West Ham United announced on their official website on Tuesday that they had received an allocation of 4,800 tickets for the fourth round EFL Cup clash against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley later this month, and Irons fans are not happy.
With a total capacity of 90,000 the Hammers would have been hopeful of getting a significant allocation for the trip to one of their arch-rivals, but the announcement went on to say that the top level of England’s national stadium won’t be open, capping the capacity to 50,835.
The east London outfit have been handed just below one-tenth of that amount for the travelling fans, as Slaven Bilic’s side will be looking to get revenge for the 3-2 home defeat they suffered against Spurs last month with a quarter-final spot up for grabs.
West Ham supporters were quick to have their say on the news via social media, and while some described it as “very disappointing”, others said the decision was “disgraceful”.
According to Italian media outlet Calciomercato, Southampton were the first club to try to sign Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, who is now rated at between €60-70m (approximately £53.9-62.9m) by the Serie A outfit.
What’s the word, then?
Soccer Football – Serie A – S.S.C. Napoli vs Cagliari Calcio – Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy – October 1, 2017 Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly celebrates scoring their third goal REUTERS/Ciro De Luca
Well, Calciomercato spoke to an Italian agent named Giuseppe Cannella who revealed that Saints were the first club to make a move for the promising central defender two seasons ago, but no details of the bid were disclosed in the interview.
Since then, Chelsea have been heavily linked with the 26-year-old, who has quickly established himself as one of the best in his position in Italy and indeed across the whole of Europe, but they have been told that they may have to pay £62.9m to bring him to Stamford Bridge.
The Senegal international has made 132 appearances in all competitions for Napoli, who are currently top of Serie A having won all eight of their fixtures this term, scoring four goals and providing a further five assists, and he has shown that he has all of the attributes needed to be a success in the English top flight.
Has Southampton’s interest in him ended?
Almost certainly, yes.
Saints’ club-record fee is the £18.1m they paid to sign Mario Lemina from Juventus during the summer, and while they may have some significant funds available if they choose to cash in on Virgil van Dijk in the New Year or next summer, they would have an almost impossible job on their hands to convince the 26-year-old to move to St Mary’s.
What does the bid say about the club’s recruitment?
It obviously shines it in a good light considering how much the centre-back has developed in the last couple of seasons, as well as showing that they can see the potential in a player.
But while Saints can point to the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane and Toby Alderweireld as impressive additions in recent years, they have also had their fair share of questionable purchases too – think Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and even Sofiane Boufal.
If Brighton are to survive their first ever season in the Premier League, defensive resilience will be essential. The Seagulls have already exceeded the expectations of some to claim seven points from their first seven games, but Chris Hughton will be more than aware his side lack the attacking quality to try and outscore their opponents every weekend.
After losing their first two games of the season by a 2-0 scoreline, Brighton have shown improvements defensively in recent weeks – in fact, their last five outings have seen just five goals conceded and two clean sheets claimed against Watford and Newcastle – and centre-back Shane Duffy has played a crucial part.
He’s been a real rock at the back for Brighton and it was a similar case in Ireland’s all-or-nothing World Cup qualifier against Wales last night, the 25-year-old arguably the Man of the Match in a rear-guard performance that saw Martin O’Neill’s boys shut out the Dragons and take a huge goal on the break through James McClean.
Duffy completed a staggering 19 clearances last night – the most of any player on the pitch – alongside three tackles, three interceptions and one block, while winning eight aerial duels. Aside from McClean, he was the biggest threat to Wayne Hennessey conceding as well; twice popping up at set pieces to produce an effort at goal.
If Duffy can maintain that form at the heart of Brighton’s defence for the remainder of the campaign, the south coast outfit will fancy their chances of beating the Premier League’s drop zone. He will, however, face far more talented attacks than Wales’ before the 2017/18 campaign comes to a close.
Southampton have struggled for consistency this season having recorded three wins, four draws and three defeats in the Premier League.
After sealing a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion, the Saints travelled to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton at the weekend, hoping for their first back-to-back wins of the campaign.
The match started off well for Mauricio Pellegrino’s side as Steven Davis put the team a goal to the good inside the first seven minutes.
The goal came from James Ward-Prowse’s free kick, which hammered off the crossbar and into the path of Davis for the rebound.
The coastal club were unable to hold on to their lead, though, as Glenn Murray found an equaliser seven minutes into the second half and the visitors were unable to respond.
Southampton are now unbeaten in their last three league outings, picking up five points from a possible nine.
Ward-Prowse and Wesley Hoedt gave their reactions to the result after the game, and the fans had plenty to say.
The West Ham United board have never been able to get all the fans onside.
Co-chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan have been heavily criticised by the club’s following over the years.
Transfer activity and the East London outfit’s controversial move to the London Stadium have been among the topics raised by angry West Ham supporters.
The powers that be made a big change at the club earlier this week by sacking Slaven Bilic and hiring David Moyes, who had disappointing spells in charge of Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland after leaving Everton in 2013.
A large majority of supporters were against the appointment, but now that the Scotsman is in the role, most have decided to give their backing.
