All posts by n8rngtd.top

Loads of Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter in anger after they discovered that Christian Benteke had signed a new contract at Selhurst Park – James Tomkins has also renewed his terms.

The Belgium international’s deal with the Eagles was set to expire in the summer of 2020, although the south Londoners have moved to secure their asset’s future by tying him down until the summer of 2021.

This is an extremely questionable decision from Palace.

Benteke has scored just four goals in his last 58 games, including just one strike throughout the entirety of last season.

To make matters worse, the 28-year-old has been picking up a reported weekly wage of £120k-a-week the entire time – he really hasn’t been justifying that sum with his awful goalscoring return.

Quite rightly, a lot of Palace fans on Twitter are fuming with Steve Parish’s decision to hand Benteke a new deal.

Let’s take a look at some of the tweets…

Tottenham Hotspur fans were left confused after Hugo Lloris was included in the 30 players nominated for the Ballon d’Or.

The France international enjoyed a relatively successful 2019 as he helped captain Spurs to their first-ever Champions League final.

However, his current season has been plagued with mistakes. The 29-year-old was found guilty of overplaying in the win over Southampton, with Danny Ings intercepting an attempted turn to equalise (via BBC).

A week later, and £22.5m-rated Lloris once again made headlines against Brighton and Hove Albion as he dropped the ball on his own goal line with Neal Maupay stealing in to score the opening goal of the game in a 3-0 win for the south coast side.

It seems the mistakes by Lloris is weighing heavy on the minds of the fans as they took to Twitter to issue confused responses to his nomination.

Here is a selection of tweets from the Spurs fans:

Tottenham fans, should Lloris have been nominated for the award? Let us know your thoughts!

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…

A step back, but not a huge one.

Whilst the defeat at Wigan could be seen as some as just a bump in the road, one former Nottingham Forest player believes that it should act as a lesson for Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi to learn from.

What’s he said?

Speaking with Nottingham Live, the former Forest man said that Sabri Lamouchi’s men needed to be more aggressive right from the outset in the future, to make sure that results like this don’t happen again:

“We have to make sure we’re on the front foot in the first place. From the first whistle. Get at teams straight away. That’s got to be something we improve on in these next two home games. Two games at the City Ground this week is a good chance to get back on track and quickly forget about the weekend.

“But no games are easy – if Sabri Lamouchi, the manager, didn’t know that already, he will do now. Hull and Reading are more than capable of catching us out. We’ve got to start well, look to get the first goal and get the crowd behind us.”

Watch Nottingham Forest Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Best foot forward

As we have discussed previously on FFC, Nottingham Forest are at great risk of missing out at the end of the season if they don’t start killing games off.

With the exception of their 3-0 result against Birmingham City, every single one of their games so far this season have been decided by one-goal margins. Clearly, on that evidence, they need to start scoring more goals. That may all change if they’re able to alter their mentality.

Nottingham Forest need to start showing their dominance in games. Whilst they may be doing relatively well in the table right now, they could be doing so much better and putting more pressure on the rest of the league.

Their undefeated streak was impressive but they must ensure they bounce back.

The defeat at Wigan should serve as a wakeup call to Lamouchi that he needs to start being able to adapt to various situations, and that his style of play won’t be able to see Forest through the whole of the season.

After all, teams will probably start to work them out sooner or later.

Liverpool re-opened a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League table courtesy of a 2-1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

And many of the Merseyside club’s fans were keen to pay tribute to Andrew Robertson for his performance over the 90 minutes of action.

According to WhoScored, Robertson had one shot, embarked on two successful dribbles, made two tackles and boasted a 87% pass success rate from left-back, which is very impressive at any level of football.

Mohamed Salah took the headlines with his penalty ensuring that Liverpool would return to winning ways in the Premier League following their 1-1 draw at Manchester United on October 20.

However, a number of the club’s supporters have taken to social media to lavish praise on Scotland international Robertson, who made it incredibly difficult for Spurs attacker Christian Eriksen to get involved.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

A selection of the Twitter reaction is available to view below:

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…

Wolves return to Premier League action this weekend, having taken a short break for the Carabao Cup in midweek, and they now come face to face with a team in turmoil right now in Arsenal.

Nuno Santo’s side currently sit 12th in the table having lost just two of their ten matches, but it could have been so much better, especially in recent weeks.

Last Sunday’s match against Newcastle United epitomised that entirely as the west Midlands club went behind in the first half to a Jamaal Lascelles header before needing Jonny’s equaliser as the left-back was in the right place at the right time to secure a point at St James’ Park.

