Arsenal had to work hard for their win at home to relegation-threatened Stoke City on Sunday but eventually ran out 3-0 winners at the Emirates Stadium.
Paul Lambert’s side were always going to battle for every ball against the Gunners given their status towards the bottom of the English Premier League, but strong defensive work from the likes of Shkodran Mustafi ensured they wouldn’t open the deadlock before three late goals secured victory.
Arsenal gave the ball away plenty in the first half, inviting pressure on their defensive line but fans were impressed with Mustafi, with some suggesting he had his best game for quite a while.
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The 25-year-old has drawn criticism at points this season for poor performances but fans will be hoping he can carry Sunday’s form into UEFA Europa League action later this week.
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They took to Twitter after the match to share their thoughts on his display against Stoke…
Radamel Falcao has dropped a major hint that he’s ready to walk away from Manchester United this summer, by claiming that needs to find a club where he can play regularly.
The 29-year-old arrived at Old Trafford in a deadline day loan deal from Monaco last summer, and was hailed as one of the signings of the window by many given his prolific spells with Porto and Atletico Madrid before his injury-interrupted season at the Stade Louis II.
However, he’s struggled in the Premier League and has only notched four goals for United, while slipping down Louis van Gaal’s pecking order to the point that he’s competing with rookie James Wilson to be backup to Wayne Rooney and, when fit, Robin van Persie.
WANT MORE? >> Man United transfer news | Latest transfer news
Reports have claimed that the club are far from keen to pay the £43m clause to make his loan deal permanent this summer, which has plunged Falcao’s future into major doubt.
And the marksman has now weighed in on the subject of his next move, hinting that he may head away from United in search of game time:
“Obviously I need to find a place where I have continuity and where I can play.” He is quoted by Goal. “I am totally focused on the club. There are eight games left and anything can happen.”
“He [Van Gaal] has to make decisions like any other coach. Regardless of whether they are favourable for me or not, I try to behave in the best way possible, to be professional at all times and to take advantage of the time he gives me. That’s it.
“I know there has been a lot of talk, but I try to distance myself from that. People speculate, but I am good and feeling calm. I just need to play. I can’t let myself get worried, I need to be prepared to take the opportunity when it comes.
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“I am happy at the club and with how the fans and my team-mates have treated me. I will keep fighting until the end at Manchester United.”
Arsenal forward Theo Walcott’s future at the club hasn’t always been clear this season but after signing a new three-and-a-half-year contract to extend his stay at the Emirates, it seems the crux of the contractual wrangle, his desire to play up front and through the middle as a striker had been solved after getting an extended run in the side, but is the jury still out as to whether this is really his natural position?
The 23-year-old England international’s performance during the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge perfectly encapsulated both sides of the argument. In the first half, Walcott was caught offside three times trying to get on the last shoulder of the defender before latching on to a through ball from midfield only for the Chelsea back four to comfortably step up and leave him obsolete. However, after the break, with renewed purpose, Arsenal began to flood forward more and more, pushing Rafa Benitez’s side deeper and deeper into their own half and when collecting a lovely slide rule pass from Santi Cazorla, he dispatched his effort into the bottom corner past Petr Cech to give his side a lifeline in the 58th minute.
Many have argued that Walcott is only as good as the service he gets, which is the case with plenty of strikers; he’s a touch one-dimensional, relying on his pace more than most, but when faced with the whites of the goalkeeper’s eyes, he has developed an unnerving accuracy in front of goal and has become something of a clinical finisher in one-on-one situations. Is granting him a central striking role really the best move for Arsenal when they have the likes of Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski within the ranks, though? Or have the side slowly but surely started to adjust to their new main man up top?
Wenger told reporters after the 5-2 victory over Reading back in December: “Thierry (Henry) gives him advice, which is always important and Theo is a very intelligent boy.
“He understands very quickly when you tell him something and that’s why I think he can do very well in this position. I like what I have seen of Theo through the middle.
“It’s an interesting challenge (for him). I think he can take it on. He is now 23. I decided to play Henry at 23 through the middle because you have to learn a lot before.”
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Walcott is currently the club’s top scorer this season with 17 goals across all competitions, including 10 in the Premier League, while delivering the healthy return of 11 assists. His hat-trick through the middle against Newcastle, plus another against Reading and the winner against Brighton point to a productive spell, while his shot accuracy of 63% is impressive. According to Opta, Walcott is currently contributing a goal or assist every 71.8 minutes of playing time, which compares favourably to his former team-mate, Manchester United striker Robin van Persie’s at 76.9. He is clearly playing with plenty of confidence now.
However, the club’s recent 5-1 victory over West Ham at home during a mad seven-minute spell during which they scored four goals showcased perhaps the team’s most balanced attack, with Lukas Podolski down the left, an increasingly at home Olivier Giroud through the middle and Walcott to the right of a front three but given the mandate to drift inside more than he used to when playing as a traditional winger.
It’s worth noting that excluding cup competitions, when it comes down to the nitty gritty of games against quality opposition, Walcott has a return of four goals in five games with two assists according to WhoScored as a striker. Contrast this with his record out wide, which has seen him score five goals and make four assists in eight games, with a further nine appearances as a substitute rendering two goals and one assist and it’s difficult to come down definitively on either side. It’s hard to say with any confidence that he’s serving the side more through the middle than he is out wide. He doesn’t appear to be hampered by getting involved in the final third from the flank as much as you may initially expect.
There is an element of obsession within the media regarding Walcott (I realise the irony that I’m now adding to it with this article), just as there is and will continue to be with Wayne Rooney. Only Walcott would come under such scrutiny for accepting a contract of £100k-per-week with many observers arguing that he’s not ‘worthy’ of such an amount, but that completely misses the point because at the moment he is the club’s most consistent attacking outlet, and regardless of money, he is doing an extremely good job this season.
It’s not that Walcott can’t play through the middle as a striker, he clearly can, it’s just that the overall quality of the side and variance of their play may be affected against better opposition when he does. He is a one-dimensional striker and when he plays up front, as Arsenal looked against Chelsea in the first half, the side lowers itself to adjust to his level by becoming more one-dimensional in the way they move the ball and look for gaps in the opposition. The tactic of playing him in behind might not always work, but when he comes off the flank with a more recognisable reference point like Giroud, he can do just as much damage.
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The obvious counter-argument, as it always has been, is that Walcott’s pace necessitates teams playing deeper to try and stop him having an impact on games, so even when he’s not playing particularly well, he can have a telling impact on the shape and flow of a game. The West Ham game showed that Wenger has the option of shifting him about to devastating effect, though, and he will need to continue striking this balance depending on the opposition. He will always be a player that divides opinion, with his champions pointing to the most visceral of attributes – his acceleration – as proof that he has something to offer in a central role, while his detractors guffaw at every opportunity he wastes in and around the box as proof that they are right.
Without trying to sit on the fence too much, as the above statistics show, he can clearly contribute equally from both roles and it’s still too early to tell whether he will be a lasting success as a striker, with conclusive proof in short supply. Moreover, we shouldn’t let this positional question mark detract from the qualities he does bring to the side in what is shaping up to be a memorable season from a personal perspective for the player concerned.
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Liverpool fans would have woken up with big smiles on their faces today following a memorable night at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s side took on the Premier League champions-elect and completely outplayed them in the first half.
Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane all scored for the Reds inside the opening half an hour on Merseyside.
Despite City’s attacking prowess, Pep Guardiola’s men failed to produce a single shot on target, which could in part be to do with the fact that the manager threw in an extra midfielder.
It was a worthy victory for Liverpool, with the entire team receiving praise, including captain Jordan Henderson, who will miss the second leg due to suspension.
Former City midfielder Joey Barton tweeted his thoughts on the game, and once the dust had settled, the radio pundit suggested that Liverpool fans were going overboard in their praise for the team.
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In fairness to the outspoken figure, the Reds have to come through another 90 minutes against City in order to reach the semi-finals, and they will not have the roar of the crowd to support them.
Even so, Liverpool supporters were not best pleased with Barton’s tweets.
With Alan Pardew leaving his managerial role at Newcastle United to head for Crystal Palace last week, Mike Ashley must get a new manager on board as quickly as possible to get the Magpies’ season back on track.
Pardew’s last game in charge of the Geordies was a hard fought 3-2 win over stuttering Everton at St James’ Park a fortnight ago. Shortly after the victory, rumours broke that the former West Ham United and Southampton boss could be on his way back to Crystal Palace – the place where he spent four years of his 18 year playing career. The news didn’t come as a huge shock to the football world, as it was obvious Pardew had taken the club as far as he possibly have could and it had long been apparent that he wasn’t the man the Toon Army wanted at the helm.
The only surprising thing about his move to Selhurst Park is the fact he left a club in top half of the Premier League to move to a side who are embroiled in a relegation battle. But the new Eagles’ boss has an affinity with the south London club, and the Crystal Palace fans are sure to be happy with the appointment of the 53-year-old.
That leaves Newcastle without a manager at arguably the most important time in the season. The Magpies may sit comfortably in tenth place in the Premier League table, but they will want to get a new manager in as soon as possible. Assistant boss John Carver has taken charge of the last two games, but unfortunately for the 49-year-old, hasn’t done an awful lot to impress Ashley.
In his first game, Newcastle took the lead three times in the home league encounter with Burnley on New Year’s Day, only for the Clarets to hit back three times and earn a surprising 3-3 draw. Then Carver took his side to Leicester City in the FA Cup where they were disappointedly beaten 1-0.
With the January Transfer Window open, it’s imperative that Ashley gets the right man in with a vision to take the club forward. With leading scorer Papiss Cisse away on international duty, and star man Moussa Sissoko attracting huge interest from the Premier League big hitters as well as French club Paris Saint-Germain, the vacant managerial role at St James’ Park has to be number one priority.
With Derby County boss Steve McClaren and St Etienne’s Christophe Galtier both ruling themselves out of the job, we are still none the wiser as to who is going to succeed Pardew in the Newcastle hot seat. Ex-Spurs boss Tim Sherwood is the new bookies favourite, and Remi Garde, who recently spent three years in charge of French giants Lyon, is allegedly in talks with the club.
Newcastle are undoubtedly a huge club who have massively underachieved in recent times. Their 60-year wait for a domestic trophy will go on for at least another year after being knocked out of both competitions.
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Newcastle face arguably the toughest test of their season when they travel to Stamford Bridge to face table-toppers Chelsea tomorrow. John Carver will be in the dugout, but for how much longer is anyone’s guess.
It’s the sort of schtick that’s wheeled out in the Barclays Premier League all too often, but even by the giddy standards of English football’s top flight, the last twelve months have been amongst some of the most memorable on record.
From final day, injury time title deciders to unsavoury controversy both on and off the pitch, if nothing else this year can hardly be accused of being boring. But beneath all of that there was some half-decent football being played too, if you hadn’t had noticed. And here are 15 men who went some way to making 2012 what it was.
So click through, enjoy and be sure to vent your rage below or on Twitter if you feel I’ve committed any cardinal sins by leaving your favourite player out. And before you ask, no, Ryan Shawcross has been kept well away from Football FanCast’s shiny final 15.
Click on Robin van Persie below to unveil the 15
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French football programme Telefoot claimed this weekend that Spurs have joined the race to sign Monaco’s Thomas Lemar.
What’s the story?
According to Telefoot, Spurs are the latest Premier League side to toss their hat in the ring for Lemar, who recently expressed his disappointment that he had not been allowed to leave Monaco in January.
“I am not going to hide it, I was a bit disappointed,” Lemar said. “But there is no point fixating on that.
“I have continued to work so that these clubs might come back for me in the following transfer window.”
Liverpool and Arsenal are also chasing Lemar, but Telefoot claims the 22 year-old is now a top summer target for Spurs.
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Should Spurs do a deal?
There’s no doubt about it, Thomas Lemar is ridiculous talented. The creative winger, valued at £57.1million by Transfermarkt, scored in France’s 3-2 defeat to Colombia on Friday, and it was his sublime pass that set up the other French goal.
The only question is how much he would cost, which is why Spurs should offer Moussa Sissoko as part of a player plus cash deal. Lemar would be an instant upgrade to the Spurs attack, and could certainly hold his own competing with the likes of Dele Alli and Heung-min Son for a starting role.
Not only could he compete with the attacking players for one of the three roles behind Harry Kane, he could even start alongside Mousa Dembele in midfield, especially against teams who defend deep. Despite primarily operating as a winger, the Frenchman can play as a deeper creative influence, similar to the role Philippe Coutinho played before he left Liverpool.
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This is why a swap deal for Sissoko makes sense. Not only could Sissoko excel in France given his somewhat surprising form for Spurs, there simply wouldn’t be room for both of them, and it would knock down the currently ridiculous asking price.
After an incredible season last year, Lemar’s output has slowed this season, but he has still managed two goals and seven assists in 20 league starts for Monaco. He would bring pace, flair and an absolute wand of a left foot to North London. It would also be a great chance for Spurs to prove they are outgrowing Arsenal, as the Gunners are also interested in a deal.
Spurs fans, would you back a summer swoop for Lemar? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Jason McAteer believes that his old club Liverpool must stick by Brendan Rodgers amid reports that Rafael Benitez is open to a return to Anfield.
The current Kop chief has come under intense pressure on the back of difficult start to the season and a host of underwhelming summer buys.
With Luis Suarez sold during the last window, Rodgers oversaw a £100m mega spend, but performances on the pitch – Liverpool sit in 11th spot – after 11 games have been below par.
WANT MORE? >> Liverpool transfer news | Latest transfer news
Even though he guided the Merseysiders to second place last term the Northern Irishman’s position is rumoured to be under scrutiny, which has prompted rumours of a stunning comeback for Rafael Benitez.
The Spaniard coached the club to Champions League glory in 2005, and has recently hinted that he would consider a switch back to the North West of England.
But McAteer is adamant that his old side must be patient with Rodgers:
“Rafa has spoken many times on the record of his love for Liverpool and I’m sure if he got the opportunity he would come back and manage the club, but you can’t disregard Brendan after a poor start to the season,” he told talkSPORT.
“The fans are talking about maybe changing Brendan but I think, on the whole, Liverpool are happy with Brendan Rodgers. I think he will be given time. I certainly don’t think he will be sacked this season.
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“People are judging his signings at the minute. They haven’t gone down too well, but he has got a lot of talent in that squad and it is going to take time to integrate them and for the players to believe in his philosophy. We have lost [Daniel] Sturridge though injury and Luis Suarez in the summer so it is a big thing to start again. Liverpool have taken a couple of steps backwards but I have big hopes for Brendan Rodgers and I’m sure he will do really, really well in the next few games and we will be talking about Brendan being the manager we talked about last season.”
As club vs country rows go, the one which appeared to come from nowhere to dominate the headlines between France national team boss Didier Deschamps and Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas over goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, but did the ‘water carrier’ have a point after all?
Now, for those of you that may need refreshing, here is what Deschamps had to say on the matter of his captain and number one not getting enough action for his new club back in November: “He hasn’t had enough playing time, and I can see why it would not be good for him. To be on the on the bench the weekend after the game he played for us in Spain is not easy. He cannot get any consistency with this few games.”
This then prompted something of a tit-for-tat, with the press obviously pouncing on this somewhat minor issue by this point, with their anti-Villas-Boas agenda, which brought the following response from the Portuguese coach, clearly tired at the constant attempts to undermine his authority: “It goes in one ear and comes out the other.”
Never one to be had not having the last word, though, Deschamps piped up just a few short days later with the following, reported by L’Equipe: “I have two ears as well. What he (Villas-Boas) says has the same effect on me. We are not talking of a player who does not play. Since he played his excellent match against Spain (France’s 1-1 draw last month), he has kept goal three times. Hugo is playing one match per week. Of course, he would like to play more, and it is not the case for the moment. He is getting on with it as best he possibly can (but) obviously he would like to play more.”
Of course, when you look at the actual words themselves all together at once, there’s nothing unusually scandalous about them, simply more of a casual disagreement spread over a few days, played out in public and ramped up to sell easy copy while bashing a manager the media clearly doesn’t like all that much. Nevertheless, considering the mild-mannered relationship that most managers share, particularly between club football and the more docile international arena, it’s certainly more barbed than usual.
Upon completing his £12m to White Hart Lane on transfer deadline day from Lyon, there was no clear need for a new goalkeeper at the club given Brad Friedel’s decent early season form, and the 42-year-old looked like he at least had one more season left in him in the top flight.
Lest we forget, the game immediately after the signing of the 25-year-old France international was the 1-1 draw at home to Norwich where Friedel was fantastic in keeping the visitors at bay with a string of superb stops; to drop him after that would have been grossly unfair and a gradual easing in of Lloris into the English game was a sensible approach to take.
Slowly but surely, after the baptism of fire that was the 5-2 hammering when put down to ten men in the north London derby against Arsenal, his displays against West Ham, Liverpool, Fulham, Everton and Swansea in the league have shown what an accomplished shot-stopper he is and while his signing was not an immediate priority in the summer, it certainly would have been at the end of this season and it looks as if they have a long-term solution to a troublesome problem in recent years, given the error-prone Gomes and Friedel’s age.
Villas-Boas finally gave the seal of approval that after starting the past five successive league games that Lloris was his preferred number one this week: “Yes at the moment you have to say so. It was difficult for Hugo at first. We recognise it was not easy for him at that time. There were expectations for him to come straight into the team.The transfer was completed just before the Norwich game in August and Brad performed extremely well in that game. After that we gave a sequence of games to Brad, using Hugo more in the Europa League, although we included him against Aston Villa to give him experience of Premier League opposition. He was very patient. I can see Brad coming back into the team because I certainly respect what he has done for us. We are extremely happy with our goalkeepers’ competition. When the decision was in favour of Brad, Hugo accepted it and now the decision has fallen in Hugo’s favour, Brad accepts it.”
We should notice that criticism of a similar goalkeeping rotation policy at Old Trafford between David De Gea and Anders Lindegaard is in short supply when compared to the over the top reaction the press hammered Villas-Boas with. If anything, the situation is far worse given that Lloris was simply given time to settle in whereas both of the goalkeepers at Manchester United have been in the country for over a season and it is clearly having a destabilising effect on them, while Lloris is now flourishing precisely because of it.
There are plenty of reasons to have a pop at Villas-Boas, but this was certainly not one of them. You always suspected, just as everyone else did, that he was simply giving Friedel a fair crack of the whip which is all you can really ask for as a player before ushering in the better option in Lloris. Tottenham now have a decent deputy and a fantastic, potentially world-class number one.
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While Deschamps may have had a point that the goalkeeper needed more games, his request was completely taken out of context and misconstrued to come across as an attack, completely ignoring the settling in period required with the change in language, style and culture. The route to get to the point where Lloris is a regular in the side hasn’t always been smooth, but the end result is what matters most.
It would have been understandable if a large number of Arsenal fans were dreading Thursday’s Europa League tie against AC Milan.
The club have had a difficult couple of weeks with some very unsavoury results.
Arsene Wenger’s men were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, and a few days later lost to Pep Guardiola’s side again by the same scoreline, but this time in the Premier League.
The team were unable to bounce back against Brighton last weekend as they suffered a 2-1 loss at the Amex Stadium.
After four defeats in a row in all competitions, Wenger’s job came under increasing pressure, with plenty of fans calling for the board to sack the Frenchman.
On Thursday, though, the Gunners put in a much-needed positive performance as they earned a 2-0 victory over AC Milan in the first leg of their last 16 Europa League tie.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey got on the scoresheet in the San Siro, while Mesut Ozil nabbed assists for both goals.
David Ospina also made a case for himself for the number one role as he managed to keep a clean sheet.
So far, Petr Cech has been in between the sticks for Premier League games and Ospina has been selected for cup matches.
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Some supporters want the latter to be the permanent number one.