Gold took to Twitter on Thursday urging for the club’s following to get behind the new leader, whose first game will be agains Watford on November 19.
The responses to the chairmen’s message were not hugely positive, with many launching criticism at the businessman.
Leeds United failed to build on their win against Middlesbrough on Sunday as they were beaten 4-1 by Championship table-toppers Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Wednesday night, and Whites fans weren’t impressed with Andy Lonergan’s performance.
The 34-year-old goalkeeper has started the last seven league games between the sticks after Felix Wiedwald was dropped earlier in the campaign, but he has now conceded 13 goals in that time keeping just the one clean sheet.
Lonergan perhaps may feel he should have done better with Barry Douglas’ 15th-minute free-kick, while he also got a hand to Ivan Cavaleiro’s goal that put the hosts 2-0 up.
His difficult night was summed up when he brought down Leo Bonatini in the penalty area late on after parrying an effort back into danger, with Helder Costa converting the spot-kick.
Leeds supporters were quick to have their say on his showing via social media, and while a few labelled him “hopeless”, one went a step further and said he “shouldn’t play for Leeds again”.
Tottenham Hotspur were supposed to challenge for the Premier League title this season, but they are already an incredible 18 points behind league leaders Manchester City.
Indeed, Spurs have slipped to sixth position in the table in recent weeks after winning just one of their last six in the Premier League.
They will enter Saturday’s home game against Stoke City having failed to win in their last four in England’s top flight – suffering two defeats in the process.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side are unbeaten at Wembley in the Premier League since August, but they have drawn with Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion on home soil this season.
The London club are the favourites to overcome Stoke on Saturday afternoon, but it would be fair to say that the supporters are not convinced.
Tottenham’s official Twitter account tried to get the fans going with a video of the team’s 4-0 win over Stoke at White Hart Lane last season. However, the supporters were extremely unimpressed with the social media activity.
A selection of the best Twitter reaction can be found below:
Stand-in Everton boss Craig Shakespeare has claimed that Ademola Lookman has the potential to be ‘an important player’ for the Toffees.
Lookman scored twice on Thursday night as Everton recorded a 3-0 win over Apollon Limassol in their final Europa League group game.
The 20-year-old was part of a youthful Toffees XI led by Shakespeare, who took charge of the Merseyside outfit due to head coach Sam Allardyce staying in England to attend a pre-arranged medical appointment.
Lookman has only scored once in the Premier League since arriving from Charlton Athletic in January, but the youngster showed his credentials in Cyprus.
Shakespeare has now backed the England Under-21 international to kick on after his European brace.
Shakespeare told reporters:
“He can be an important player but he is only young. He showed his ability.”
Lookman came through the youth system at Charlton before making the move to Everton – signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Toffees. It is understood that various add-ons could eventually take his transfer fee to £11m.
Manchester United fans are crucifying Pep Guardiola, as reports suggest Manchester City could offload Oleksandr Zinchenko to Wolves this summer.
According to Sky Sports, Wolves have made a club-record £16m offer for Zinchenko, and City are willing to let the youngster leave.
Although he spent most of last season playing as a left back, the 21 year-old is best as an attacking midfielder, and the potential arrival of Riyad Mahrez could threaten his playing time.
The move for Mahrez alongside the return to fitness of Benjamin Mendy means Zinchenko could find it difficult to see the pitch in any position, and United fans are destroying Pep on Twitter.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”269905″ player=”12034″ title=”Football’s Coming Home The Myth Behind ‘Three Lions'”]
The Red Devils have often felt Jose Mourinho gets harshly treated by the media and rival fans, as you can’t go five minutes on social media without seeing a joke about Mourinho ruining attacking talents.
Well, Zinchenko looks like a really promising young attacking talent, and Pep’s decision to move him to left back and now potentially sell him to make room for a mega money signing is irking United fans.
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You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, look away now Pep…
It’s not been a great summer so far for Newcastle fans in the Transfer Tavern.
A lot has been rumoured about who Newcastle may potentially bring in but so far, only Ki Sung-yeung and the impressive Martin Dubravka have been added to the squad. If Newcastle have any hope of climbing into the European spots, Mike Ashley needs to dip into his transfer wallet and spend some money.
Recently The Sun (h/t HITC) has linked the Magpies with a move for Aston Villa winger, Albert Adomah.
The Breakdown
A loan move for Kenedy has been rumoured, while Benitez is also keen on a move for former Newcastle man, Andros Townsend. While both deals may come through eventually, Newcastle need to sign new players and quickly. With the transfer window closing on August 9, clubs are running out of time to sign players.
Considering the financial difficulties Aston Villa are going through right now, a move for Albert Adomah might just be more plausible than first thought. The 30-year-old was outstanding for Steve Bruce last year, scoring 14 goals and five assists and could well be available for a cut-price deal which may satisfy Mike Ashley.
Newcastle are in desperate need of some help going forward. The Magpies really struggled to score last season and Adomah would certainly help that cause. While some may point to his age as a potential spanner in any potential deal, Newcastle can’t afford to be picky when it comes to signing new players. A cut-price deal for a consistent performer is a move Newcastle need to make.