All posts by h716a5.icu

After making his return to the bench for Leeds United’s last Premier League clash against Chelsea, Robin Koch is surely pushing for a place in the starting line-up.

The Whites make the trip back to London on Friday night – a city in which they have a wretched record of losing 13 of their last 14 games in all competitions – when they take on Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Last time out saw Marcelo Bielsa pair summer signing Diego Llorente with Pascal Struijk, but after Koch’s appearance for the U23s earlier in the week, the German could well be in contention for a long-awaited start.

The 24-year-old had been out of action with a knee injury since early December, when he was forced off the pitch against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

While Bielsa may be reluctant to throw him straight into the thick of things, Koch has shown just what an important and influential player he is for Leeds during the first-half of the campaign.

As per Whoscored, he boasts the best passing accuracy of any senior Leeds centre-back, and that is vital for Bielsa as he looks for his side to play out from the back.

Koch also ranks very highly compared to the rest of his Leeds teammates when it comes to his defensive contributions too, averaging the third best in terms of interceptions per match, and being dribbled past the fewest amount of times per game of any defender.

Vincenzo Grifo, Koch’s former teammate at Freiburg, raved about his ability to The Athletic, saying: “He’s very vocal at the back and he loves to have the game in front of him. He’s an outstanding organiser. His improvement is incredibly rapid, including in the national team, and he’s on a path to become a world-class player, a monster centre-back.”

Former Leeds defender Tony Dorigo dubbed him the “rock” in the middle of the side’s defence earlier in the campaign, and so it must have been incredibly frustrating for Bielsa to be without one of his key men for so long.

The £17m-rated Koch could be the key to ensuring Leeds remain solid at the back and can keep a clean sheet, but also offer more in terms of his passing and building things from the back. It’s exactly why Koch could be a game-changer for Bielsa as they look to seal all three points tonight.

Meanwhile, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa should urge a move for this Premier League star…

Many fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers have been reacting to a post on Twitter which relayed a report regarding Jorge Mendes’ involvement in Matt Doherty’s transfer.

According to Football Insider, a ‘recruitment source’ has revealed that Mendes pocketed £6m from Wolves’ sale of Doherty to Tottenham Hotspur last summer, meaning the club only actually received around £10m for the right-back, who was valued at £14.4m at the time of his move.

After Alex Richards relayed the report on Twitter, some fans of Wolves flocked to have their say on the matter, with many appearing to be concerned by Mendes’ involvement in the deal (which one fan described as ‘shocking’). Others stated their belief that the agent got Wolves more than enough value in the sale of the defender, even including his reported fee.

So, what exactly did these Wolverhampton Wanderers fans have to say in reaction to the report regarding the sale of Matt Doherty?

“When Mendes is so heavily involved then these things were always going to happen. Have to take the rough with the smooth, I guess.”

@mcooperwrites

“That’s why I don’t like Mendes sniffing around our business.”

@lewis_wwfc7

“A football agent taking a percentage of a transfer deal. Shocking!!!!”

@dp2885

“We can’t really moan I’ve seen some of the best players in 30 years at wolves come in cheap through Mendes.”

@Rich2086

“Still looks like pretty good business!”

@MrRyanLeister

“10p would have done. We had a choice. Build the team forever around Matt Doherty who can play one bespoke role that no-one else in the world plays, or sell him. I would sell him.”

@OscillateWWFC

“That is an absolute steal. I’d certainly pay £6m to get me £10m above the market value.”

@Simon_Hadley

“Even the most avid of #WWFC fans (I include myself) must concede this is well dodgy…”

@MrR1g4t

In other Wolverhampton Wanderers news, many fans were left furious by one update – find out more here!

According to The Sun, Manchester United are keeping tabs on both Kingsley Coman and Jadon Sancho as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seeks to bolster his wide options.

What’s the word?

Solskjaer’s side already secured the signing of Amad Diallo from Serie A side Atalanta in the January transfer window but now it seems that they want more.

United are currently second-placed in the Premier League, with the Red Devils putting three past Newcastle to move 10 points behind Manchester City.