Watch Wolverhampton Wanderers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Although Matty Longstaff’s red card left the Magpies in the lurch, Wolves still couldn’t capitalise.

Just like the Slovan Bratislava game, and just like the Southampton game too, Nuno set out his side originally in a 3-5-2 formation, only this time, he absurdly chose Matt Doherty at centre-back despite having Jesus Vallejo and Max Kilman at his disposal.

Both of their last two fixtures saw him quickly revert back to a 3-4-3 formation, and you guessed it the same happened last weekend.

It begs the question – why he doesn’t just set out his side like that initially?

The 3-5-2 has left them exposed and a goal down in three successive matches, leading to the Portuguese native changing it up by the second half.

Surely he wouldn’t have that problem if he ran the formation they’ve ended with from the beginning.

A sign of his stubbornness, perhaps.

All three games they have had to come from behind to salvage a result with Wolves only picking up a victory against Slovan.

Football FanCast have previously stated why a 3-4-3 can pay dividends for the side this season, so maybe it is time Nuno listened.

Now they have Diogo Jota back from injury and Matt Doherty closer to being 100%, this formation just seems most natural as it will allow a front three of the Portuguese winger, Raul Jimenez, and Adama Traore – the trio have scored six of their 13 Premier League goals this campaign.

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

Real Madrid have been rising in form recently and Zinedine Zidane seems to finally have found his mojo once again in the Spanish capital. But one huge part of that newfound success is the emergence of the 21-year-old midfielder, Federico Valverde.

On the chalkboard

At the very beginning of the season, things were all but good for Real Madrid.

They were struggling defensively, leaking far too many goals in the process, Zidane seemed a bit lost in his tactics and ideas, and Los Blancos lacked any sort of control in their games.

In short, things were really not looking great.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

But fast forward a couple of months in the future and suddenly, the sky is much clearer above the Galacticos’ camp.

Of course, some of their veterans and key players remained consistent, making that success possible in the first place but some new faces, like the young Valverde, could be starting a changing of the guard.

Out with the old

By now, it is no secret – Real Madrid have struggled with injuries throughout the 2019/20 campaign and one of the players who were more out of the squad than in it was Luka Modric.

The now 34-year-old Ballon d’Or winner needs no special introduction but his influence, even though still present, is slowly but surely veining.

This season, the Croatian midfielder has played a total of eight games across all competitions but when he was away, he was not as missed by the team as he used to be back in the day.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

Real Madrid have won four games with him in the line-up, substitutions included, but have also drawn four as well, tallying a 50% win rate in the process.

Valverde, on the other hand, even though just 21, seems to already have a much bigger influence on the squad.

So far, Los Blancos have a 67% win rate with the Uruguayan in the team and 33% without him, as opposed to 57% win rate without Modric.

But that’s not nearly all – in the six games Valverde was in the starting XI across all competitions this campaign, Zidane’s troops have won five of them, drawing the other while also scoring 18 goals and conceding only two.

This adds up to five clean sheets as well.

Quite clearly, Valverde brings something big to this team and even though Modric is a huge figure at the club, the boss might want to consider granting the youngster a permanent start ahead of the experienced Croat.

Stats and numbers don’t lie – Real Madrid are better with Valverde and if they want to continue this successful trend going forward, they would be wise to keep the Uruguayan in the gala XI.

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…

Paul Merson said on Sky Sports’ The Debate show (22:12, Monday, 11th November) – via Live4Liverpool – that Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has a huge role to play for the Reds this season.

What did he say?

26-year-old Oxlade-Chamberlain played just 12 minutes against Manchester City as the Anfield outfit prevailed 3-1 to go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

Former Arsenal player Merson, though, was full of praise for the England international. He said: “You could be Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in that team and not weaken it, no way, he is a phenomenal player as well.

“I think he plays a big part in this season because when they play against lesser teams, teams will just come and play with 10 behind the ball and make it hard.

“And if you look at the current midfield three, they don’t have much guile, they don’t have that eye of the needle, it’s okay when you play Man City who say you have a shot, we have a shot, but I think when facing the lesser teams, Oxlade-Chamberlain will become a big part of this football team.”

Deserves to start; Henderson replacement?

Had it not been for a series of injuries, including a cruciate ligament rupture in 2018, the former Gunner could already be a star player on Merseyside. However, he has had to make do with a bit-part role so far this term, having played just 630 minutes in all competitions.

Watch Liverpool Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

When he has been on the pitch, though, he has take advantage of his chances. He has four goals already which have come across seven starts, and he has impressed so much in the short amount of time he has spent on the field that he even picked up Liverpool’s Player of the Month for October.

