All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

6th August, 2019.

Bournemouth have just announced the signing of Liverpool’s Harry Wilson on a season-long loan deal, and there seem to be few complaints about the transfer.

The Reds’ young prospect gets to try his hand at Premier League football, having starred in the Championship for Derby last term with 16 goals to his name, and also gets to play under Eddie Howe, a man who has instilled an admirable footballing ethos at the Vitality Stadium.

As of now, the Wales international seems to be enjoying his time on the south coast.

The 22-year-old has already scored three goals in seven Premier League starts for the Cherries, including an outstanding freekick against Manchester City and a long-range screamer against Aston Villa.

While he is doing well, and his parent club back on Merseyside are also having an impressive season, it may have been a mistake from the European champions to let their academy graduate go.

Why?

Purely by watching the recent 1-1 draw against Manchester United, it’s clear there is an imbalance in attack when Mohamed Salah isn’t playing.

The Egyptian’s absence paved the way for Divock Origi to come into the side. The Belgian is a cult hero who came up trumps on numerous occasions last season, and has the talent to cause problems.

However, he operates best on the left and that is where Klopp put him at Old Trafford. That in turn means Sadio Mane has to go out onto the right, a position that neglects his skill set and potent style of incisive dribbling.

A timid performance ensued against the Red Devils. Klopp’s side had just four shots on target, and looked likely to be heading for a 1-0 loss but for Adam Lallana’s 85th minute equaliser.

In Origi’s case, he was substituted in the 59th minute after an ineffective display, one that contained no shots on target, no key passes and no successful dribbles.

This is not to suggest that, if Wilson had started instead, the Welshman would’ve starred and Liverpool would’ve run riot.

But in terms of the balance of the attack, Liverpool could have done with a left-footed player to come in and replace Salah in like-for-like fashion instead of compromising their style of play to incorporate Origi on the left.

Xherdan Shaqiri is also an option, one blessed with creativity, power and a blockbuster moment in the locker. Unlike Wilson, though, there is a suggestion that he is more naturally suited to a central attacking midfield role rather than a wide berth.

Anyway, why did Klopp see fit to loan Wilson out?

The Athletic report that the attacker is at Bournemouth to see how he handles regular Premier League action.

“Harry Wilson flourished in the Championship at both Hull and Derby and is now on a season-long loan at Bournemouth to see how he handles regular Premier League action. Significantly, the south coast club have no option to buy as Klopp still believes the Wales international can have a future at Anfield.”

Chelsea have demonstrated that a successful campaign in the Championship can be conducive to success at the elite level, with Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham firmly ingrained at the heart of Frank Lampard’s revolution.

Perhaps Klopp should have afforded a similar level of trust to Wilson and a major injury to Salah later in the season could expose the enormity of what was a relatively innocuous looking transfer decision.

Tomori made 47 appearances last season in defence, and has walked straight into Lampard’s XI at Stamford Bridge, not looking an inch out of place.

Abraham, who spent the season with Aston Villa – the side who broke Tomori’s, Mount’s and Derby hearts at Wembley back in May – racked up 26 league goals and the 22-year-old currently leads the way alongside Sergio Aguero at the top of the Premier League scoring ranks with eight goals this season.

The youngsters can have a huge say in Premier League proceedings – they just need to be trusted.

And this may not even be the first time that a loan agreement with Bournemouth comes back to bite the Reds.

Indeed, the decision to allow Nathaniel Clyne to join the Cherries in January earlier this year was ill-advised and poorly timed, one that ultimately left Klopp bereft of any natural options at right-back during a critical stage of the season.

Just days after the former Borussia Dortmund boss allowed the right-back to leave Anfield, Trent Alexander-Arnold picked up a knock and, with Joe Gomez already out, Milner and Henderson had to share the responsibility of playing at right-back.

The title-chase took a turn in the absence of a natural candidate as West Ham, Leicester City and Manchester United all held Liverpool to draws.

