All posts by z3u9t.icu

Phil Hay has hinted that Stuart Dallas could take up a midfield role in Leeds United’s Premier League clash on Friday night.

The Whites are back in action on Friday, making the trip to Craven Cottage to take on Scott Parker’s relegation-threatened Fulham.

Fulham’s form has improved in recent months, however, so Marcelo Bielsa’s men will have their work cut out picking up a positive result in west London.

The Leeds manager has a few selection headaches going into the game and one of them could be his use of Dallas, who has often played at left-back this season, among other positions.

Hay hints at Dallas midfield role

Speaking in a Q&A for The Athletic, Hay explained that he could see Dallas taking up a central midfield role against Fulham instead of Mateusz Klich:

“I’d say it’s likely that Dallas will play at 8. His form is better than Klich’s at the moment.”

Dallas has been described as “brilliant” by former Whites striker Noel Whelan in recent weeks, having become such a reliable performer for the club.

Transfer Tavern take

Midfield is one of several roles Dallas has occupied this season, as mentioned, so there is no risk in switching him from a left-back berth.

That would then mean Ezgjan Alioski starting at the back, as he did in last weekend’s 0-0 draw at home to Chelsea – a clean sheet against Thomas Tuchel’s high-fliers is no mean feat.

In other news, Leeds have been tipped to make a move for a hugely experienced Premier League defender this summer. Read about it here.

Leeds have joined the transfer race to sign Sampdoria defender Omar Colley this summer.

What’s the story?

Despite signing the likes of Robin Koch and Diego Llorente last year, it appears Marcelo Bielsa’s side are keen on strengthening the centre of their defence even further this time around.

Now, according to ClubDoria46 (via TEAMtalk), the Whites are eyeing up a move for the 6 foot 3 Colley, although they face major Premier League competition from the likes of West Ham and Newcastle too.

The report adds that Sampdoria are open to a sale this summer and making a profit on the centre-back.

Leeds’ next Pontus Jansson

While Pontus Jansson may not have lasted the course under Bielsa – he played 41 times for the Argentine before being moved on to Brentford – the Swede clearly has fond memories of his time at Elland Road.

Speaking recently, the powerful centre-back said: ” To be completely honest, I miss Leeds and love Leeds, but I’m in a place in life where I’m incredibly happy with where I am now at my new club and how appreciated I am there. But it is clear that I miss Leeds, my team-mates and the club.”

In Colley, Orta could very well sign Leeds’ next Jansson. Standing at an imposing 6 foot 3, the Gambia international is an absolute monster when it comes to the pure old-school defensive side of the game, throwing his body at absolutely everything and doing everything possible to stop the opposition from scoring.As per Whoscored, his average of 2.6 interceptions per game would rank him first among all of Leeds’ players, while his 4.2 clearances per match also sees him comfortably above any of Bielsa’s current squad – those two numbers actually remarkably similar to what Jansson managed in his final season at Elland Road, registering 2.3 interceptions and 4.2 clearances per game.[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Latest Leeds transfer rumours and news”]Colley’s dominance in the air – he wins three aerial duels per match – will also be music to the ears of Bielsa, who has seen his side struggle massively this season in the Premier League when it comes to set-pieces.They have conceded the most from dead-ball situations with 15, and are 16th in the table when it comes to average aerial duels won per game. Having a powerhouse like Colley in the side would go a long way to solving Bielsa’s big problem, and give Leeds a real formidable presence at the back who won’t get bullied when the ball comes into the box.

Meanwhile, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa is making a massive mistake over this star…

St. Johnstone manager Callum Davidson has admitted he is eager to speak to Glasgow Rangers about keeping Glenn Middleton for next season.

Davidson wants Middleton

After making just one appearance for the Gers in the first half of the campaign (Transfermarkt), Middleton moved to fellow Premiership side St. Johnstone in search of more playing time.