However, Solskjaer is still keen to add further reinforcements to his squad this summer as he targets a first Premier League title for the club since Sir Alex Ferguson last won one in 2013 and he has identified Coman and Sancho as two of his top targets.

Coman or Sancho?

But the likelihood is it’ll be either-or for Ed Woodward. So, who should be the top target for the Red Devils and why?

In Coman, who is nearly four years older than Sancho, United would land a player with bags of experience at the top level of the game.

Sancho, however, could be the difference-maker to add a spark in their attack which has often been accused of looking rather one-dimensional due to their over-reliance on Bruno Fernandes.

Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, given Fernandes’ excellent goal return for the Red Devils, but if United opt for Sancho and stick him on the right wing, he’ll likely score goals. Lots of goals.

The England international has scored 44 goals and recorded 59 assists across 128 appearances in all competitions. By comparison, Coman has provided fewer goals and assists in over 180 appearances for Bayern Munich.

It’s been an open secret Solskjaer has harboured a long-standing interest in the 20-year-old monster, with the club trying to persuade the highly-rated right winger to move to Old Trafford on more than one occasion, but ultimately to no avail. Reports in recent times have revealed that he could only cost the club £50m in a cut-price deal.

If we compare the attacking duo this term, it’s close but no cigar. Sancho is still edging Coman in almost every area. Coman is averaging just 1.7 key passes per game whereas Sancho has made 2.3 key passes.

Perhaps crucially, the latter also surpasses the 24-year-old in terms of dribbles per match in the Bundesliga (3.2). For context, that’s more than other United player in the Premier League this season thus far, which suggests that he’d offer a greater attacking threat.

It may seem like we’re in danger of repeating ourselves but it’s growing increasingly evident that Woodward must sanction a swoop for Sancho in the summer after he scored against Schalke at the weekend.

AND in other news, Man Utd’s Victor Lindelof let Ole Gunnar Solskjaer down on Sunday…

Said Benrahma let David Moyes down terribly after turning in an indifferent display as West Ham United beat Burnley 1-0 through a Michail Antonio goal.

Moyes opted to hand Benrahma only his fourth Premier League start following the forward’s summer arrival on loan from Brentford, partnering the Algerian with Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals in behind Antonio at the London Stadium.

Benrahma began promisingly when his pass split the Burnley defence to find Bowen on the edge of the box, who kept play alive well with a ball out to Fornals for the Spaniard to deliver a teasing delivery that found Antonio to score an easy tap in after nine minutes.

Benrahma continued to look lively in the opening stages with his confidence clearly up, yet saw his input reduce the more the game wore on and departed the field in the 68th-minute having failed to score his first goal in claret and blue.

The 25-year-old saw his afternoon end after offering just a single shot which, while on target, failed to cause Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope any issues with the four-time England international able to able to deal with the danger posed without leaving his spot.

Despite carving the Clarets defence open in the lead up to Antonio’s match-winning effort, Benrahma also left the field without a key pass beside his name on a day Declan Rice would bag four from the holding midfield role, Bowen would provide two and defenders Craig Dawson and Vladimir Coufal each offered one, per WhoScored.

Moyes will have been further frustrated to see Benrahma only manage to register a mere two touches inside the Burnley box, plus five on the periphery, as the attacker (16) ended his match having been outpassed by Irons shot-stopper Lukasz Fabianski (17) on his return from a thigh injury.

Benrahma will need to improve his end product and time spent in the visitor’s box for his move to east London to be a success, with the £20m-rated attacker further misplacing five of his six attempted crosses, per SofaScore.

Tame efforts from the wide positions have been a custom of Benrahma’s time at the London Stadium so far, with today’s successful cross his first in claret and blue after eight prior misdirected attempts in nine Premier League appearances.

His major redeeming quality from the Burnley affair came on the ground with success in four dribbles for a joint game-high record with Bowen, and having attempted fewer (5) than the former Hull City star (7).

It was by far and away Benrahma’s best day in terms of dribbling, having averaged just 1.5 successful runs from 2.2 attempts a game in the top-flight this term, but ultimately proved to be another day without any direct output and true time spent in the area that will have left Moyes feeling let down again.