At the time the decision to let Clyne leave seemed harmless, but the situation that unfolded soon after undermined that feeling and now there is already a twinge of Deja vu emerging with regard to Wilson.

Nothing has been decided at this stage in the season, but the United game exposed Liverpool’s toothless pragmatism in Salah’s absence and, without a dynamic left-footed option to fill the void, they may live to regret their decision to send their natural replacement to the south coast.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

When it was confirmed that Liam Cooper would miss up to six weeks of action, there were understandable concerns from supporters.

The Scot, newly capped by his country, has been an imperious figure under Marcelo Bielsa.

He was named in the PFA Team of the Year last season and has since gone onto miss just one game in the Championship this season. He’s also been handed a new deal at Elland Road.

The club captain obviously has a huge influence but the bitter blow of losing him is sure to be felt hard.

However, they can help overcome it by possibly changing systems.

Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

On the chalkboard

In his pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Millwall, Marcelo Bielsa named five possible options to play in the centre of defence beside Ben White – Gaetano Berardi, Kalvin Phillips, Leif Davis, Pascal Struijk and Olly Casey.

Another option could be Luke Ayling too, someone who hasn’t played in that role for ten months, but can deputise if necessary.

Berardi seems the most likely choice after replacing Cooper last Tuesday and appearing comfortable but they could make up for their skipper’s absence by moving to a three-man defence, particularly on Saturday.

This is because it could present them more cover and also give them a helping hand against the colossal Matt Smith.

He has won over nine aerial duels per game this term and will pose a large threat, in more ways than one, to Leeds’ defence.

Why are Leeds fans the best in the country? Find out in the video below…

Playing three central defenders and having one to sweep Smith and mark him tightly would be a good idea and it might help make the Whites more compact when defending deep – that’s if they find themselves in a situation where that’s required.

Berardi has already looked confident in a back three and that was seen when he kept a clean sheet and also scored against Salford. He also played in that system during Leeds’ 2-2 draw with Stoke in the Carabao Cup.

This defensive line could involve White, Berardi and also Phillips. The last two names played next to each other in those two League cup outings.

Bielsa operated with this formation last term and it worked significantly as Leeds failed to lose when utilising a three-man defence.

With Cooper missing, this should at least be thought about as an option for the Argentine.

It has worked in the past and could well work again if they need more cover now a key figure is absent.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Nottingham Forest favourite Matty Cash has hailed the impact of summer signing Brice Samba since the 25-year-old has cemented his spot as the Reds’ number one.

What’s the word?

Forest have started life under Sabri Lamouchi in emphatic style, losing just one match, which came on the opening day to the only side that is above them in the table, West Bromwich Albion.

Samba originally joined the east Midlands club as a backup option to Manchester City loanee Aro Muric but has excelled since being given his debut against Fulham back in August, as shown by the fanbase’s reaction to him recently.

Watch Nottingham Forest Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

With the Congolese native between the sticks, Forest are yet to taste defeat and have recorded three clean sheets, per WhoScored.

It could be all the more impressive considering the wealth of riches Lamouchi has at his disposal – aside from the pair already mentioned, he could also call upon Costel Pantilimon, Jordan Smith, Stephen Henderson, and Vladimir Stjkovic.

The Reds’ winger-turned-defender believes Samba betters the lot.

Speaking with the Nottingham Post, Cash said:

“He’s the best goalkeeper I’ve played with. His distribution is ridiculous,

“His shot-stopping is excellent. He’s a fantastic goalie. He’s a big, big signing for the club.

“He’s a legend, a proper funny guy and a great character. He’s a great pro who does everything right on and off the pitch.

“He’s a great asset to the club.

“He can also zing to me when I call for it. He puts it on my foot!”

Bold claim

These are bold claims considering it is still early days in the Championship season.

There are still over 30 games to play, considering it is only October, and anything could happen between now and the end of the season in May.