Davidson is clearly happy with his performances so far, and has suggested he wants to talk to the Ibrox outfit about keeping him at the club. He said, (via The Scottish Sun):

“Glenn has had to be patient but he’s come off the bench against Ross County and scored the goal that got us into the top six. That’s some achievement.

“He’s worked really hard from the day he arrived and the more I  get him involved, the better he’ll be.

“If he does unbelievably well for me in the next five or six games I probably won’t get the chance to keep him!

“He’s great about the place, he wants to learn and has a really positive attitude.

“So we’ll be looking to have a conversation with Rangers about next season.

“I think Glenn is at the stage in his career where he now needs sustained game time.”

Right move

Middleton has so far made seven appearances for the Saints, scoring one goal. Given his lack of playing time at Ibrox, it is important that he is now featuring on a regular basis. Of course, he is still a Rangers player, but it feels unlikely at the moment that he will play too often for the Gers next season, even though he does have a record of five goals in 29 matches for the 55-time Scottish champions – he has six goals throughout his career.

As Davidson says, at 21 it is important he finds somewhere to settle so that he can kickstart his career. Despite his talent, it looks like that club will not be Rangers. St. Johnstone, therefore, could be the perfect place for him to begin to fulfill his potential.

In other news, Kevin Phillips believes this man must take a pay-cut if he wants to stay at Rangers.

Aston Villa are hoping crucial star and captain Jack Grealish will be returning soon, however it looks like their upcoming derby against Wolves will be too early for him.

The latest on Grealish

Manager Dean Smith was previewing the all-Midlands clash against Wolves in his pre-match conference, via Birmingham Live: “Jack’s unlikely to feature on Saturday. I haven’t sat down with the medical staff yet but he was running on the AlterG (anti-gravity treadmill) yesterday, which is a positive because if he’s running it means he’s pain-free.”

The wait goes on

The skipper is a crucial member of Smith’s side and is a key component as Villa look to push on and finish in the top half of the Premier League, so understandably many fans are very worried about the injury.

His form this season has been electric and his goal contributions show that he has been involved in nearly half of Villa’s goals in the division this campaign, as Smith’s side have managed 37 in total (SofaScore). He has not just shone for Villa either but also England, with manager Gareth Southgate in awe of the Villa skipper, hailing his performance against Belgium as ‘outstanding‘.

The only positive is that the playmaker looks to be close to returning as he is pain-free so hopefully he will be back sooner rather than later.

In other Villa news, fans have been piling praise on one star at the club following his latest comments. Have a read who it is here!

Liverpool picked up their first three points of 2021 with an impressive 3-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night, which puts their ambitions of winning a second successive Premier League title back on track.

Goals from Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane gave Jurgen Klopp’s side the victory in North London but it was perhaps the performance of James Milner that stood out the most.

As per SofaScore, the experienced midfielder would earn a strong 7.5/10 match rating for his performance, which was only bettered by Mane and Alexander-Arnold.

Jordan Henderson playing in defence meant that the former Manchester City man earned a rare Premier League start in midfield but he certainly made the most of his opportunity.

The 35-year-old would make three interceptions and two tackles from midfield during the game against Jose Mourinho’s side, which is far better than his season average of 0.5 interceptions and one tackle per game.

In the Spurs midfield, meanwhile, Tanguy Ndombele would make no interceptions and just one tackle, which emphasises that Milner’s performance was on another level at times last night.

The former England international would have 77 touches of the ball during the 90 minutes and contributed 56/65 passes, resulting in an 86% pass success rate.

Again, this was higher than Ndombele, who would you normally expect to be Spurs’ chief creator from midfield.

Perhaps most impressively, Milner would contribute as many as four key passes during the game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, which was more than any other player on the pitch, and also comfortably more than the 0.8 he has averaged per game in the Premier League so far this season.

Back in 2018, midfield partner Georginio Wijnaldum labelled Milner a “machine” and that was reiterated on Thursday night as he showed that he can still produce excellent performances in the top-flight despite being 35.

Therefore, although Alexander-Arnold may steal the headlines after his goal and assist on Thursday, it was arguably the performance of Milner that will have impressed Klopp the most.

