All posts by n8rngtd.top

Jason Cundy believes Manchester United are heading for the Championship under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.It’s no secret that the Red Devils have struggled under the Norwegian’s stewardship since he was awarded the permanent job by Ed Woodward.Their worst start to a season in 30 years is more than likely going to be extended as they welcome league leaders Liverpool to Old Trafford on Sunday, leaving them languishing in the relegation zone without any real indication that they’re going to haul themselves out anytime soon. United have scored an average 0.7 goals per game since Chelsea, let that sink in.It’s stick or twist time for Woodward who’s recently come out and publicly defended himself, Solskjaer, himself, Ed, Woodward, himself and Ed. Does the soiled chief keep Solskjaer and hope that the second coming of Sir Alex Ferguson is on the horizon (impossible) or does he accept defeat for the fourth time in his tenure? We’ll soon find out.Championship pending, Cundy has delivered a very harsh verdict on Solskjaer’s United…

Leeds United have a storied history that fans often love to reminisce about.

With the club celebrating its 100th birthday last week you’d have thought that social media would have been filled with supporters waxing lyrical about some of the greats that have played at Elland Road over the years.

Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, there have also been some absolutely shocking players, and there weren’t many worse than Adryan.

The Brazilian attacking midfielder was once touted as the ‘new Zico’, but unlike the legendary midfielder who scored 48 times for Brazil, he was a complete and utter flop.

Adryan never found the net during his time with Leeds, and he was best remembered for his dive against Derby County.

Fans on Twitter were asked to give their reviews of his time at the club, and many made reference to the embarrassing simulation against the Rams.

Here’s what the Elland Road faithful have been saying on Twitter…

Arsenal fans believe that Mesut Ozil has got one over on manager Unai Emery after a cryptic Twitter post.

The former Germany international posted a picture of himself smiling, with the caption: “You make me laugh”.

A number of supporters think that the post is in direct reference to Emery’s treatment of him since the beginning of the season.

Indeed, he has made just one Premier League appearance, playing 71 minutes in the 2-2 draw with Watford at Vicarage Road.

He was left out of the squad altogether for the opening three games of the campaign and was on the bench for the draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

Since his display against the Hornets, Ozil was left on the bench against Aston Villa and excluded from the matchday pool for clashes with Manchester United, AFC Bournemouth and Sheffield United.

He also played 71 minutes in the 5-0 thumping of Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup, wearing the captain’s armband in that game, but has not featured at all in the Europa League.

And fans believe that the playmaker has fired shots at his manager, with many expressing solidarity with his plight.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

Manchester United fans on Twitter have been full of praise for the strike partnership of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.The pair scored one each as the Red Devils beat Norwich 3-1 at Carrow Road.Unfortunately, we haven’t seen this partnership all that much this term due to Martial’s injury woes.Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, the fact that 56 per cent of United’s goals this term have been scored while both men are on the pitch shows just how influential the pair are when they play together.

It certainly seems as if United’s success relies heavily on both men being fit and ready to play.

One fan even went as far as to compare them to the incredible partnership of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole.

Whether or not Martial and Rashford can reach the heights of the two aforementioned strikers remains to be seen, but United fans were certainly impressed by what they saw on Sunday.

Here’s what the Old Trafford faithful have been saying on Twitter…

West Bromwich Albion will have to wait until Monday to play out their Championship fixture this weekend, and by then, they could well have lost their first place position.

Last week, Slaven Bilic’s men failed to record a victory despite having two attempts to do so on their own patch, the Hawthorns.

Basement boys Barnsley nearly caused a shock when they went into half-time with a two-goal lead, but the Croatian managed to inspire a comeback with his half-time substitutions, and then just a few days later, Charlton Athletic bagged a 94th-minute penalty to snatch a point.

Watch West Bromwich Albion Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The Baggies have still only kept one clean sheet from their 14 league games, so something has got to change, especially in light of their recent struggles.

This is the starting XI we believe West Brom can benefit from most on Monday evening…

Bilic will have to make at least one change as Nathan Ferguson faces a three-game suspension for his rash challenge on Chris Solly last time out, so it makes sense for Conor Townsend to replace him as he was instrumental to their turnaround against the Tykes, assisting the late equaliser.

Ahmed Hegazi should make his return from injury with Albion desperately needing to clinch a few more clean sheets if they genuinely want to gain promotion this season.

There’s a tough decision to make over who he would replace, and through no fault of his own, Kyle Bartley gets dropped, simply because Semi Ajayi cost money this summer.

The remainder of the defence and the goalkeeper remains the same, but upfront, it is time to sack off the struggling Charlie Austin.

One goal in ten matches, per WhoScored, is simply just not good enough when you’ve arrived at the club for £4m on deadline day.

The obvious replacement is Hal Robson-Kanu, who has netted twice in his last three games from the bench, he deserves an opportunity based on that.

Bilic needs to be bold and brave to solidify their title claims.

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

It all started with a photo.

One post on social media and all of a sudden Birmingham City looked like they were going to be getting a new player in 26-year-old French forward Jeremie Bela.

The Blues have reportedly been interested in him for some time but just haven’t been able to pull the trigger on making the deal happen.

However, that changed on Wednesday evening when the club officially confirmed the acquisition.

Find out a how a world-record-holding freestyler got on with the worst football in the world in the video below…

On the chalkboard

If you take a look at his career record (all via Transfermarkt), you can see that he has slowly been developing into a fine goalscorer.

Having started off slowly with goal returns of one, six, four and five in previous league seasons, he finally managed to break the ten goal barrier last year and score eleven.

As a player, he has predominantly played as a winger, but has also played a few games upfront, and that’s where he could find himself at St Andrew’s.

As we have discussed before on FFC, Lukas Jutkiewicz is in desperate need of some help up front and Bela could be the solution that the Blues have been looking for. Considering he’s 5 foot 8, a little and large combination could develop quite nicely between the pair of them.

With the 6 foot 1 frame of Jutkiewicz, a man who has won eight aerial duels per game in 2019/20, he could provide the knockdowns for his potential new teammate to run onto and finish.

Clotet has experimented with the likes of Kerim Mrabti and Alvaro Gimenez but to no real avail – the pair have scored just one between them. Now it looks as if they could be about to try a different approach with Bela.

What also adds substance to the belief he’ll play as a forward is that he hasn’t exactly been very helpful to his teammates throughout his career, only managing to chip in with six assists to far, so it’s best that they leave that role to the incumbent wingers like Dan Crowley and Fran Villalba.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Leeds United ensured they remained within touching distance of West Bromwich Albion at the top of the table with a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side stayed in third position, two-points behind the league leaders, whose only defeat this campaign has come at the hands of the Whites.

All three goals in the match were scored in the first half with one man, in particular, contributing entirely towards United’s success.

Patrick Bamford scored the opener from the spot before slotting in Jack Harrison to double their lead just five minutes later.

The 26-year-old ended a lengthy drought for a striker as he netted for the first time since August when he bagged in Leeds’ 3-0 win over Stoke City.

Bamford has copped a lot of flak on social media during his barren run, such as against Preston North End, while some have constantly called for Eddie Nketiah to start over him.

But this performance goes a long way in proving his critics wrong.

Per SofaScore, the number nine also had a 93% passing success rate, recorded one key pass, and had a total of three attempts at goal. Bamford even got involved defensively as he managed two clearances and one tackle.

It would have been an enormous sense of relief to finally grab that elusive finish, which should not only boost his own confidence going forward but should also silence some of the fans that have pelted him in recent times.

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With Nketiah’s injury, Bamford is set in stone to occupy that forward role for the foreseeable future, so fans at Elland Road will have to get used to seeing his name on the teamsheet whether they like it or not.

Although, they should somewhat be buoyed by this latest showing as the 6 foot 1 man has proven precisely what he can offer to Bielsa’s side this campaign.

Never write off a player that has netted 49 goals in 137 regular-season games in this very division.

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

Wolverhampton Wanderers soared into the top half of the Premier League for the first time since the opening day as they eased to victory on Sunday afternoon.

Nuno Santo’s side defeated local rivals Aston Villa 2-1 at Molineux to move into eighth position from 15th with only one other team in the entire division losing fewer games than the west Midlands club, Liverpool.

Watch Wolverhampton Wanderers Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Wolves are quietly going under the radar after a rough start, which was in no doubt down to them adapting to the demands a Europa League qualification campaign brings.

They have also had to deal with significant injuries whereas last season they were pretty lucky in that department.

Willy Boly is expected to be out for the foreseeable future leaving them awfully short at centre-half, even if it is through the stubbornness of the man in charge.

On the Chalkboard

Nuno is yet to play Jesus Vallejo in the league or in Europe since the 28-year-old picked up his nasty training ground injury with him opting instead for wing-back Matt Doherty and more recently midfielder Leander Dendoncker, who is valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, in the role.

They have both been utilised over Max Kilman too, although he did impress on Thursday night against Slovan Bratislava.

However, in doing so, Wolves may have found their future at right centre-back as the Belgian put in his best performance of the season against Villa on Sunday.

The 24-year-old won five aerial duels, recorded a passing success rate of 89.2%, and managed 11 clearances, per WhoScored, which makes him appear to have all the traits to suit Nuno’s philosophy.

Having made 22 appearances this season, it may be a little unfair to say that his Wolves career was in any sort of jeopardy, but Birmingham Live revealed that the club are to pursue a central midfielder in January, which could see his standing in the side decrease significantly.

It is unlikely that neither last season’s eight-assist king Joao Moutinho or the Real Madrid-linked Ruben Neves are dropped, even more so after this weekend’s victory as they combined for the opener.

Until his move to centre-back, Dendoncker’s performances just weren’t at the level required having managed over a 6.70 rating just once in nine games, which only strengthens the argument that any additions would knock him back in the pecking order.

Therefore, Nuno’s masterstroke decision to play him in defence has been game-changing and may have just saved him his future at the club.

The Portuguese chief is surely going to continue to trust him over Vallejo, and then it’s down to whether he still prefers him over Ryan Bennett, who has been out injured recently.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…

Those coming through the youth ranks at Wolves don’t have a traditional upbringing.

Hosted at various houses in the local area, a regular group of players from catchments outside of Wolverhampton are taken under the wing of loving families in a bid to guide them through the early stages of their career.

Colossal centre-back Dominic Iorfa is one man to gain from such a system, while another defender in the form of Lewis Richards has also benefitted.

One of many to go through this process, he was initially in the youth ranks at Brentford before moving northwards to the Midlands.

His trajectory at Molineux has been quite something. He thrived in the U18s last term, so much so than he earned a place in Rob Edwards’ U23 side, a team that won Premier League 2 Division 2.

The 18-year-old’s superb term was capped off by winning the Academy Player of the Season for 2018/19.

It was no more than he deserved for a stellar campaign where be impressed plenty at the club.

Detailing his characteristics, Edwards said last season: “He’s good in one-v-one situations defensively, comfortable on the ball, he’s got a good range of passing.

“He’s got a good temperament, someone who wants to defend. He’s broken into our team on a couple of occasions now and done well.”

The rave reviews didn’t stop there. Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell once noted: “He’s a very technical player who’s got the ability to pass the ball and start off play and help us to build out from the back, but also then very capable physically.”

A physical player with technique is all you need in a defender and not only does his ability to pass the ball remind you of club captain Conor Coady, but the strength he possesses is comparable to that of Willy Boly.

At the age he’s at, Richards hasn’t yet matured but he could well be one of the defenders to prosper from the aforementioned Boly’s time on the sidelines.

The Frenchman’s ankle fracture was a huge blow to Wolves’ aspirations but there is now a gap in defence open to be swallowed up by one willing taker.

Nuno Santo doesn’t trust Jesus Vallejo, playing him just twice in the Premier League while Romain Saiss and Leander Dendoncker aren’t natural centre-halves.

As far as actual centre-backs go, they are few and far between, something that may be somewhat of an issue given their three at the back formation.

If you consider Richards’ ever-growing attributes, a first-team debut may well linger in the not too distant future.

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…

Wolves loanee Connor Ronan has been busy impressing away from the club and journalist Tim Spiers has now taken to Twitter to deliver his verdict on the youngster.

What’s he said?

Ronan was in action for Republic of Ireland’s U21 side over the course of the recent international break, appearing as a second-half substitute as the Irish defeated Sweden 4-1.

Currently plying his trade at Slovakian side FC DAC, the 21-year-old is in the midst of a two-year loan in a bid to get his career back on track.

It appears as though he’s more than done that, earning rave reviews from Irish supporters for his display on Tuesday evening.

He’s even been given the seal of approval by The Athletic’s Wolves correspondent Spiers. Taking to Twitter this week, he said the following:

Rampant Ronan

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Ronan’s time in the Midlands was one that was coming to a disappointing end.

Shipped out on loan to a far from reputable league, he’s begun to make tremendous strides in 2019/20.

The youngster broke through at Wolves in 2016/17, going onto appear 13 times for the senior side but as the club made moves into the Premier League, any chance of first-team football seeped away.

They brought in the likes of Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho while the emergence of Morgan Gibbs-White can’t have helped his cause either.

However, Ronan’s making all the right noises at the moment, scoring in Europa League qualifying for his loan outfit while also performing admirably in midweek for his country.

He was introduced when the Republic of Ireland were trailing but he helped change the game, playing a sensational ball in behind for Tottenham prodigy Troy Parrott to find the back of the net. He then set up the final goal of the contest after breaking down the left and sliding the ball across the box.

If Ronan continues making the strides he’s put in during recent months, he might well have a fighting chance of getting back in Nuno Santo’s plans.

Given Wolves’ slim squad, he could become a useful back-up option. Only time will tell whether that actually happens.