AND in other news, West Ham may be targeting a new Modibo Maiga in their search of Sebastien Haller’s replacement.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho will have some interesting decisions to make at the end of the season, and if recent reports are to be believed, then perhaps he is indeed looking ahead.

The right-back spot has been a real Achilles’ heel for Spurs this season.

Matt Doherty is yet to truly impress having signed for £15m in the summer, though there are reservations into how he fits into this side when firstly, Sergio Reguilon plays – a similar attack-minded defender – and secondly, when they deploy a flat back-four having spent most of his career at right wing-back for Wolves.

Whilst Serge Aurier’s constant mistakes have now landed him in hot water with the Spurs boss. He’ll also be in the final year of his current deal come the summer window too, so there will be a temptation on Daniel Levy’s part to cash in on him.

The north Londoners have also been mooted with a move for Norwich City right-back Max Aarons, who they currently value at £20m, according to the Sunday Mirror (24/1, page 71).

Given he’s playing and starting every week, and delivering, his value could surge before the end of the current campaign.

Thus, it leaves Mourinho in a tricky spot for the long-term future of that role.

Perhaps there’s a cheaper alternative staring him right in the face in emerging U23 starlet Dermi Lusala, who is becoming quite the player under the likes of Wayne Burnett and Matt Taylor.

The 18-year-old prospect has been capped at England U16 level and was once tipped as ‘Mauricio Pochettino’s future right-back’ by football.london’s Rob Guest.

‘The academy ace is still very raw, but there is hope that he will take his game to another level in the future and become another success story for the club,’ wrote the Spurs correspondent.

He has since displayed an intriguing versatile side to his game, playing on the left and in central defence whilst his overall record for the U18 squad reads five assists in 25 appearances, via Transfermarkt, which is a pretty respectable return.

Lusala was even named in the Guardian’s ‘Next Generation’ list for 2019, where he has been described as a ‘tenacious and technically polished right-back’ and an update to the article in October 2020 claims he had been the best player for the U18s this term.

The teen prodigy, recognised for this athletic ability in school, could hold the keys to the club saving millions of pounds this summer. All he needs is for Mourinho to give him his opportunity in the first-team.

AND in other news, Jose Mourinho must now unleash £36m-rated “team player”…

After arriving in a big-money deal in the summer transfer window, it’s safe to say Bertrand Traore has had a mixed start to life at Aston Villa.

The Burkina Faso international failed to score in the Premier League until earlier this month, but it was no surprise that following his haul of two goals and one assist in his last two games, that Dean Smith opted to start him from the off away at Chelsea.

And whilst Villa secured an impressive 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, it was no thanks to Traore, who played a huge role in Chelsea’s opener, and then offered little of note going forward.

The winger looked all at sea at having to track back with Chelsea’s full-back, and it was no surprise that the Blues scored from his side, when Ben Chilwell’s pin-point cross was headed home by Olivier Giroud.

And writing for The Birmingham Mail, Ashley Preece gave Traore the lowest match rating for any Villa player on the night, explaining: “Couldn’t handle Ben Chilwell at all. The England left-back really fancied his chances to get forward and did so at will, crossing into the box relentlessly which was the source of Chelsea’s first goal.

“Traore was lackadaisical defensively and left Cash fighting a two-man battle on his own knowing he already had Pulisic to content with.”

As per Sofascore, he lost possession a mammoth 18 times over the course of the game, before eventually being replaced by Keinan Davis in the closing stages of the contest.

He also managed just 15 total passes, whilst none of his three attempted crosses found their mark either. With Trezeguet waiting in the wings, and the likes of Ross Barkley and Jacob Ramsey ready to stake their claims for a starting spot, Smith surely can’t be having performances like the one Traore put in on Monday.

It may be a touch ruthless, but the Villa must may need to consider dropping Traore against Manchester United.

Leeds United have let go of many top talents over the years but one player who will have Victor Orta kicking himself is Kemar Roofe.The striker left the club in 2019 after three years in Yorkshire to join Anderlecht before making a £20,000 per week move back to the UK for his current chapter at Rangers. Since being snapped up by the Glasgow outfit, he has seriously impressed with his clinical performances in front of goal.This season, he has scored six goals and provided one assist in ten Scottish Premiership appearances. He has suffered a small setback though as his niggling calf problems continue to cause an issue (via Transfermarkt). But despite his injury, he is still in fiery form under Steven Gerrard, who looks set to lift the league trophy at the end of the campaign.Roofe is the Gers’ second highest scorer of the season across all competitions, behind only James Tavernier (via BBC Sport).Whilst Leeds have one of the strongest strikers in the Premier League in Patrick Bamford, they lack threat in other areas of the pitch. The Englishman cannot be expected to carry the attack on his own and this is where Marcelo Bielsa will wish he still had someone like Roofe at his disposal.Kevin Phillips recently lauded the 27-year-old as being a “smart signing” for Rangers, which is already proving to be a true statement. Indeed, Roofe scored a wonder-goal in the Europa League back in October against Standard Liege, lobbing a stunning 55-yard shot into the back of the net.

Whilst it was not eligible for this year’s Puskas Award, it is a piece of art that had many professionals and fans talking.

It’s moments like this that would hugely benefit Leeds this season. The Whites are in need of a fresh approach when it comes to scoring goals and having a player who makes easy work of scoring from distance would make them an even bigger threat.

In other news,ÂRaphinha could cause Alex Telles a lot of problems on Sunday…

Liverpool will face the next task in their Champions League run as they travel to Italy to take on Atalanta in another group stage match.

As it stands, the Reds top their group having won 100% of their games played so far. Atalanta are their direct competition, sitting two points behind on four. It will be an exciting clash this evening as the six-time winners look to partake in another title run.

Fortunately for them, Jurgen Klopp confirmed that Naby Keita and Joel Matip have both returned to training and could be available for selection today. With that being said, Football FanCast has predicted how Liverpool might line up, including three changes from their 11 against West Ham…

Despite being a potential doubt for this evening, Klopp could choose to deploy Matip alongside Joe Gomez at centre-back tonight. In his latest presser, the manager said: “A lot of players will be on the plane hopefully, and so decisions will be made late, late, late.”

This could indicate that the £28.8million-rated defender is in the running to start but it will all boil down to last minute decisions.

However, one thing he may not do is risk Keita in midfield. After an impressive performance against West Ham, Xherdan Shaqiri may earn himself a start against Atalanta. The elusive Swiss international picked out the exquisite pass to Diogo Jota to net the winner at Anfield on Sunday.

Similarly, the man who bagged the winning goal also deserves to start against the Italians. His form since making his debut has been electric and he has contributed three goals in five appearances. Two of those were crucial in securing a win and proved the difference between one and three points (via Transfermarkt).

Roberto Firmino had a quiet game against the Hammers and was substituted off in the 70th minute. Klopp may use this as the perfect chance to rest the Brazilian and start Mohamed Salah in the No.9 position instead. The last time he did this was against Sheffield United, which paved the way for Jota to dominate the right flank and bag himself a goal.

It can be expected for the Portuguese ace to continue his run of form as the Reds take a higher grip on the Champions League.

In other news, Liverpool could have transformed Dele Alli had they snapped him up before Spurs…

After suffering a disappointing 2-0 defeat away at Southampton just before the start of the international break, Newcastle will be itching to put things right when they take on Chelsea this Saturday.

The Magpies currently lie in 13th place in the Premier League, and face a Chelsea side whose uptick in form has seen them move just three points behind league leaders Leicester.

And whilst the chances of the Tyneside club picking up a result may be slim, they have been handed a major potential boost ahead of the clash at St James’ Park.

After limping off in England’s UEFA Nations League defeat to Belgium on Sunday, there is a huge concern over whether Ben Chilwell will be fit enough to play for Chelsea on Saturday lunch-time.

The Blues’ summer signing has been in fine form over the past few weeks at club level, bagging two goals and two assists in his last five Premier League games.

If he does miss out, then Chelsea will be without one of their first names on the team-sheet, and give Frank Lampard a major headache.

It could leave him having to use regular centre-back Cesar Azpilicueta out of position, or turn back to Marcos Alonso, whose last game in a Blues shirt was his horror showing in a 3-3 draw away to newly-promoted West Brom – a match in which he was hauled off at half-time when his team were trailing 3-0.

Either way, Allan Saint-Maximin will surely be licking his lips at the prospect of going up against one of the two. Newcastle’s wing wizard has yet to really spark into life this season aside from the game against Burnley, in which he picked up his only goal and assist of the season.

Described as looking “lazy” by Alan Shearer earlier this year, Saturday could give Saint-Maximin the perfect opportunity to find his form and run riot against either an out-of-position centre-back, or a slow and defensively suspect left-back.

The Magpies’ star winger will fancy his chances.

West Ham United welcomed a few new faces to the London Stadium this summer, but some of the old guard will be keen to retain their place in David Moyes’ plans once the international transfer window has slammed shut.

The door still remains open for the Irons to forge a raid on Brentford for their star winger Said Benrahma until October 16 after a summer endlessly linked with the Algerian, who failed to land a move away from his Championship side before Monday’s 11pm deadline struck.

If David Gold and David Sullivan are not able to find the funds needed to sign the author of 17 goals and 10 assists last season, Moyes will be expected to persist with the same attacking line-up of Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio and Pablo Fornals after a strong start to the season left the Hammers just a point outside of the Europa League places going into the international break.

But with new faces elsewhere in the West Ham ranks, here’s a line-up Hammers fans could see when their side return to action away to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on October 18…

Bowen, Antonio and Fornals all deserve a great deal of credit for the start to the season West Ham have managed, with all three contributing crucial goals and assists already.

Antonio opened his account for the Premier League campaign away to Arsenal on September 19 as the game edged toward half-time with the Gunners a goal to the good, and followed the strike in north London with the opener at Leicester City last Sunday with an excellent header.

Bowen also found the net at the King Power Stadium as the Irons beat Leicester on the road for only the second time since 2012, moving his tally for the season onto three after a key brace against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Fornals made it a perfect day at Leicester for West Ham’s front three when he fired home his first of the campaign with a composed finish following a fantastic touch, ensuring his place in Moyes’ plans will remain intact after the international break.

Having managed to retain Declan Rice amid interest from Chelsea this summer, Moyes will be glad to be able to name an unchanged pairing in the engine room of the England international and Tomas Soucek, having welcomed the Czech Republic international back to east London in a £19.1m deal in July following his half-season on loan.

Rice recorded 29 accurate passes with an 88% success rate, won two of his four ground duels and one tackle against Leicester while smashing the bar, per SofaScore, and Soucek accounted for seven successful aerial contests, five ground duels won, four tackles, four interceptions and four clearances with a mammoth display.

The West Ham backline could look very different to the one which ended the 2019/20 season when the Irons face Spurs later this month, with Moyes potentially able to name two signings in Vladimir Coufal and Ryan Manning.

Coufal completed a £5.4m deal to join the Hammers from Slavia Prague three days before the summer window slammed shut, and stood out as he made his Irons debut in the 3-0 win over Leicester with nine duels attempted, three clearances, interceptions and tackles, two attempted crosses and three long balls while taking 53 touches.

Manning, on the other hand, could yet be on his way to east London from west after reports linked the Queens Park Rangers full-back with a potential £5m deal on Deadline Day, offering Moyes a marauding defender with a keen eye for goal to replace Arthur Masuaku after 97 appearances in claret and blue.

Aaron Cresswell’s performances at centre-half should also ensure he retains his place alongside Angelo Ogbonna, who built a brick wall in front of Lukasz Fabianski’s net at the King Power Stadium that left the Poland international a mere passenger of a great result.

Issa Diop’s return to training following a positive test for coronavirus came too late for the Frenchman to make the travelling squad to face Leicester, but the 23-year-old’s efforts in the defeats by Newcastle United and Arsenal – with a 100% tackle success rate, seven clearances and three interceptions, per WhoScored – should see him return.

AND in other news, David Moyes’ transfer U-turn on a £115,000-per-week man looked a poor move with his recent display.