And, in other news… Edwards must swoop for 24 y/o beast who has the “quality” to play in the CL; he tackles more than any LFC player

David Sullivan can land West Ham a dream heir to Lukasz Fabianski, amid claims the Premier League club have expressed an interest in signing Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

What’s the word?

According to the Manchester Evening News, Henderson will seek to leave Old Trafford at the end of the season if he has not established himself as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s number one, with the Irons making it clear they are keen.

The 23-year-old has grown ‘frustrated’ by his lack of playing time and has no interest in accepting another year as David de Gea’s back-up, with the Spaniard currently still the first-choice shot-stopper.

Henderson is understood to have expressed his discontent with having only started two Premier League games this term to Solskjaer, who has continued to back De Gea despite calls to axe the former Real Madrid target following errors this season.

Top-flight clubs are already lining up at the door looking to sign Henderson if he does quit the Red Devils, with London rivals Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham all expressing their interest in a transfer.

But any permanent deal is expected to be difficult to orchestrate with Manchester United slapping a £40m asking price on their £100,000-per-week ‘keeper, who only penned a new, five-year contract last August following his return from a loan spell at Sheffield United.

Henderson is also considered to be the Red Devils’ next number one by Solskjaer, yet senior figures at Old Trafford feel pressured into playing De Gea due to the 30-year-old being their top-earner on a £375k-p/w deal.

Should West Ham sign Henderson?

West Ham should not fear the implications for Manchester United of parting with Henderson in the summer and go all out for the signature of the one-game England international, who could be David Moyes’ dream heir to Fabianski.

Fabianski is beginning to face serious doubt over his London Stadium future with the Poland international due to be out of contract in the summer, having yet put pen to paper on new terms despite stating that talks were underway back in December.

The former Arsenal and Swansea City shot-stopper is still producing top-draw performances between the posts, even when results go astray, much like in the FA Cup defeat to Solskjaer’s side earlier this month.

Yet, at 35, he represents the past more than the future, and that is where Henderson can come in, win the number one jersey, as well as a home for years to come.

Chris Wilder lauded Henderson as an “outstanding” goalkeeper during his time at Bramall Lane, where his efforts won him a place in the England squad before making his debut in a 3-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in November of last year.

Henderson may barely have featured for Manchester United since returning to Old Trafford, but came in from the cold to impress in the Europa League against Real Sociedad in a 4-0 rout last Thursday.

“Dean tonight was very solid, good kicking, should have had an assist for Marcus [Rashford], which is another thing we worked on today,” Solskjaer said, via quotes by the Manchester Evening News. “He was clean in his handling, clean with his short passes, a good performance and he is maturing all the time.”

So, if Fabianski’s time at the London Stadium is nearing its end and Henderson is open to leaving Old Trafford, Sullivan should be going big to bring the Whitehaven-born ‘keeper to the capital.

AND in other news, West Ham may rival a top-six Premier League side for a 16-y/o whizkid this summer…

Everton midfielder Andre Gomes must step up for Carlo Ancelotti amid Abdoulaye Doucoure being ruled out for eight to 10 weeks with a fractured foot.

Ancelotti confirmed that the 28-year-old could miss the remainder of the season ahead of last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Burnley, but hopes to have his summer signing back at some stage.

Doucoure has been an important part of the Italian’s plans since arriving at Goodison Park in a £20m transfer from Watford, starting all 25 available Premier League games to him.

Only centre-back Michael Keane has started as many top-flight fixtures for Everton this term as Doucoure, whose 2,137 minutes of action sees the 28-year-old rank third, also behind 14-goal top scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Former Leeds United forward Noel Whelan believes the loss of Doucoure will come as a big blow amid Everton’s push for a European qualifying berth, and has challenged Gomes and Allan to step up to ensure his absence is not overly consequential.

“They bought a player for £20m, which for him was cheap, and he has become an integral engine in that midfield,” he told Football Insider of Doucoure.

