All posts by z3u9t.icu

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who made 561 appearances for Wolves, claims the way Wolves frequently start games slowly does his head in but saw them back to their old best against Liverpool.

Bull was delighted to see his former club performing at their best for 90 minutes against the champions, however he knows this needs to be the standard for the remainder of the season after a campaign of starting slow and finishing fast.

The Wolves legend claims that when the side starts slowly it does his and thousands of other fans’ heads in, because of the way they then see their team finish games at full speed.

Speaking on how much it has annoyed him this season and how happy he was with the performance against Liverpool, Bull told FFC exclusively:

“It does my head in just like it does 30,000 Wolves fans’ heads in because when they finish a game they’re like a steam train.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/exclusive-andreas-sondergaard-wolves-premier-league” title=”Exclusive! Andreas Sondergaard talks all things Wolves”]

“I saw a glimpse against Liverpool. I thought it was the old Wolves and it was two teams going toe-to-toe. Wolves came firing out the blocks from the first whistle to the very last whistle.

“How we got nothing out of that game was unbelievable. It was like watching the old Wolves which I haven’t seen for a long time.”

Wolves have had an indifferent season as they’ve failed to adapt after losing Raul Jimenez to injury last year, as well as Diogo Jota who joined Liverpool in the summer, with the latter subsequently scoring the winner last time out.

The Midlands side find themselves languishing in the bottom half of the table nine points ahead of the relegation zone, as they enter the final 10 games of the season with little to play for.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 99 appearances for Manchester City, believes that if Pep Guardiola decides to sign Erling Haaland, it will be the end for other teams being competitive in the Premier League for a few years.

Man City are on course to win the Premier League without a striker being their top scorer, the first time a team has done that since Yaya Toure finished top scorer for City in the 2013/14 season with 20 goals.

Haaland has continued to impress with every passing game in both the Bundesliga and Champions League. He became the youngest and fastest player to reach 20 goals after it took him just 14 games.

Speaking on why Haaland moving to the Etihad would make City too good for other teams to compete but admits City may not need a striker, Howey told FFC:

“I think if Man City get Erling Haaland it’s game over, we can forget about the Premier League for another few years.

“Sometimes I don’t think Pep plays with a traditional centre forward, he never really did when he was at Barcelona.

“He’s always trying to be inventive in terms of how to change things so it’ll be interesting to see who he is possibly looking at this summer.”

Man City have been linked with a move fpr both Haaland and Harry Kane this summer as they look to plug the hole which Sergio Aguero will be leaving this summer, after his future exit was announced this week.

It is midfielder Ilkay Gundogan who is City’s top scorer this season with 16 goals, as well as back-to-back player of the month awards in January and February respectively.

Former Sheffield United striker Marcus Bent has told The Transfer Tavern that John Terry ought to consider taking the vacant job at Bramall Lane.

The ex-Chelsea defender has been touted as a candidate for the job, with Chris Wilder having left earlier this season.

The Daily Mirror reported earlier this month that the Blades have placed Terry on a shortlist of potential appointments as they look to find a replacement for Wilder.

The 40-year-old is currently working with Aston Villa as Dean Smith’s assistant and Sheffield United are said to be attracted by the experience he has gained at Villa Park.

Barring a genuine miracle, it is inevitable that the club will be playing in the Championship next season – they have 14 points to their name and are currently 18 points off safety with just seven games of the season remaining.

And Bent believes that Terry would enjoy the challenge of bringing the club back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Speaking exclusively to TIF, the former striker, who had two spells at Bramall Lane as a player, said: “For John to go in, in the Championship, I think that’d be good for John.

“Not being as experienced a manager as a player that he is, but I think the respect for John would be massive if he did go in there.”

Still, Bent is wary of whether or not Terry would be given the requisite funds to improve the squad, and wonders whether there will be an exodus of players looking to retain their personal top-flight status.

He added: “Will he have money to spend? Will there be players going out from Sheffield United? There’s some good players at Sheffield United, I’m quite bemused, I’m quite sad about that because last year they were doing so well.

“Whether the whole squad gets depleted and moves to other teams, I’m not too sure, I don’t know about the contract situations, but John going in there would be a good move for him, especially at Sheffield United, because they’re a very big club, within Sheffield, to go and learn his career as a manager there.”

Arsenal could sign a potential Granit Xhaka upgrade in Sheffield United midfielder Sander Berge.

What’s the story?

The Blades are currently bottom of the Premier League table and look nailed-on favourites to be relegated back to the Championship at the end of the season.

Jeunes Footeux have now claimed that both Arsenal and north London rivals Tottenham are keen to take advantage of that possible situation with a potential move for Berge.

