All posts by z3u9t.icu

Many Derby County fans have been left to slam the display of Lee Gregory in their 0-0 draw at Barnsley in the EFL Championship on Wednesday evening.

The striker, currently on loan from Stoke City, was guilty of missing a big chance to win the match, but instead the Pride Park faithful had to settle for a point to edge them ever closer to safety.

Gregory did not have the best of games by his standards, losing out on five of his duels, while also failing to record a single successful dribble and losing possession of the ball 11 times (Sofascore).

Aside from that one great chance, the 32-year-old struggled to make any sort of real impact on the fixture, recording fewer touches than his own goalkeeper Kelle Roos and a mere 25 in total, the fewest out of any Rams player to have started the clash (Sofascore).

Derby fan reaction to Gregory display

These DCFC supporters slammed his performance on Twitter, with one fan even going as far as to claim that the Englishman was ‘rubbish’:

“Gregory was rubbish send him back !!! #dcfc #dcfcfans”

Credit: @JillianW123

“Roos and Mengi really good today. Edmundson worked very well in midfield but lacks control with the ball at his feet. Gregory had an absolute stinker with an awful touch when he was through in the first half and missing the 1v1 in the second. Lucky not to give away a pen #dcfc”

Credit: @Joe43534774

“Must admit Lee Gregory is worse than I thought #dcfc”

Credit: @rooybears

“We let Marriott go on loan and we sign Lee Gregory no wonder we are in trouble #dcfc”

Credit: @Rammie007

“It’s the reason why Gregory allowed out on loan. Not good enough, doesn’t score enough. We need Derby players in the summer not loan players”Credit: @ijclarke72″Gregory has had the chance to win 3 games now, and fluffed them all. Not impressed.”Credit: @RamInSwedenIn other news, find out who was hammered for their display versus Cardiff City here!

According to Radio Solent’s Sports Editor, Adam Blackmore, Ainsley Maitland-Niles is keen on a move to Southampton, but Arsenal “will have the final decision”.

What’s the story?

Recent reports have suggested that Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side are very much interested in signing the England international, but that they face competition from the likes of West Brom and Leicester City.

Now, Blackmore has claimed that the 23-year-old is “keen to come” to St Mary’s, but that Arsenal will be assessing their own injuries before making the final call.

Semmens’ priority

If there’s any deal that Martin Semmens should be prioritising on transfer deadline day for Southampton, then it’s the one for Maitland-Niles.

Given the Arsenal academy product’s incredible versatility – he can fill in at full-back, central midfield and even out wide – he would tick a lot of boxes for Hasenhuttl who is in the midst of an injury crisis at St Mary’s.

Even in this past week’s Premier League clash against Aston Villa, the likes of Ibrahima Diallo, Oriol Romeu and Theo Walcott were all forced off, and given the recent injury troubles to Kyle Walker-Peters too, Hasenhuttl will be desperate for some added reinforcements.

Completing multiple deals on deadline day to address all those separate issues would be difficult, but in Maitland-Niles, Semmens can go a long way to ensuring Southampton’s boss isn’t left short heading in this second-half of the Premier League campaign by swooping for the Arsenal man.

It’s the one player the Saints should be focusing most of their efforts on transfer deadline day.

Meanwhile, David Ornstein has revealed Saints are in talks over this “complete package”…

Abdoulaye Doucoure was lucky to not let Carlo Ancelotti down as Everton recorded a historic 2-0 win at Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby on Saturday evening.

The Toffees had not won away to their Stanley Park neighbours in 22-years and were winless in more than a decade, with the Reds victorious in 11 of the previous 23 meetings across all competitions.

Goals from Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson in either half ensured the Blues won on this occasion. After just three minutes and the Iceland international converting from the spot with seven minutes left of the second period, the Brazilian broke the deadlock.

Everton rarely dominated proceedings at Anfield and ended the match with just 29% of the possession, far below their average 47.6% share for the Premier League season, which rises to 47.7% when away from Goodison Park, per WhoScored.

Doucoure played a key role in Liverpool being able to stay on the ball for large periods of the match, with the Frenchman often wasteful in possession and frequently unable to win possession back.

Andre Gomes also endured his troubles in the Merseyside Derby and was, at times, a red card waiting to happen in the first half. The former FC Barcelona maestro was additionally pickpocketed by Thiago Alcantara 25-yards from goal early in the second period, though Roberto Firmino could only provide a weak finish to leave Jordan Pickford untested.

Gomes was eventually replaced by Sigurdsson a quarter of an hour into the second half, leaving Doucoure to carry the unwanted honour of being carried by his teammates after an often-uninspiring performance from Everton’s £20m summer capture.

Doucoure has been lauded for his efforts since joining the Blues from Watford in September, with former Toffees striker Kevin Campbell describing the £75k-per-week enforcer as “one of the most underrated players in the Premier League”.

Saturday’s outing was Doucoure’s 28th for Everton across all competitions, starting all 23 of his Premier League appearances and playing the full 90 minutes for the 18th time.

However, it returned his third-worst SofaScore match rating for the Blues at 6.3 out of 10, only at home to Manchester City on Wednesday night (6.0) and against Leeds United (6.2) in November has the 28-year-old performed worse.

Doucoure scored so lowly against Liverpool that only Gomes (5.9) was marked worse among those who started for the visitors, yet his performance was actually inferior to the Portuguese’s thanks partly to a worse pass success rating (81% to 87%).