“The way he gets up and down, he challenges, he’s got great physicality and he gets into the box as well.

“Defensively, he’s huge. That allows [James] Rodriguez and Richarlison and your other flair players to get forward knowing you’ve got that security behind you.

“With Allan and Gomes, that is a real formidable, aggressive three in there if you have those guys playing too. They are going to be crucial. But for Everton to lose a player of that stature, they are going to feel it.”

Doucoure has been one of Everton’s top performers this season, as illustrated by performance metrics from WhoScored. He has earned frequent praise from Ancelotti for his efforts, and will leave the Italian tactician with a tough task to replace what he brought to the engine room at Goodison Park.

“It was his best performance [for Everton],” the Toffees boss said following December’s 2-0 win at Leicester, via quotes by Royal Blue Mersey. “He was really intelligent defensively, he understood what to do and also with the ball he had some acceleration that were good for our counter-attacks.”

Ancelotti later described the powerful £75,000-per-week unit as a “really fantastic signing”, and will have to see Gomes step up from his previous efforts if the Portuguese maestro is to establish himself as the crucial cog Whelan expects of him.

Doucoure has averaged a greater defensive contribution for Everton this season than both Gomes and Allan in a number of areas, with the Frenchman offering 1.3 interceptions to his teammates’ respective 0.4 and 0.9, per WhoScored.

He also leads the trio for fewer fouls conceded (0.8 to 1.5 and 0.9), most clearances made (0.9 to 0.5 and 0.9) and the least times dribbled past (1 to 1.7 and 2.4). Allan ranks first in the group for successful tackles (3.1) to Doucoure (1.8) and Gomes (1.4), per WhoScored.

Doucoure is a powerful presence in supporting the attack, too, with a higher contribution than Gomes for goals scored (2 to 0), assists (3 to 1) plus average number of shots (0.6 to 0.5) and key passes (0.8 to 0.5) a game, per WhoScored.

Gomes may have found a home for himself in the midfield of late with five straight Premier League starts, but the 27-year-old has work to do if he is to now fill Doucoure’s void.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti is eager for Everton to sign a £32.5m-rated titan who top clubs would sign “without thinking twice”…

Southampton winger Moussa Djenepo looks set for an extended spell on the sidelines after picking up an injury in the Saints’ 1-0 win against Liverpool recently, and his setback could prove to be the making of 21-year-old Nathan Tella.

The young winger replaced Djenepo in the win against Jurgen Klopp’s side and was close to scoring his first professional goal when his curled effort went just wide of Alisson’s post.

It has been something of a breakthrough season for Tella thus far, having made six appearances for the Saints first-team in all competitions after impressing Ralph Hasenhuttl with his performances for David Horseman’s ‘B’ team.

The former Arsenal youngster was recently shortlisted for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month having scored four goals against Leicester City U23s in December.

Horseman was full of praise for the youngster after this announcement, saying:

“Nathan is a player and person we are proud of, who stays the same in terms of attitude no matter if he is with the first team or B team.

“He plays with pace and energy with and against the ball and is direct when it comes to his thinking and actions.”

However, it seems unlikely that he will be making too many appearances for the ‘B’ team, as he looks to be on the brink of establishing himself as a regular in Hasenhuttl’s first-team squad.

Certainly, with Nathan Redmond and Moussa Djenepo both sidelined at the moment, Tella looks like the obvious replacement in the Saints first-team.

It could be a long absence for Djenepo, with Hasenhuttl having described the Malian’s injury problem as a “horrible” one, with the former Standard Liege man in tears as he left the pitch against Liverpool.

There could be a silver lining from this, however, as it could well allow Tella the opportunity to impress in this Southampton side and show Hasenhuttl that he can compete with the other wingers and attackers at the South Coast club.

The FA Cup fixture against Shrewsbury Town would have perhaps been the ideal opportunity for the 21-year-old to be handed a start before it was unfortunately postponed, so it will be interesting to see if Tella features in the Saints’ next scheduled fixture, which sees them take on Leicester City away from home in the Premier League.

