devils to lose to them this coming weekend.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have hardly set the world alight this season, and have seen their troubles compounded by injuries to key players in important positions.

Wherever things could go wrong, they have gone wrong. United’s decision to let go of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez certainly raised the ire of the Old Trafford faithful, and subsequent injuries to the likes of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have just made things worse.

After their clash against Arsenal on Monday night, the Red Devils take on Steve Bruce’s Newcastle – a side languishing in 19th in the Premier League table.

Despite the Magpies’ lowly position however, United fans took to Twitter to reveal they know a defeat to the Tyneside club is going to be inevitable now.

Some supporters of the Manchester side even suggested Bruce’s men would turn into “prime Barcelona” or “prime Milan” and completely destroy them.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

Some Tottenham Hotspur fans have used Erik Lamela to destroy Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe following his latest display in the 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Monday night.

The summer signing from Lille started alongside Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in attack at Old Trafford, but he failed to make much of an impact in the final third.

According to SofaScore, he lost possession for the Gunners on 17 occasions, and it was seemingly something that didn’t go unnoticed by supporters of their arch-rivals watching the match.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Lamela has largely always divided opinion among the Spurs faithful, although he has been a more regular part of the starting XI this season when Son Heung-min was suspended and with Dele Alli suffering with injury issues, starting six of their seven Premier League fixtures to date.

However, it still appears that the following fans still don’t think really highly of him, even if they appear to ultimately be saying that they’d rather have him than the £72m Ivorian.

While one individual said “Pepe makes Lamela look world class”, another said “honestly think I’d prefer Lamela over Pepe”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp has said that he does not see himself becoming the head coach of the club in the future.

What’s the word?

Bergkamp, 50, is recognised as one of the Gunners’ greatest ever players after a career in north London that lasted 11 years, following his move from Inter Milan in 1995 for £7.5m.

The Dutchman hung up his boots in 2006 after the north London outfit’s last ever match at the iconic Highbury Stadium, where he scored 108 goals in 401 appearances with 71 assists.

Speaking on Ian Wright’s YouTube channel, Bergkamp spoke about his ambitions to return to the club as part of the backroom staff but insisted that he is content in his homeland for the time being.

Quoted by Football London, Bergkamp said: “At the moment it’s a bit difficult family-wise, I’ve still got a young family.

“We’re settled here [Holland] but as the kids move on they’ve got their own plan of course in life and once that happens, I would love to return to coaching and especially in an academy, or even part of the first team, that sort of role.

“I don’t see myself as a head coach, I enjoy being part of the staff, technical staff, training staff, but not really being the main man.”

High-pressure job

The former Ajax maestro has left an eternal legacy in football which has echoed around the world and any risk of tarnishing that would be detrimental to the former Ajax academy coach.

Indeed, Arsene Wenger was the subject of “Wenger out” chants for years, with signs even spotted as far afield as Wrestlemania in the United States.

Having worked as an assistant at Ajax, Bergkamp has not faced intense scrutiny in his coaching career thus far.

And with the Gunners legend still within the infancy of his time out of the game, the Arsenal manager’s job is unlikely to land in his lap any time soon.

However, it is vital that the Dutchman recognises his comfort zone in coaching and continues to build the foundations efficiently to progress to more lucrative roles in the future.

Perhaps he could have chosen his words a little differently.

Speaking after the game, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa spoke about how even though the scoreline might not reflect it, his side were the better team on the day:

“Each time we lose always I find few logical reasons to justify it. For me, it’s always a shame to explain why we lost. I think with 10 men we were better than them.”

Leeds fans were not having any of it, however.

They tore into the Argentinian for his comments, with many of them placing the blame for the defeat at his feet rather than that of the referee for sending off Gaetano Berardi in the first half.

One fan was annoyed with Bielsa’s excuses while he was also branded a lier by a further supporter. Another individual took issue with the possession-based game the Argentine insists on playing.

It’s been no secret that Leeds have struggled to put teams away this year either.

Even in victory, there have been occasions where they have multiple chances but only manage to get the one goal, such as the game against West Bromwich Albion, so these outbursts aren’t simply as a result of the loss to Millwall.

This sort of response has been coming for a long time, especially considering some of the angst he’s already taken in recent times.

Here’s what fans have been saying most recently.

In a disappointing display on Friday night, England slipped to a surprising 2-1 defeat away to the Czech Republic in EURO 2020 qualifying action.

Gareth Southgate’s men took an early lead through a Harry Kane penalty, but from then on, it was the home side that dominated proceedings. By the end of the match, the Czech Republic had fired off 17 shots on goal, compared to the Three Lions’ paltry seven.

One man who had a particularly poor outing was Everton’s Michael Keane, with the centre-back seemingly at fault for the equaliser. As well as that error, the 26-year-old lost possession 15 times over the course of the game – the joint-second highest of any England player on the pitch.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

After seeing his display, England fans flooded to Twitter to vent their frustrations with the Toffees defender.

Many Three Lions supporters slammed his performance, and one in particular simply labelled him as “utter garbage”.

Some fans insisted Keane should be nowhere near the England set-up, and questioned how Southgate could even consider him to be a starting calibre centre-back.

Check out some of the reaction of England fans below: