[ad_pod ]

Jurgen Klopp has made a habit of rotating his midfield this season in order to contend with both the Premier League and the Champions League, along with a brief period spent in the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.

Whilst the German often rotates the likes of Adam Lallana, Gini Wijnaldum, James Milner, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Xherdan Shaqiri – his preferred system allows for just three midfielders in a 4-3-3 formation – a number of players throughout the team are given weekly starts no matter what the competition.

Apart from Alisson, who is likely to play every game, names such Andrew Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are the first names on the teamsheet, playing every game if they are able to.

Has Alisson been Liverpool’s most important signing of the season? Check out the video below to find out why Jurgen Klopp thinks so…

Whilst the midfield is the only area that seems to be regularly changed, there is one player amongst the aforementioned six midfielders who has to fall into the group of regular starters – Fabinho.

As seen by his statistics from the 2-1 win over Tottenham before his withdrawal in the 77th-minute, Henderson was largely ineffective and failed to provide any sort of impact both defensively and offensively.

Upon Fabinho’s introduction to the field of play, the Reds instantly looked more assured, likely to press on and get a winner, something that they eventually did end up doing thanks to the Brazilian’s dominant cameo.

The former Real Madrid star is yet to let Klopp down and always delivers classy performances when called upon, whilst it can also be argued that he is the most creative figure from a number of mostly workmanlike midfield options.

Henderson’s sideways passing and reluctance to punch the ball into the final third is starting to become a bit of an issue as goalscoring chances become few and far between for Liverpool – at the business end to the season, Klopp has to be playing his best players week in, week out, and Fabinho has no right being on the bench during such a crucial period.

رفض الدولي البرازيلي دوجلاس كوستا، جناح بايرن ميونخ، التعليق على تصريحات بايرن ميونخ السابق أولي هونيس، بعدما وصفه بالمرتزقة الذي يلعب من أجل المال، بعد رحيله عن بايرن قبل 3 سنوات.

وكان كوستا قد لعب في بايرن ميونخ لمدة موسمين بعد انتقاله من شاختار دونتسك في عام 2015، قبل الرحيل إلى يوفنتوس على سبيل الإعارة ثم بالبيع النهائي في 2017.

وجاء كوستا إلى بايرن مرة أخرى خلال سوق الانتقالات قادمًا من يوفنتوس على سبيل الإعارة، لتدعيم هجوم النادي البافاري.

اقرأ أيضًا.. صفقة بايرن ميونخ الجديدة يسخر من ثمانية برشلونة ويكشف عن مثله الأعلى

وقال كوستا خلال مؤتمر تقديمه لوسائل الإعلام: “لم أتحدث بعد مع هونيس، ولكنني أريد أن أبذل قصارى جهدي وأنّ أشارك بشكل كامل مع الفريق”.

وأضاف: “أنا أريد أنّ أساعد بايرن ميونخ، وآمل أن استعيد لياقتي البدنية التي أحتاجها في أسرع وقتٍ مُمكن”.

وواصل: “أنا لا أعيش في الماضي، بالنسبة لي هذا الموضوع قد انتهي، وأنا سأحاول إظهار أفضل ما لديّ، وسيتضح حينها الدور الذي أقوم به”.

وتابع: “كل شيء هُنا في بايرن لم يتغير، إنه تحدٍ بالنسبة لي أنّ أكون هُنا، التدريبات مُكثفة للغاية وأنا أعرف الكثير وهذا سوف يساعدني كثيرًا، لقد افتقدت العديد من زملائي هُنا، ودائمًا ما كنت أتواصل معهم”.

وأتم تصريحاته قائلًا: “لطالما شعرت براحة كبيرة في ميونخ، لقد عشت حياة حيدة للغاية هُنا، أفهم بعض الأشياء باللغة الألمانية ولكنني أجد صعوبة في التحدث بها، ولكن أنا أستمتع بتواجدي هُنا، أنا مُتحمس لارتداء قميص بايرن مرة أخرى، وأريد أنّ ألعب وإظهار ما يُمكنني فعله”.

It had to happen at some point, didn’t it? Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first domestic defeat as Manchester United manager has proved again that tactically he’s not up to the standard of his Premier League rivals.

Of course, it’s only early on in his managerial career and he’s only held the United job since Christmas, but if he’s being mentioned as the man to get the job permanently, he should be held to the same standards as other bosses. He had to change his system from the get-go on Sunday, and that shows he got his preparation wrong.

The players will have been preparing to face Arsenal in a certain way and will have been confident in their system, but Emery outsmarted him and his coaching staff leaving the Norwegian to scrap his plan A. Sometimes that’s acceptable, if you win, but he didn’t and so the manager must take reasonability for the loss.

Yes, Marcus Rashford missed good opportunities and there was a controversial penalty thrown in there too, but sometimes it seems like Solskjaer’s only tactic is to win the ball and attack quickly. Without the ball, when they’re defending a fast attack themselves, it still seems the defence isn’t protected enough, despite both Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera both being capable of that role.

That’s all been well and good so far against teams who would let them attack and dominate, but Paris Saint-Germain at home and this Arsenal game were clear indicators of structural inadequacies behind the attacking midfielder. It’s true United need significant investment at the back, Jose Mourinho knew that in summer, so that is probably a major factor too.

However, there’s now a top four race on and United are looking in trouble again. Arsenal are ahead and Chelsea are one point behind with a game in hand. It’s important they continue to entertain their fans, but they must also grind out results against big teams when it’s required, and they didn’t do that against Arsenal.

The Red Devils must react well next weekend against in-form Wolves in the FA Cup to regain momentum ahead of what will be a fascinating race for third and four spot.

United fans, where do you think your team needs to strengthen in the summer? Join the discussion by commenting below.

After a promising run in the FA Cup, Crystal Palace’s dream of silverware this season is over.

The Eagles were dumped out of England’s oldest football competition on the weekend by Watford as Andre Grey’s 79th-minute winner sealed Roy Hodgson’s fate in the FA Cup in a 2-1 loss.

It was a disappointing loss for the south London side, who fancied themselves as dark horses of the competition after knocking out Tottenham in the fourth round and making it to final of the FA Cup three years prior.

Ultimately, it was a fair result, but what would the consequences be if Palace were to win against Watford and make it to the semi-finals of the FA Cup?

Palace face tough tie against Wolves

In our reality, Watford were drawn with Wolves in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, so for argument’s sake, we will say Palace are drawn against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side as well.

Wolves have been the giant killers in the Cup this season, knocking out both Liverpool and Manchester United comfortably, making them outside favourites for FA Cup glory this season, and in the league as well the West Midlands-based club have been great against teams in the top-six.

Palace would go into this game at Wembley as the underdogs given their earlier result against Wolves this season, a 1-0 loss at Selhurst, and one of Nuno’s most impressive wins of the season was against Tottenham at their temporary home, a 3-1 win over the Christmas period.

However, with Palace having experience at this stage in the competition, Hodgson’s side will be confident of causing an upset and making their second FA Cup final in three years.

Hodgson keeps job, for now

Speaking of Hodgson, making it to a FA Cup semi-final would have kept the oldest manager in Premier League history in the job for at least another season.

Palace have had an underwhelming season despite the level of quality the Eagles have in the squad, and with the scars of Frank de Boer’s horrific managerial appointment more than healed over, the Palace board might be reluctant to replace Hodgson for an ambitious coach.

Hodgson could have strengthened his argument to be given another season to salvage more than a below midtable finish for Palace on the merit he made it to a FA Cup semi-final.

Crystal Palace fans, would a FA Cup semi-final appearance be a high-point this season?

It has been quite a few weeks for Sheffield Wednesday supporters hasn’t it?

The Owls moved within just three points of the play-off positions following their 4-2 victory over Blackburn Rovers as Steve Bruce’s side allowed the Hillsborough faithful to dream of a top-six finish.

However, after drawing 0-0 at Stoke City last week, Wednesday fell to 11th in the Championship and knew that they would have to pick up all three points against Aston Villa on Saturday to remain in contention this season.

Despite taking the lead in the first-half of their clash with the Lions, the Yorkshire-based outfit were pegged back by a strike by Lions midfielder John McGinn. Steven Fletcher then spurned a great chance to put his side back ahead by missing a penalty and was made to suffer by Albert Adomah and Tammy Abraham who both scored in second-half injury time for Villa to break Wednesday’s hearts.

Although they now find themselves six points behind the play-off positions and in need of a miracle to extend their season beyond the usual 46 game mark in the Championship, it is overwhelmingly clear that Bruce is the right man for the job at Hillsborough.

The 58-year-old has transformed the club’s fortunes since taking over in February and could very easily lead them to an immensely successful season next year if given the chance to bring in his own players in the transfer window. With no fewer than four promotions from the second tier on his resume already, Bruce will be confident that he can be the man to secure a top-flight return for the Owls.

If Wednesday can replicate the form that they have produced under their new manager over an entire campaign, they should emerge as one of the favourites to secure promotion in 2019/20, especially if they can keep a hold of their best players in the summer.

Whereas there have been periods of uncertainty at the club in the previous decade, the future suddenly looks a lot brighter for the Owls under the management of Bruce.

What do you think Wednesday fans? Are your hopes of reaching the play-offs all-but over for this season? How impressed have you been with Bruce since he took over at the club? Get in touch below.

[ad_pod ]

Steve McClaren has been operating on borrowed time in recent weeks – the results have worsened as the season nears the end – but, finally, QPR decided that enough was enough on Monday and gave the former England boss the boot with seven games to go.

McClaren departs Loftus Road having overseen 46 matches in charge since taking Ian Holloway’s place at the helm last summer – the former Palace boss was sacked a week previously after a poor run of results towards the end of the 2017/18 season.

The R’s have won just once since Boxing Day and are currently in the worst form of the league; whoever comes in and replaces McClaren has an almighty job to turn the season around and guide the Hoops to a respectable finish come May.

Could that man be Holloway? It certainly seemed that the eccentric honcho has some unfinished business at Loftus Road, as he spoke to TalkSport in the wake of his successor’s sacking:

“He took my job. I still had another year left at the club. I’m still being paid by them now.

“He was talking to the chairman while I was in the job, saying what he’d do and what he’d change. He hasn’t been able to do that.

“What goes around comes around. Where the hell are the young lads I was told to bring through? [Ebere] Eze isn’t playing, what about [Ryan] Manning? They’re not playing. I was told to promote the youth and bring people in who cared about the club, it’s not happening.

“Would I go back? It depends who calls me, Les [Ferdinand, director of football] didn’t want me to go.”

Watch the best fails from the world of indoor football in the video below…

Indeed, neither Eze or Manning have featured under McClaren recently, whose QPR team could certainly have done with some youthful exuberance, with the likes of Luke Freeman preferred in Eze’s central, attacking-midfield role.

Holloway also refused to rule out a sensational return to the helm on the condition that QPR legend Ferdinand was the one to speak to him. Could it happen? Let us know in the comments, QPR fans, whether you would like to see Holloway return or not.

سافر الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي مانشستر يونايتد إلى فرنسا، من أجل مواجهة باريس سان جيرمان في الجولة الأولى من دور المجموعات من بطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.

ويحل مانشستر يونايتد ضيفًا على باريس سان جيرمان في ملعب “حديقة الأمراء” غدًا، في تمام الساعة التاسعة مساءً بتوقيت “القاهرة”، بقيادة الحكم الدولي الإسباني ماتيو لاهوز.

وأفادت شبكة “Manchester Evening News” الإنجليزية أن الثنائئ إدينسون كافاني وهاري ماجواير لم يسافران مع البعثة المتوجهة إلى باريس.

يأتي ذلك رغم مشاركة ماجواير بشكل طبيعي أمام نيوكاسل في المباراة السابقة ببطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز وأحرز هدفًا، بينما كان كافاني متواجدًا في تدريبات مانشستر يونايتد بالأيام الأخيرة وتدرب مع الفريق بعد قضاءه 14 يومًا كحجر صحي عقب وصوله من فرنسا بعد التوقيع مع الفريق في آخر أيام الميركاتو الصيفي (طالع التفاصيل).

ولكن الشبكة الإنجليزية قد أفادت بأن هناك إمكانية ضعيفة ليلحق كافاني بالبعثة بمفرده من خلال بعض وسائل المواصلات الخاصة التي تنقل لاعبي مانشستر يونايتد للمباريات خارج “أولد ترافورد”، بعد عدم ظهوره بالإضافة ماجواير في مطار مدينة “مانشستر”.

Barry Bannan put in an outstanding performance against Blackburn Rovers at Hillsborough on Saturday, and Wednesday fans were quick to heap praise on the Scottish midfielder.

The 29-year-old had no less than three assists in the Owls’ 4-2 win, and his form had seen him win a call-up to the Scotland national squad.

The Sheffield Star report that Bannon has subsequently withdrawn from that squad, with a slight injury thought to be the reason, but Wednesday fans will not be too disappointed, as long as it means he will be fit for their next game at Stoke a week on Saturday.

So influential has the midfielder become to the Owls, that fans have been lining up on Twitter to laud the player.

Here are a few of the reactions:

It’s fair to say he is a definite favourite among the Owls faithful, and fans will be hoping he can carry them through to a play-off place come May.

What are your thoughts on Bannon’s performances lately? Has he benefited from the Bruce effect? Let us know your thoughts…

[ad_pod ]Sunderland fans have been heaping praise on Luke O’Nien during the international break.The Black Cats made a rip-roaring start to their League One campaign, losing just once in their first 20 league matches.Jack Ross’ side went off the boil at the turn of the year though, registering score draws in six out of seven games, but they have now won four of their last six with the two failures being draws in difficult away games. Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals why Tyne-Wear is a more intense derby than anything London can offer – check out the video below….And it’s no coincidence that the recent return to form has coincided with O’Nien hitting a purple patch, as the 24 year-old’s energy from right-back has made a huge different to the side.O’Nien, who is capable of playing pretty much anywhere across the midfield or on either defensive flank, has five goals and five assists to his name this campaign.

On top of that, the versatile ace just seems to “get†Sunderland, constantly interacting with fans and showing off his passion for the badge.

Loads of fans have been discussing his form, and judging from the Twitter reactions down below the summer signing is already a fan favourite at the Stadium of Light…

[ad_pod ]

It is no secret that Marcelo Bielsa is a manager that is stubborn and largely set in his own ways, but the weekend defeat against Sheffield United was probably the clearest sign yet that he has a pecking order of players – especially when it comes to substitutions.

On the chalkboard

Had it not been for a series of injuries and suspensions, the Argentine boss may well have stuck with the same core of 18-20 first-teamers given what he has done at his previous clubs.

Unfortunately since he arrived at Elland Road he hasn’t had that luxury and has had to delve deeper into his squad to use the likes of Leif Davis, Aapo Halme and Jordan Stevens on occasions.

However, while it may be the case that players like Stuart Dallas, Adam Forshaw and Barry Douglas are guaranteed a spot in the 18-man squad if they are available, the same can’t always be said for youngsters like Jack Clarke, Izzy Brown and Jamie Shackleton.

Clear pecking order

It seems that way.

Are Leeds set for another spectacular fall from grace? Ingood Nick believes so in the video below…

Even when Leeds are in need of a goal and a fresh threat in the final third – as they were against the Blades on Saturday – the proof is that Douglas or Dallas seem more likely to enter proceedings first than either Clarke and Shackleton, with the latter ending the game as an unused substitute at the weekend.

The presence of the summer addition from Wolves on the field saw Alioski push forward into a left-wing role – with the Scot replacing Harrison is a change that we have seen time and time again from Bielsa in recent weeks – and you have to wonder whether the manager should change his ways.

Likewise, Dallas came on at the same time as Clarke and replaced Ayling, even though Shackleton filled in excellently for the 27-year-old when he was injured earlier in the season and would arguably provide more of an attacking threat.

All in all, Bielsa needs to ditch his preferred pecking order and give more minutes to talented individuals like Brown and Shackleton rather than keep relying on experienced pros that aren’t delivering.