Jordan Henderson, meanwhile, has not done too well so far this campaign. He has just one goal and one assist himself across his first 15 appearances of the season, with him averaging just 6.85 in the Premier League as per WhoScored. Oxlade-Chamberlain, meanwhile, has averaged 7.05 across the two league games in which he has been included in the starting XI, whilst that rating is at 8.44 in the Champions League.

The former Sunderland midfielder is not a unanimously popular figure amongst the European champions’ fans, and does not offer the same attacking threat as Oxlade-Chamberlain.

With Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho already regulars, another defensive-minded player is not needed in the middle of the park.

With the former Southampton man offering more danger offensively, it is perhaps worth Klopp giving him a chance to shine ahead of the 29-year-old.

Although Arsenal’s 2019/20 campaign has seen the Gunners make their worst start to a league season for over 30 years, the recent news regarding an international call-up for one of the club’s promising youngsters has got these fans singing the midfielder’s praises.

Matteo Guendouzi, 20, has started all 12 of his side’s league games so far in the current campaign, and the Frenchman’s performances have been rewarded with a call-up to the French national side.

Although the midfielder’s club have been in extremely inconsistent form so far this season, winning just four of their first 12 league fixtures, Guendouzi has performed admirably for the north London outfit, registering two assists.

Despite pressure continuing to mount on Unai Emery, with reports suggesting the Spaniard could have under a month to turnaround fortunes at The Emirates, these fans were certainly pleased to see their 20-year-old midfielder earn international recognition from Didier Deschamps.

Here are some of the best reactions to Guendouzi’s international call-up.

Liverpool’s victory over Barcelona in the Champions League last season was the stuff of legend.

The Reds first played the Catalan club at the Camp Nou, and went down 3-0 thanks to a Lionel Messi masterclass. Following that defeat, it looked as though it was the end of the Anfield outfit’s run, but as we all know, the Merseyside team love an impossible comeback – read Istanbul.

Watch Liverpool Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

In the return leg at their home stadium, Jurgen Klopp and co put the La Liga champions to the sword, prevailing 4-0. Belgium international Divock Origi scored a brace, as did Georginio Wijnaldum. It was enough to put the six-time European champions into the final, where they beat Tottenham to lift the trophy.

It was a magnificent moment when the final whistle blew against the Blaugrana. So much so, Klopp has been nominated for the UK Coaching’s Great Coaching Moment of the Year award.

Unsurprisingly, the Liverpool supporters are delighted with the recognition for their boss. They took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

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…

Illan Meslier arrived in the summer as a rather understated signing, one that went under the radar as Leeds also landed Eddie Nketiah towards deadline day.

Once linked with moves to Chelsea and Monaco, the Frenchman has been a neglected figure in Marcelo Bielsa’s plans.

Kiko Casilla has made the number one spot his own and Meslier hasn’t featured for the senior team whatsoever.

He didn’t even earn a place in the Carabao Cup as he’s been restricted to outings for Carlos Corberan’s U23 side. Saving two penalties earlier in the season, he’s done all he can to make a statement to Bielsa.

However, he doesn’t seem to be listening and in recent times Kamil Miazek has even been preferred on the bench because of Leeds’ loan quota.

But his role in the side could change if Casilla is found guilty of racially abusing Jonathan Leko. The goalkeeper has been charged and could face at worst a 12 game ban.

That would surely put Meslier at the top of the pecking order but a January addition could soon swipe away that idea.

The People, via Leeds Live, have recently linked Leeds with a move for Birmingham stopper David Stockdale.

Now aged 34, he was once one of the better men between the sticks in the division, helping Brighton to secure promotion. However, since then he’s been stuck behind the calamitous Lee Camp this term at St Andrew’s.

Leeds could offer him a fresh start and bringing in an experienced keeper would certainly benefit the Whites if Casilla is banned.

But what sort of message does it send out to Meslier if the former Fulham man walks through the door? There can only be one answer, a concerning one.

The £4.5m-rated ‘keeper is already struggling to make an impact and the last thing he needs is someone else bumping him down the pecking order.

[ad_pod ]

Leeds have an option to buy him next summer but the possibility of that feels remote given he’s not played a single minute.

Signing Stockdale would stink of a lack of faith in Meslier, something that’s incredibly bizarre given he’s performed admirably for the U23s. If Leeds have desires of bringing someone else in, they may as well have just stuck with Miazek last summer, rather than bringing the 19-year-old in on loan.

This would be a rather damning statement from Victor Orta and the senior management team at Elland Road.