The report claims that both clubs are “on alert” over the Norway international’s potential availability this summer and that Sheffield United are ready to let him leave for a fee of around €26m (£22m).

Potential Xhaka upgrade

Speaking after his mistake against Tottenham earlier this season, Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness slammed Xhaka, saying: “Big players, leaders, don’t allow that to happen on the football pitch.

“As a central midfield player, as a holding central midfield player – I don’t know what Xhaka is, it’s been about six or seven years and I’m not quite sure what he is – the alarm bells are ringing.”

Those errors and mistakes have been something which has plagued Xhaka throughout his Arsenal career – even this season, he has had two errors leading directly to goals, including that shocking one against Burnley last week.

In Berge, they would be getting someone who appears to be a lot more reliable (no errors leading to goals or even a shot this season), and a bit more dominant in terms of his presence.

Former Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder said: “Sander has been unique. He is the one who has stood out for us. He is a complete midfielder. He can play as 8s and as 6s. He can play in different formations. The wonderful thing about Sander is his attitude.

“Complete midfielders are like that. Look at Jordan Henderson (FWA’s Footballer of the Year last season). Sander should gain enormous confidence that he can play so well in various positions in the Premier League.”

When you compare some key stats between Xhaka and Berge, the Norwegian actually comes out better in many cases. He averages more shots, dribbles and key passes per game in the Premier League this campaign, while defensively he also seems to be a lot more of an anchor. He wins back possession more, gets dribbled past half as often as the Swiss man and commits far fewer fouls. In essence, the way Berge defends is that he’s just as aggressive, but isn’t prone to the same mistakes made in transition.

With Thomas Partey nailed on as one of the starters in Mikel Arteta’s midfield given his big-money arrival from Atletico Madrid last summer, Berge could well be the man to partner him come next season. Edu could sign a real upgrade for the Gunners in the Sheffield United powerhouse.

Meanwhile, Arsenal should unleash this young talent next season…

After securing their second successive win in the Premier League last weekend, Leeds United are beginning to pick up a bit of momentum again.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side followed up their first victory of 2021, against Newcastle, with a superb 3-1 victory away at top-four chasing Leicester City.

The Whites are back in Premier League action tonight when they take on Everton at Elland Road, and Bielsa has some major injury concerns heading into the game.

Below is a look at how Leeds might line up when Carlo Ancelotti’s side come to town on Wednesday night.

The back-five should remain unchanged, with the Whites, of course, still without summer signing Diego Llorente, whose career at Elland Road is yet to take off after some rotten luck with injuries.

The one enforced change that Bielsa has already confirmed will have to be made comes further forward, with Rodrigo ruled out after being substituted early on in the clash against the Foxes with an injury.

That could see the return of Mateusz Klich into the engine room, whilst there is also a doubt over winger Raphinha. If the Brazilian doesn’t make it, the £10.8m-rated Helder Costa could come into the side.

And up top, Patrick Bamford also has an asterisk next to his name, with the English ace suffering a suspected dead leg, Again, if he isn’t able to pass a late fitness check, Tyler Roberts could well get the nod to play.

Predicted XI: Meslier; Ayling, Struijk, Cooper, Alioski; Phillips, Klich, Dallas, Costa, Harrison; Roberts.

Meanwhile, Bielsa has confirmed a huge Leeds United blow ahead of the clash against Everton…

David Moyes risks making an instant U-turn on his February statement amid claims that West Ham United are not resistant to signing Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham this summer.

What’s the word?

According to Claret & Hugh, the Hammers will push on with plans to sign Abraham at the end of the season should the Stamford Bridge natives make the forward available for a move.

That’s despite concerns that the England international’s £80,000-per-week contract could cause some tension in the London Stadium dressing room, where Spotrac figures show only Andriy Yarmolenko (£115k-p/w) and Jarrod Bowen (£96k-p/w) currently earn more.

Abraham is also expected to be a point of focus for Southampton in the summer after the Saints joined the Irons in lodging preliminary inquiries, while the striker weighs up his options amid doubt in a long-term future in south-west London.

Reports by The Athletic have suggested that the 23-year-old has no interest in discussing a new deal with Thomas Tuchel’s side all the while the Blues consider a move to sign Borussia Dortmund star Erling Braut Haaland.

Chelsea would also consider Abraham – who has desires to lead the line for a club and England regularly – as their best route to securing the largest fee, with Olivier Giroud out of contract in June and Timo Werner unlikely to be on the move.

It has also been claimed by Eurosport that Abraham is ready to consider leaving Stamford Bridge, where the six-cap centre-forward feels he should be earning closer to £120k-p/w after Callum Hudson-Odoi landed a deal signed in 2019.

