All posts by z3u9t.icu

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey believes it was the ‘correct’ decision to only award Leeds United’s Tyler Roberts a yellow card against Chelsea.

Leeds drew 0-0 at home to Thomas Tuchel’s in-form Blues side last Saturday, in what represented a good point for Marcelo Bielsa’s men.

They went toe-to-toe with their big-spending opponents throughout at Elland Road, with the draw meaning they currently sit 12th in the table.

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One of the key decisions of the game saw Roberts receive a booking after a challenge on Jorginho in the second half, a punishment befitting of the crime according to Halsey.

Halsey believes right decision was made in Leeds-Chelsea clash

Speaking to This Is Futbol, Halsey claimed Kevin Friend was right not to send the Leeds ace off, with the correct decision ultimately made:

“It wasn’t violent conduct; you knew it straight away. It’s just his follow-through and he’s gone onto the back of his calf so for me, in that instance it’s not violent conduct, I think the yellow card was correct.

“I think that had it been a serious situation, VAR would have got involved in that situation.”

Transfer Tavern take

Halsey is right in his assessment, with Roberts’ tackle no doubt a little on the reckless side, but certainly not malicious and warranting a sending off.

If players are receiving their marching orders for challenges of that ilk, the number of red cards will be off the scale before too long.

In other news, Leeds are ‘thinking seriously’ about making an addition in one key area this summer. Find out more here.

Manchester United have been credited with scouting Lille defender Sven Botman.

What’s the word?

The Dutchman has long been linked with a Premier League switch amid interest from a whole host of clubs across Europe including the Red Devils.

Reports have emerged over the past week that he has agreed terms ahead of a summer move to Anfield.

However, his agent has moved to swiftly deny those rumours, and according to The Mirror, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are also admirers of the central defender, saying that they have “scouted” him as the United boss looks to strengthen his back-line. This follows a report from The Sunday World just last month that Liverpool could face competition from their Premier League rivals for his signature.

United would give him the platform to perform alongside club captain Harry Maguire, while joining Liverpool would see him reunited with his countryman and international teammate Virgil van Dijk – who is currently recovering from injury.

Perfect Victor Lindelof upgrade

It seems Solskjaer is desperate to bring in defensive reinforcements after seeing United’s title challenge this season falter in front of his very eyes amid links to the likes of Nikola Milenkovic and Sergios Ramos.

Solskjaer has suffered a string of setbacks so far this season, with Maguire subject to intense media scrutiny after his arrest in Mykonos, while Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof have been unable to impress consistently next to the club captain.

In Botman, United could find the perfect upgrade on Lindelof, who endured a torrid time against Premier League strugglers West Brom on Sunday.

The Dutchman, who is currently valued at £22m via Transfermarkt, finds himself a wanted man ahead of the summer transfer window, and for a good reason too.

At 21, he could be seen as the ideal long-term partner to Maguire, as he has grown in stature since his €9m (£7.8m) arrival from Ajax.

The Dutch youngster is widely touted as one of Ligue 1’s most promising talents with defensive skills that have earned him rave reviews all over Europe.

By the numbers, Botman is better than Lindelof in almost every area, with his one tackle on average, 1.8 interceptions per game, and three clearances per 90 in the French top flight showing that attackers find it incredibly difficult to get the better of the Dutchman. Considering he has made 24 Ligue 1 appearances this season, that’s no mean feat.

Just imagine the difference he could make alongside Maguire and co, it’s almost too much to think about. Therefore, Ed Woodward should focus all his efforts on trying to bring Botman to Old Trafford this summer.

He would represent an upgrade on Lindelof and tie in to United’s desire of signing young, exciting player who fit their long-term vision.

AND in other news, Bruno Fernandes was Manchester United’s one shining light vs West Brom…

In recent comments, the agent of Illan Meslier, Xavier Fleury, discussed potential interest in the Leeds United goalkeeper, as well as hinting at the shot-stopper’s future exit from Elland Road.