Forest haven’t been part of the second-tier playoffs for nine consecutive seasons, so if they fail to keep up their rich vein of form and falter at the last hurdle, it’ll be a decade without any kind of reasonable success at the City Ground.

Samba could well be one of the better shot-stoppers that Cash has had behind him, but one mistake or slip-up in a vital game could change all of that.

It is the first time he’s ever played in the English game too, so he has undoubtedly adapted well, but you never know what is coming around the corner.

Barcelona drew 0-0 with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League earlier this week.

Facing Borussia Dortmund is already hard as it is but facing them at Signal Iduna Park in front of the roaring crowd of the Yellow Wall makes it that much more complicated.

For that reason, maybe exiting that clash with a point under their belts is not the worst thing to happen to the Spanish club in recent times. After all, they’ve had worse in the ongoing 2019/20 La Liga campaign.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The Blaugrana have so far chalked up two wins, one draw and one defeat to their names in their domestic competition back in Spain and even though the blame gets shared around the locker room, one specific issue was also pretty apparent – there was no Lionel Messi up until this point in time.

Barcelona’s talisman has been injured for six weeks. For that reason, the Argentine has missed all four of Barcelona’s initial La Liga clashes and has made his first appearance of the season at Signal Iduna Park.

By all means, after waiting through Messi’s 115-day battle with injuries, the fans surely must’ve felt relieved to see him back on the pitch and that image of the King returning back into action must’ve felt really good for all Blaugrana fans.

Still, even though it is Messi we’re talking about and even though we all know how good of a player he actually is, his cameo appearance in Germany wasn’t enough to nudge Barcelona towards a triumph and all three points on the night.

The two teams, therefore, shared the spoils of war and settled for a draw, a result that the home team might frown upon seeing how they missed a penalty along with a plethora of other opportunities during the game.

Even with a certain Argentine on the pitch, the Catalans couldn’t do much to threaten the German team but even the arguably greatest player of all time should be given some slack and time to get to his brilliant best.

Currently, the only important thing for Barcelona and their fans is that Messi is back and that he’s fit to continue.

Everything else, knowing him, should follow suit.

[ad_pod ]

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Nottingham Forest edged into the Championship playoffs last weekend with a victory over Barnsley at the City Ground.

The 1-0 win was courtesy of a rare Ben Watson strike as the 34-year-old met Matty Cash’s cut-back pass to net his first for the club and first in three years.

It was Forest’s only shot on target all afternoon as goalkeeper Brice Samba kept the league strugglers at bay, keeping them inside the relegation zone.

Watch Nottingham Forest Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Reds boss Sabri Lamouchi yet again made a couple of changes to his side, who have now gone seven unbeaten, as Joe Lolley and Tiago Silva returned to the starting XI despite Forest beating league leaders Swansea a week earlier.

That meant that Yuri Ribeiro kept his place at left-back over Jack Robinson.

On the Chalkboard

Lamouchi may have stumbled across their best defence after his men picked up a second successive clean sheet and fifth in all competitions.

Joe Worrall and Michael Dawson have become a solid foundation at the back, playing in all eight Championship ties while Matty Cash has seen his role at right-back increased due to the injury to summer signing Carl Jenkinson.

On the other side of the defence, another off-season addition has particularly caught the eye – Ribeiro in the last two matches has kept Reds regular Robinson out of the side.

The 26-year-old made 40 appearances last season, but the Portuguese ace has come in and looked every bit like a perfect option at left-back.

He is averaging a rating higher than anyone else in the squad at 7.33 and has won more aerial duels than Robinson with an average of 3 per game.

While the 22-year-old has also recorded more interceptions (1.5) and clearances (3.5) per outing too.

His most significant contribution, however, has been in the attacking phase of the game where he is averaging 2.5 key passes per game.

This is some way above anyone else in the squad – thus suggesting his impact along the left is quite substantial.

Robinson may face a battle to get back into the side based on Ribeiro’s two league appearances.