Should West Ham sign Abraham?

There should be little doubt in what sort of impact Abraham can bring to the London Stadium if Moyes opts to pursue the striker as Sebastien Haller’s replacement, with the Chelsea ace currently the top-scorer at Stamford Bridge with 12-goals in all competitions.

Even despite his output, former Hammers star Trevor Sinclair believes Abraham is not valued highly enough in south west London, as the forward is good enough to play for almost any side in the Premier League.

“I think he is so undervalued at Chelsea,” Sinclair told talkSPORT. “I can’t understand why he doesn’t get in ahead of the likes of Werner, [Kai] Havertz, or Giroud even.

“For me, I think Man City take him, Arsenal would take him, West Ham would take him, Leicester City to have with [Jamie] Vardy. That list of teams would have him in a heartbeat.”

But West Ham agreeing to make Abraham the best-paid player in claret and blue would see Moyes risk making an instant U-turn on his intent to do things differently to how the Irons have operated in previous markets.

“We had money to spend, we sold Seb earlier in the window, so we had that, but we are trying to do things different at West Ham. We’re not going to follow the same path we have been following before,” Moyes said, via quotes by TEAMtalk last month. “I chose to keep my money and hopefully, we can start another rebuild come the summertime.”

Haller became West Ham’s top-earner on a £115k-p/w deal upon his club-record £45m arrival in 2019, but flopped drastically before being sold in January for £20m with just 10 goals in 48 Premier League games of which he started 34.

The Irons and Moyes will no doubt be keen to avoid a repeat situation by naming Abraham as their new best-paid player, but can take confidence in his 21 goals in 54 top-flight games since the start of last season.

AND in other news, West Ham have been dealt a huge blow with a David Moyes favourite ruled out until mid-April…

Everton face competition from some of their rivals in the Premier League to sign Mattias Svanberg, according to Il Resto del Carlino (via Sport Witness).

As per the news outlet, the Goodison Park faithful have joined the race to sign the Bologna talent, whose value stands at around €15m (£12.8m) along with Southampton, Brighton and Hove Albion and Burnley.

The Merseyside club have reportedly appeared on the scene in the ‘last few hours’, making their interest firmly known to the Serie A club.

Svanberg’s current deal in Italy expires in June 2023 and Bologna are trying to get the central midfield player to sign a new one, but a new contract has not yet been agreed and thus his agent is looking elsewhere to see if there is any concrete interest in a transfer.

The teams mentioned in the piece, including Carlo Ancelotti’s side, would all be able to offer him a bigger wage, and so it may be possible for a deal to happen in the upcoming summer transfer window.

Everton should sign Svanberg

The Toffees should look to sign Svanberg in order to boost their current options in midfield for the start of the 2021/22 term.

The Sweden international has been lauded by his country compatriot and footballing legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic recently, with the big striker reportedly advising AC Milan to buy him instead.

At just 22 years of age, Svanberg still has a lot of potential, and could certainly grow into a top, top player at the Blues.

In other news, find out what injury to one EFC ace before Manchester City has been bemoaned by fans here!

West Brom could be about to fill a long-standing void, if latest reports are to be believed…

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mail, the Baggies are one of several teams eyeing up a move for Crystal Palace midfielder James McCarthy as the Irishman is out of contract in the summer.

The Eagles are yet to begin talks over an extension, so he could be free to leave Selhurst Park, thus putting the likes of Celtic, Burnley, West Ham, Brighton, Bournemouth and of course, Albion on high alert.

It is thought that the 30-year-old is on around £50k-per-week at Palace.

A new Brunt?

Whilst it is no secret that Sam Allardyce needs a new holding midfielder – something that McCarthy is not – he could do no wrong in finally replacing a former West Brom stalwart.

After 13 years at the club, veteran Chris Brunt left the Hawthorns in the summer and really, Slaven Bilic never replaced him.

It was the right decision to move the 36-year-old on, but someone of his influence would have certainly been needed as the Baggies are deep in a relegation battle.

Over the course of his Albion career, Brunt averaged 1.6 tackles, 1.6 key passes, 1.5 clearances, and 1.4 shots per game, via WhoScored, proving to be valuable at either end of the pitch.

McCarthy is almost a carbon copy, if not a better defensive option than the Hawthorns legend as throughout his career, the 30-year-old has averaged 2.6 tackles and 1.6 interceptions per game, via WhoScored.

By comparison, only one other current starter (Conor Gallagher) has managed more tackles per game this campaign, whilst it is only Darnell Furlong that can top his interception figures, also per WhoScored.