AND, in other news, Southampton signing “brave” beast will be the nail in the coffin for forgotten 25 y/o dud…

Liverpool were able to secure their place in the knockout stages with a 1-0 win against Ajax in the Champions League on Tuesday night. However, the performance of captain Jordan Henderson may have Jurgen Klopp concerned.

A solitary goal from Curtis Jones proved to be the difference between the two sides on the evening, but the Eredivisie side looked threatening throughout the 90 minutes and were perhaps unfortunate to leave with nothing, with only a brilliant late save from Caoimhin Kelleher denying Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Henderson made his first start for Liverpool since recovering from injury in the win although the stats suggest that he wasn’t his usual self against the Dutch giants.

As per SofaScore, the 30-year-old had just 56 touches of the ball during his time on the pitch and completed 36/44 passes, resulting in a pass accuracy rate of 82%.

Whilst his passing was fairly impressive, as he made three key passes against Erik ten Hag’s side, it was his defensive contribution that might have worried his German manager.

The England international made no tackles during the game, was dribbled past once and won zero of his four duels, suggesting that the Ajax players often had the better of the former Sunderland man.

Considering the lack of midfielders available in Klopp’s side at the moment, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner, Thiago and Naby Keita all sidelined, he will be relying on players such as Henderson to be at their best as we approach the busy Christmas period.

The former Borussia Dortmund boss was full of praise for his captain in January of this year, saying:

“He is exceptional; he is outstanding. Gini (Wijnaldum) and Hendo, especially, because they have had to play the biggest number of games this season.

“What they do is just incredible – absolutely incredible. I do not take that for granted for one second. If anybody who is with us still doesn’t see the quality of Jordan Henderson, then I cannot help them.

“Is Hendo the perfect football player? No. Do I know anybody who is? No. But is he unbelievably important to us? Yes.”

Therefore, Henderson will arguably have to perform a lot better than he did on Tuesday night in future matches, as the Reds attempt to retain the Premier League title, with their next match seeing them take on Wolves at Anfield on Sunday evening.

And, in other news… Liverpool made a big mistake in releasing “absolutely incredible” midfield maestro

Crystal Palace were at times outfought and outwitted by Tottenham Hotspur on their own home turf, but Roy Hodgson’s side refused to give up all hope on Sunday afternoon.

Once again, they were undone by Harry Kane, who has now scored three goals in his past six games against the Eagles.

But Jeffrey Schlupp bundled in a late Eagles equaliser to deny Tottenham the victory ahead of their Premier League clash at Liverpool on Wednesday.

Hodgson confirmed new summer recruit Nathan Ferguson was ruled out due to injury, but that does little to hide from the fact that former Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne was a total liability in his position instead.

We said just this week that the stage was set for Clyne to make a real statement, but he failed to grasp the opportunity with both hands. His market value is estimated at £7.2m via Transfermarkt though there has been so far very little evidence to show for such a valuation.

Nor his reported £80k-per-week wages.

SofaScore graded the 29-year-old as one of the worst Palace players on the pitch with a lowly 6.6 rating – he lost possession 13 times, failed to register a single interception, made just one tackle and provided a pathetic 63% of his 24 attempted passes.

Clyne received a 5/10 rating from 90min, who claimed ‘most of Spurs’ attacks came down Clyne’s side, and the right-back just couldn’t deal with it’, whilst football.london were equally scathing in their assessment, insisting ‘Spurs’ width occasionally caused problems in the first half.’

That’s not to say the former England international has been necessarily bad per se, but he was uncharacteristically lacklustre with his teammates Christian Benteke and Eberechi Eze managing more passes on their own.

We can’t quite work out why he played the full 90′ minutes, save for the fact that Hodgson is short of options at the moment, although Joel Ward was left as an unused substitute on the bench.

With a trip to West Ham next on the agenda, perhaps the Portsmouth academy graduate could come back into the starting line-up.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace can’t afford to lose Christian Benteke amid interest from Club Brugge…