Since arriving at Leeds on what was originally a season-long loan deal in the summer of 2019 – with the club making Meslier’s signing permanent in a £5.85 million deal last summer – the 21-year-old has so far gone on to feature 36 times for the Whites, conceding 48 goals and keeping 15 clean sheets along the way.

So far this season, despite his tender age, the £10.8 million-rated Frenchman has highly impressed over his 25 Premier League appearances for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, making an average of four saves and per game, as well as averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.04 – ranking him as the club’s sixth-best performer in the top flight.

And, speaking recently on the LUFC Fan Zone podcast, as cited by Leeds Live, Fleury claimed that a number of big clubs could be interested in signing the France U21 international, as well opening the door to the ‘keepers potential exit from the club.

He said: “When you are so young, the youngest starting goalkeeper in Europe, for sure, big clubs could be interested, following him. Illan is starting at Leeds. He loves the club. Perhaps in one, two seasons, if you have a club like Real Madrid that knock on the door, who knows?”

Transfer Tavern Take

With Leeds not exactly having great strength in depth in the goalkeeper department – Kiko Casilla being Bielsa’s back up shot-stopper, with the club losing all three games the 34-year-old has featured in this season – keeping Meslier at the club is likely to be a priority for the Whites this summer.

However, with Fleury claiming that the 21-year-old is currently loving life at Elland Road, it would appear as if the Frenchman is in no rush to leave any time soon, which is likely to be very pleasing news for both Bielsa as well as fans of the club.

In other news, Phil Hay shed light on this Leeds star’s contract details – find out more here!

Leeds United are enjoying a pretty good festive period.

Although they were battered by Manchester United at Old Trafford, they have responded in superb fashion.

Marcelo Bielsa’s team rose to the robust challenge of Burnley a few days ago, winning 1-0 and then demolished West Brom on Tuesday evening.

The Whites were relentlessly emphatic as they won 5-0 at the Hawthorns, playing the type of clinically impressive football we’ve become used to seeing from them under Bielsa.

Jack Harrison ran ragged down the left-hand side and combined with Raphinha and Rodrigo, the Baggies couldn’t live with Leeds.

However, just as important as the dynamic attackers on show was Kalvin Phillips. The England international has been utilised as a centre-back in recent weeks but was back in his preferred holding role on Tuesday.

It was a position he thrived in and absolutely dominated the opposition. To coin the YEP’s Graham Smyth, he was playing in complete “cruise control”, spreading passes and breaking up the play on a regular basis.

Phillips won 83.3% of his duels – ten in total – as he absolutely bullied West Brom every time they tried to break away.

All of the praise will go to those in the final third but Phillips set the tempo and the platform from which Leeds could go and play freely. The 25-year-old completed 92% of his passes and was unsuccessful with just one of the 11 long balls he played during the contest.

This was a complete performance from the midfielder, one that saw him perform two dribbles as he had Albion’s entire team on strings.

Phillips’ display was exactly the type of one that should gain him further England recognition. After suffering an injury that ruled him out of the Three Lions’ last fixtures, it will be encouraging for both club and country that he’s now in such good form.

This was a showing that demonstrated he’s not just about the defensive side – he can also prove to be a difference-maker going forward.

He is well and truly the heartbeat of this Leeds team.

AND in other news, Leeds brute who won 6 aerial duels was an absolute beast vs WBA…

Glasgow Rangers find themselves in a strong position at the top of the Scottish Premiership after coming from behind to draw with Motherwell and restore their lead over Celtic.

Despite having watched both sides draw at the weekend, the results leave the gap at 21 points ahead of the Hoops’ two games in hand over their arch-rivals.

The January transfer window is in full swing as Scottish Premiership clubs consider whether to dip into their coffers and hunt for some bargains in the market. Gerrard himself is no stranger to strengthening his squad, having acquired Jordan Jones and Glen Kamara on four-year pre-contract deals in 2019.

It’s fair to say that Jones, however, has struggled for various reasons this season and the club have one eye on the future.

Peterborough United director of football Barry Fry has claimed Ross Wilson is ready to go after Siriki Dembele, who has scored seven goals for the Posh this season. Dembele is still only 24 and could prove a good signing for the future.

Whether or not he will leave the Weston Homes Stadium in the transfer market remains to be seen, given the fact that he is contracted until the end of next season, and Posh owner Darragh McAnthony seems to be under no pressure to sell one of Darren Ferguson’s best players.

Dembele has burst onto the scene since the start of the season, having bagged six times and registered five assists in 21 appearances across all competitions, via Transfermarkt.

Rangers often look to the lower leagues of English football for useful players and this window is no exception. Players like Daniel Johnson, Gustavo Hamer and Kyle Joseph have all been heavily linked with a move to Ibrox in recent weeks, but there’s no doubting the fact that Dembele will have piqued their interest after he delivered a personal masterclass against MK Dons on Saturday afternoon.

The 24-year-old was the standout performer for Ferguson’s side after he produced two key passes, which shows he was a force to be reckoned with against the Dons, as they struggled to cope with his creativity. For context, no other Posh player provided more key passes than Dembele last Saturday.

Dembele, who earns around £2,600-per-week at the Weston Homes Stadium, once again demonstrated that he is a real counter-attacking threat as he completed two successful dribbles from two attempts, emphasising that he caused all sorts of problems for Russell Martin’s side. Although he lost possession 19 times, this can be attributed to the fact that he was trying to find space between the lines, picking up the ball and passing it forwards with one or two touches.

The jet-heeled versatile forward was a bundle of energy and speed as Posh raced into a two-goal lead against the Dons, producing a moment of magic after he left defenders trailing in his wake on the left-hand side of the box before teeing up Sammie Szmodics.

A freshen up out wide is needed at Rangers, especially considering their over-reliance on Ryan Kent on the left wing. Dembele could be viewed as the perfect replacement for Jones, who has failed to stamp his authority as the backup option at Ibrox since joining from Kilmarnock in 2019.

AND in other news, Borna Barisic was Rangers’ unsung hero against Motherwell…

Phil Hay has reported that Leeds United will be without both Robin Koch and Diego Llorente on Friday when they host West Ham at Elland Road. The former is confirmed to need surgery on his knee and will be out for up to three months, whilst his expected replacement is also injured with a muscle problem.

Whilst this is a huge blow for the Whites, their manager may have just dunked them into even hotter water.

In his latest press conference, Marcelo Bielsa was asked about his centre-back options, to which he responded with his full planned line-up.

A disaster waiting to happen for Leeds

The Argentinian is known for revealing his team plans ahead of upcoming fixtures, but it’s a habit he simply must snap out of. Bielsa was famous for doing this during his time in the Championship, but Leeds were so dominant that they were confident enough to counteract any plans the opposition had for them.

However, as they have already realised, the Premier League is more demanding a lot more unpredictable and is a completely different ball game, making moves like this even more risky. The Whites recently suffered back-to-back 4-1 defeats to Leicester and Crystal Palace, which only further highlights how ruthless England’s top flight can be.

Leeds are currently 14th in the table and have won just one of their last five games. It’s important that they restore their winning form and give themselves the best chance of surviving a drop back down to the Championship. However, this will not be an easy target to meet if Bielsa continues to give his rivals insight into his match day plans.

With Michail Antonio out of action, David Moyes will need to change up his tactics. But the added boost of knowing Bielsa’s plans could hand West Ham the win on Friday.

In other news, Alfie McCalmont could be coming for Mateusz Klich…

Alex Iwobi badly betrayed Carlo Ancelotti with a torrid display in Everton’s Boxing Day win over Sheffield United in the continued absence of James Rodriguez.

Ancelotti confirmed ahead of the Toffees’ trip to Bramall Lane that he would be without Rodriguez for Saturday night’s encounter with Chris Wilder’s Blades, while noting that the Colombian has also been ruled out of Monday’s meeting with Manchester City through a calf injury.

Iwobi has stood in at right-wing for Rodriguez in recent weeks and earned Ancelotti’s praise for his performances, having proved to be Everton’s most dangerous player at Burnley, produced an aggressive end-to-end threat against Chelsea and offered a committed showing at home to Manchester United earlier this week.

Saturday was far from Iwobi’s best performance in royal blue since joining Everton from Arsenal in a deal that could reach £34m last year, with the Nigeria international a distant cry from the player Ancelotti could only wax lyrical over a matter of weeks ago.

“It’s his best moment since I arrived [at Everton]. He is showing confidence, is really good in one-versus-one situations and is working hard. The key is to work hard – the team is working hard,” Ancelotti said after the Leicester City win.

Everton vastly struggled for creativity against Sheffield United on Boxing Day as the visitors were restricted to just three shots on target from seven efforts, per SofaScore.

Anthony Gordon struggled to find a grove in the affair as he stood in for Richarlison after the Brazilian was forced to sit out through the Premier League’s concussion protocol, with the academy graduate unable to fashion any dangerous one-on-one situations as Sheffield United swarmed the youngster.

Gordon departed the action early in the second half to be replaced by Bernard, having offered one successful dribble from three attempts and no shots on goal, yet orchestrated a chance for Everton to score from his 26 touches.

Iwobi registered more than twice as many touches of the ball as Gordon with the Arsenal product taking 60 touches, alongside making six successful dribbles from seven, yet struggled to influence proceedings and saw his night end without a key pass.

The £50,000-per-week attacker further failed to beat Aaron Ramsdale with his only shot of the match, lost eight of his 15 ground duels, turned over possession 17 times, committed two fouls and was dribbled past once.

Only two of the 24-year-old’s four attempted crosses found an Everton teammate, too, as Ancelotti was badly betrayed by a player the Italian was forced to rely heavily on.

AND in other news, Marcel Brands will have to ditch his favoured Everton approach to sign a sought-after £18m enforcer.

Tottenham Hotspur’s quest to qualify for the Europa League knockout stage nudged a little closer after they defeated Ludogorets in Bulgaria on Thursday evening.

Jose Mourinho wanted a reaction and boy did he get one as Spurs romped home to a 3-1 victory in Group J, though for now, they remain behind Royal Antwerp in the standings.

The north Londoners took the lead through Harry Kane in typical fashion, heading home his 200th goal for the club in the 13th minute. His assister, Lucas Moura, then became goalscorer by doubling the advantage before Giovani Lo Celso sealed it after the home side had clawed one back in the second half.

Supporters voted for the Argentine playmaker as their Man of the Match on Twitter, which echoed the thoughts of the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick, who lauded him as Spurs’ “star man” on the night.

However, it was Lucas Moura who shone above everyone else – even if he was withdrawn after just an hour. That only goes to show he did enough to creep into Mourinho’s plans for West Brom on Sunday.

Per SofaScore, the €40m-rated (£36m) winger picked up the highest rating on the pitch (8.9) and also recorded four tackles, four dribbles and two key passes.

Moura won 75% of his duels, both on the ground and aerially, delivered one accurate cross and created Kane’s opener.

It’s no wonder that former teammate Jan Vertonghen, who is now at fellow Europa League side Benfica, once lauded him as an “unbelievable player” who is “just a nightmare” to play against in training.

The Brazilian dynamo stole the show in Bulgaria on Thursday night and deserves way more plaudits for how he’s been performing as of late.

That goal was his third in the competition this season – there’s just something about Moura and playing in Europa – remember Ajax?

Right now, there’s a chance that he’s the man to keep Gareth Bale out of the starting XI in the Premier League and that would be some feat to achieve.

AND in other news, £18m-rated Spurs lightweight has given Jose Mourinho a new headache…

Steve Parish missed the boat with Crystal Palace’s failed pursuit of CSKA Moscow striker Fedor Chalov after the Russians rejected a £14m bid for the centre-forward last year.

What was the story?

According to a report from Sky Sports at the time, Palace were among several Premier League clubs said to be interested in signing the Russia international in the summer of 2019, along with Monaco, Lazio and Valencia, having been impressed by the striker’s prolific top-flight form in the 2018/19 campaign.

Chalov burst onto the scene with 15 goals and 7 assists in 30 games in Premier Liga, whilst he also scored two goals in the Champions League that  same season.

Following their futile attempts to sign Chalov last summer, his agent Christian Emile said: “Fedor is one of the most striking players in Europe, and the increased interest in him is completely justified.

“Especially from the side of one Premier League club, which made a significant offer, but CSKA refused to sell the player.

“The position of CSKA is completely understandable – they have serious goals, and Fedor is the most important player for them.”

It’s believed that Palace boss Roy Hodgson wanted to sign two centre-forwards, having identified the Russian as one of his top transfer targets, as well as then-Brentford striker Ollie Watkins. However, as we all know, Hodgson didn’t end up with either of those options, signing Jordan Ayew in the end instead, before bringing in Michy Batshuayi from Chelsea on a season-long loan deal on transfer deadline day this season.

Missed the boat

Chalov has at times struggled for consistency so far this season, having scored two goals and supplied five assists in all competitions for his boyhood club, as a recurring knee injury has caused him several problems. However, he scored during the 2-0 win over Rostov before the international break, and has bagged two times and produced two assists in his past four games.

Per WhoScored, the 22-year-old has played 11 games in Premier Liga, scoring two goals and supplying four assists, whilst he is averaging 2.3 shots and 1.1 key passes per game.

By comparison, Batshuayi is barely managing one shot and just 0.2 key passes per game in the Premier League, via WhoScored, whilst he has failed to find the back of the net at Selhurst Park this season so far.

Pavel Koval, Chalov’s first coach at CSKA’s youth academy, once said his former charge “has everything a forward needs; speed, dribbling ability, a good scoring instinct – he has it all,” which is high praise indeed for someone who is still at the early stages of his career. 

In Chalov, Parish could have added a natural goal threat in the middle of the pitch to the Palace first-team squad, who can also play as an attacking midfielder, whilst he still has room for improvement at the age of 22.

The £11.7m-rated sensation could’ve become a first-team regular starter for years to come if he had brought him to Selhurst Park and he was able to hit the ground running, although his statistics seem to indicate that he would’ve done this, given his impressive return for CSKA Moscow (41 goals in 139 games), as he has shown he can score goals at the top levels of the game.

However, his contract is set to expire in 2022, and it’s unlikely he will be short of potential suitors if/when the chance once again arises to sign him.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace got rid of Aaron Wan-Bissaka at the perfect time…

Sunderland midfielder Max Power has revealed that he is delighted with his new advanced midfield role and that he wants to add more goals to his game.

Following the Black Cats’ 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers at the weekend, attention has now turned to Saturday’s fixture with Oxford United.

Power, who was named team captain prior to the start of the season, featured throughout the draw with Rovers, playing in a more advanced midfield role than his accustomed holding midfield position.

Former Wigan Athletic midfielder Power has made 85 appearances for the Black Cats, netting seven goals and gaining 4 assists.

And he has now revealed his ambitions to add more goals to his game, speaking with Northern Echo on Tuesday.

“I’ve spoken to the gaffer and said I want to improve on the goal return,” said Power. “In the last few games, I’m getting in the box a lot more now.

“It’s something I want to add to my game. I’ve been given more of a licence to go forward, so I feel as though I’ll be able to arrive in the box and get shots off.

“I’m a team player and I’ll always do what’s asked of me. But I won’t hide the fact that I do enjoy playing higher up. I feel as if I can get more goals there. Over the last two seasons, the goal return has probably been in question, but I’ve been playing a disciplined role in front of a back four. I want to justify the manager’s faith for playing me ten or 15 yards further up the pitch.”

Sunderland boss Phil Parkinson will be hoping his side can bounce back from the 1-1 opening day result which saw George Dobson sent off in added time to hand the Black Cats boss a selection headache.

Power could very well be Sunderland’s key player this season, having been handed a more advanced role and the team captaincy role.

Having suffered a failure to gain promotion last term, Power’s words are positive and good to hear as the Black Cats look to return to the Championship.

Do you think Power will net a sufficient amount of goals this season? Let us know in the comments section below…