So the 42-cap international may play further forward than an anchorman, but evidently, he’s still a hard man to bypass in the middle, which ultimately is something Big Sam needs to find as his defence has enough pressure on their heads having leaked more goals (43) than any other Premier League side this term.

Indeed, earlier this season, McCarthy was praised for his ability to break up Manchester United’s attacks, Jermaine Jenas told Match of the Day (via Pundit Arena):

“When United players get the ball, McArthur is there on to him, and his partner in crime James McCarthy is there backing him up. They’re never that far apart. They knock you out of your rhythm. It’s James McCarthy getting the block and stopping the attack.”

The Baggies boss knows him well from his time at Everton too, once lauding him as their “shining light” whilst ex-Albion manager Roy Hodgson has also dubbed him a “class player” who “deserves an awful lot of credit.”

And just like Brunt, he’s vastly-experienced in the big time after surpassing over 260 top-flight appearances this campaign.

If Big Sam can strike a deal this window, in a similar way to that of Robert Snodgrass, he should absolutely encourage the board to do it as West Brom could finally replace Brunt and get that brute force back into their engine room.

AND in other news, West Brom dealt potential transfer boost in striker pursuit

The next few weeks could signal an almighty change at the Stadium of Light.

A new sporting director in Kristjaan Speakman is set to be hired, while Stewart Donald is busy finalising the details in a takeover bid from Juan Sartori and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus.

You will find it hard-pressed to find any football owner currently as busy as Donald, someone who is also searching for a new manager to bring to Sunderland.

The Black Cats sacked Phil Parkinson just a matter of days ago and a number of replacements from Sol Campbell, to Gus Poyet and Danny Cowley have been linked.

However, one of the most eye-catching names is Lee Johnson, the ex-Bristol City manager. The 39-year-old is relatively inexperienced and is one of the youngest head coaches in the game. Yet, he is mightily impressive and has a distinct brand of football.

A welcome thought for Sunderland is the fact that he tinkers considerably with his formations, something we seldom saw under Parkinson.

His football was stale and tedious, playing a brand of the game that eventually saw the ball lumped towards the likes of Charlie Wyke. In short, his tactics were risk-free and full of predictability.

Thus, by bringing Johnson in they could completely change the way the current playing staff are working.

A dynamic thinker, Johnson has a track record of putting together a run of wins through changing his tactics and formations. For example, at the start of the 2015/16 season when he was at Barnsley, he played no fewer than five different systems.

This is completely different from Parkinson who so far this term, used a similar style in every game – either a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3.

If we take the 2016/17 as more evidence for Johnson’s tinkering, we can see that in a four-game unbeaten run between March 4th and March 7th, he used three very different systems; 3-5-2, 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2.

This should be a major box ticked for both Donald and the club’s supporters.

If he’s made the new Sunderland boss, they can wave goodbye to the stale football for good. That’s not just because of the constant change he instils, but also because he likes to play possession-based or counter-attacking football. That was something we never saw with Parkinson at the helm.

Johnson’s father Gary told The Independent that he is destined for lofty heights: “He’s done enough for at the moment for people to recognise what he can do, that’s the big thing. I think Lee should have (a big career) but you never rest on your laurels in football…he’s done himself no harm recently in what’s happening at Bristol City.”

With that in mind, it would be quite the coup if Sunderland could lure him to League One. This is a progressive coach who would surely be better placed in the north-east than Parkinson ever was.

Meanwhile, Will Grigg could rediscover himself if Sunderland hire THIS manager…

According to an update courtesy of ExWHUemployee, via West Ham News, David Moyes, in particular, is interested in a shock reunion for ex-striker Marko Arnautovic despite his unceremonious departure from the club. However, the club’s owners, GSB, are apparently against the idea. 

Arnautovic, who forced a move away from east London in favour of the Chinese Super League, is currently attracting Moyes’ attention as he considers the option of potentially bringing the Austrian back to West Ham.

Whilst the manager is on board, the same cannot be said for GSB, who are reportedly against the move and ‘would not be happy’ with this transfer.

As this January update emerges, plenty of Irons have flocked to have their say in response to this story from a usually very trustworthy source – find all of their best verdicts down below.

West Ham fans flock to Arnautovic update

“If this happens I’ll be so gassed”

Credit: @T_27_2 

“Please be true”

Credit: @BIGelz24

“This is one signing I would love to see”

Credit: @DixonDicko0402 

“never thought id say this but i actually agree with our owners for once”

Credit: @coolkidmorgz

“GSB making the correct decision?”

Credit: @moyes_boy

“Better than Haller, bring him back.”

Credit: @BrexitIniesta16

In other news: West Ham fans have words to say as GSB want this ‘incredible’ signing, find out more here.