Liverpool have come a long way since solely relying on Mo Salah last year and their development in every department has been telling of Jurgen Klopp’s admirable work.

Not only has he improved his side’s defensive state exponentially, but he’s also helped his attackers take things up a notch as a collective unit.

Sadio Mane (who now has a Transfermarkt rating of £67.5m), for one, has capitalized from this change in tact impressively. After scoring a fantastic brace against Watford, which included an outrageous back-heel finish to send the Kop into raptures, he put an end to their goal drought. While Mohamed Salah is struggling to keep up the heat, Mane’s continued to be Liverpool’s torch-bearer in the attack and looks every inch a title-winning attacker.

The Senegalese winger’s style is different from Salah, but he’s also brought similar lethality into his game-play. Despite his ability, Mane’s talents have sometimes been undermined because of Salah’s incredible goal-scoring run, acting as more of a foil for the Egyptian.

However, now that his team-mate is somewhat struggling at the moment, people are finally recognizing his importance.

Largely known for being the tricky winger at Southampton, Mane’s grown into a much more clinical, decisive player. He’s already scored 14 league goals this season, four more than last campaign. Indeed, he’s scored only three goals less than Salah, despite having played almost 200 minutes less than him and has emerged as Liverpool’s go-to man over the course of his side’s excellent campaign.

He’s blossomed from being an inconsistent winger into a nightmare to defend against. Mane’s not only a pacy, skilful player capable of dazzling fans with his footwork, but the unpredictability he’s inherited to produce brilliant goal-scoring moments is making everyone realize his talent being on par with the mighty Egyptian’s.

[ad_pod ]

Ever since Football Insider’s Noel Whelan said he wouldn’t be surprised if Manchester United would be willing to pay £90m for West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice, talk within the media has been more widespread, and it seems many Irons fans on Twitter would be willing to accept that fee for one of their prized assets.

Whelan pointed to the fact that the Red Devils had paid £80m for Maguire as the reasoning for them potentially shelling out even more for the England international, who played for his country in their entertaining 5-3 win against Kosovo at St Mary’s on Tuesday.

While no Hammers supporter will want to lose one of their own, every player has his price and seemingly many of the London Stadium faithful realise what they could do if they did receive £90m for the 20-year-old.

Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Even though one individual is looking even lower and said “anything above £65m I’d sell”, another said “£90m for Rice could get us a DM, a box-to-box midfielder, a CB and a RB which would massively improve our team”.

When you look at it like that it’s hard to disagree, and while Rice is clearly a brilliant player with huge potential, is he really irreplaceable if you’re bringing in £90m?

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

[ad_pod ]

Everton may team Wayne Rooney up with an interim manager, according to The Mirror’s David Maddock. 

The lowdown

The 36-year-old is currently in charge at Derby County, who have been hit a combined 21-point deduction after entering administration and admitting breaches of accounting rules (via BBC Sport).

The Englishman began his playing career at Goodison Park, scoring 15 Premier League goals as a teenager before joining Manchester United in a £27m deal in 2004. He then returned to the Toffees for a single season in 2017 after his Old Trafford career came to an end.

The latest

According to The Mirror, Rooney is on Everton’s list of managerial options, but his limited experience is a concern given the Toffees’ predicament in terms of sitting just four points above the Premier League relegation zone.

They’ve been looking at potential interim candidates, ‘pursuing a similar idea to Manchester United’, who have given Ralf Rangnick the reins until the end of the season. There is a possibility that Rooney could work ‘alongside an interim with an appropriate CV’.

The verdict

Rooney has done a commendable job in hugely difficult circumstances at Derby, hauling them off the foot of the Championship table earlier this month. Without those points deductions, they’d actually be knocking on the door of the top half.

Everton’s hesitation is understandable – he has never managed in the Premier League before and they’re uncomfortably close to the relegation zone – but he has had to cope with mighty adversity at Pride Park.

With a more experienced hand to offer guidance at first, giving him the job might not be the worst idea, even if it would be a unique arrangement in the English top flight.

In other news, many Everton fans fumed over links to this manager

Everton have comfortably progressed in the FA Cup, beating Brentford 4-1 at Goodison Park in Frank Lampard’s first game as manager, in a team performance the Toffees haven’t enjoyed for a while.

Yerry Mina, Richarlison, Mason Holgate and Andros Townsend all found the net in an attacking masterclass from Lampard’s team which saw them play much more offensively than they ever did under Rafael Benitez.

Brentford were incapable of breaking down the Toffees, with only two shots on target throughout the game, but were gifted a penalty by Jordan Pickford when the goalkeeper made a late challenge on Ivan Toney.

The former Chelsea boss set up his team with a back three, playing a 3-4-3 formation, and early in the first half there was another blow to the injury-ridden squad with Ben Godfrey sustaining what looked to be a calf injury in the first 12 minutes, so Lampard was duly forced to replace the defender with Mina.

The £120k-p/w machine missed out on the starting line-up, but he made sure he would use his opportunity to prove his new manager wrong on that decision by becoming an absolute force throughout the game both offensively and defensively in his position.

Mina opened the scoring for Everton. rising the highest when the ball was whipped in from the corner to find the back of the net just 16 minutes after he came off the bench, and he delivered a man of the match performance in his defensive position in the back three.

According to SofaScore, the 27 year old was the highest-rated player on the pitch this afternoon (7.70), winning 86% of his duels and completing 91% of his passes despite having fewer touches than his fellow defenders, proving that Lampard should think twice about leaving him on the bench in the future.

The 43-year-old will have plenty to take away from that performance, and Everton fans will surely be delighted that they got to watch an enjoyable game after a series of poor performances and protests throughout the season so far. Mina today went a long way towards proving a point to his manager and putting a smile back on Evertonian faces.

In other news: Everton suffered an injury blow prior to today’s match

With a loan deal for Philippe Coutinho now agreed, Aston Villa now have the opportunity to focus on signing other players who Steven Gerrard feels would improve his squad.

One player to whom the club could turn their attention and realistically get through the door before the end of the month is Liverpool defender Nathaniel Phillips.

In a recent article from The Athletic by James Pearce, it was claimed that the 24-year-old “is attracting plenty of interest from both Premier League and Serie A clubs”.

The report also claimed that the Merseysiders have already rejected a bid of £7m from an unnamed top-flight club for him, with Liverpool having set their asking price set at £15m.

Additionally, the report named Villa as one of the Premier League sides who are in the market for a centre-back this month, so there’s every possibility that the Midlands club could launch a move for Phillips in the coming weeks if they feel he could improve their squad.

Taking into account how Villa have said goodbye to Axel Tuanzebe after his loan spell at Villa Park was cut short this week, there certainly is room for a new centre-back such as Phillips, who is currently valued at £7.2m by Transfermarkt, to come in and try and secure a place in Gerrard’s team.

Also, with a recent poll ran by Football FanCast revealing that 67% of Villa fans think Tyrone Mings is a liability for the team after his performance in their recent 3-1 defeat against Chelsea – when he was at fault for Romelu Lukaku’s goal – this could pave the way for Gerrard to sign Phillips this month and create a solid centre-back partnership alongside Ezri Konsa, potentially fixing the issue of their leaky defence, with 30 goals conceded in 19 league games.

With just four appearances under his belt for Liverpool across all competitions so far this season, a potential move to Villa could be very appealing for Phillips, who has been labelled as a “monster” on the pitch by Jurgen Klopp. If he would be guaranteed regular game-time under Gerrard’s guidance, it would benefit Liverpool at the same time by reaping what they see as a suitable transfer fee for him.

With Villa also being linked with a move for fellow Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez, Phillips could be a much easier deal to secure given the Merseyside club’s reported willingness to sell him this month.

In other news – “What they’re looking at..”: Journalist drops Villa transfer claim, fans will be buzzing