The ex-Hornets star additionally only made one further accurate pass (21) than Gomes (20), despite featuring for 31 minutes extra. Doucoure averages an 86% success rate in the Premier League this season, the same as Gomes, who outperformed his standards at Anfield.

Both were poor in the duel, with Doucoure winning four of 13 ground contests for a 23% success rate while Gomes won just one of eight for a 12.5% success rate.

Gomes was also dribbled past thrice while Doucoure was beaten on the ground four times to see that both were lucky to not let Ancelotti down as Everton registered a rare win over the Reds.

Had Doucoure been on a yellow card instead of Gomes, it would not have been a surprise if his number was the one to have been shown for Sigurdsson’s second-half introduction.

AND in other news, Everton face a £35m asking price to land Carlo Ancelotti’s 21-year-old target…

Wolves’ season has turned into a peculiar state of affairs.

For the first time in Nuno Santo’s tenure at Molineux, he switched from a three-back to a four-man defence a few weeks ago.

It initially paid off with Wolves drawing with Southampton and then beating Arsenal.

However, combined with the injury to Raul Jimenez, Nuno’s defence is suddenly being breached on a regular basis. They have conceded five goals in their last two matches so clearly some degree of change is required.

In fact, we’re tipping Nuno to make as many as three alterations to his starting XI to face Chelsea on Tuesday evening.

We think that with Wolves on a poor run of form that the manager will shift back to his tried and tested three-man defence.

As a result, Wily Boly comes back into the side and we’re also tipping Nuno to remove Marcal from the squad and bring in summer signing Rayan Ait-Nouri.

A notable change comes in midfield where Joao Moutinho is suspended. Consequently, Ruben Neves is back in the side after a run of one start in the last three games.

The final alteration is in attack where Fabio Silva drops out of the side. Despite being the club-record signing, he’s not enjoyed the greatest of starts to his career at Molineux and thus, Daniel Podence leads the line again as he did against Liverpool a few weeks ago.

The Portuguese didn’t score on that occasion but has been lively in 2020/21, providing two goals and registering two assists.

With Jimenez out with a fractured skull, Nuno desperately needs to find a solution to his woes.

In other news, Forget Silva: Wolves can strike gold with swoop for “swashbuckling” 9-goal bully…

Steve Bruce must axe Jeff Hendrick from his Newcastle United starting line-up after the midfielder’s midweek horror show in Tuesday night’s 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United.

The 28-year-old was given what has now proven to be a rare Premier League start for the trip to Bramall Lane, having featured in just two of the Magpies’ prior eight top-flight fixtures.

It was the first time since November’s 2-0 defeat at Southampton that Bruce also fielded Hendrick in a central position, yet he was only made to regret his decision to leave Matty Longstaff on the bench for the first time in a month in favour of the former Burnley man.

Hendrick proved an invisible figure throughout his time on the field in South Yorkshire, where it was miraculous Bruce never chose to withdraw the £8m-rated midfielder who lacked any real urgency and often struggled to cope with any pressure from the Blades.

It was not until the closing stages of the second period that Hendrick managed to leave even a slight mark on proceedings when his whipped cross found Callum Wilson in the box, only for the £20m summer signing to head straight at Aaron Ramsdale and squander a second big chance of the night.

Hendrick’s performance was a distant cry from the levels expected of him when he was unveiled in the summer as a free transfer following his Burnley exit, with Bruce backing the £40,000-per-week Republic of Ireland international to be a valuable player.

“He’s an experienced international footballer who can play all across the midfield, so we welcome him aboard. He’ll be a big asset to us on and off the pitch,” Bruce said at the time (Belfast Telegraph).

“He’s a great pro, down to earth, and at the age of 28, it’s a wonderful time to get somebody. It is the peak of his career – he’s a really fit boy who has played 122 times in the Premier League for Burnley over the last four years, and I’m sure he’ll be a great addition to the squad.”

Bruce, despite those comments at the time of his arrival, cannot have taken any pride in the performance of Hendrick at Sheffield United, and he must now axe the Derby County product once again when Newcastle visit Arsenal on Monday night, where they’ll be looking to end a six Premier League game winless run.

It proved a major flaw to start Hendrick at Bramall Lane, where he could only offer one key ball from 32 accurate passes, make no successful tackles, attempt no shots and he delivered a single cross, per SofaScore, even after Ryan Fraser saw red to leave the Magpies starved of width on his side of the field.

Quite simply, the eye test showed that the Irishman had a poor game in Sheffield and the stats back that up.

If Newcastle are to now upset the odds and claim a rare win at Arsenal on Monday, after the FA Cup exit earlier this month made it 15 defeats in their last 18 meetings against the Gunners across all competitions, Bruce must chase the result without Hendrick in the side.

If he can’t play well against a team who hadn’t won a single game all season, then the chances of him doing well against Arsenal just a few days later are very, very slim so Bruce needs to put him back on the bench.

AND in other news, forget Ryan Fraser: a £46k-p/w Newcastle man who lost 63% duels seriously betrayed Steve Bruce vs Sheffield United.

Glasgow Rangers return to action this evening, as Steven Gerrard’s side host Benfica in the Europa League for the first time this season.

In what was a thrilling encounter from start to finish, the two sides shared the spoils in Lisbon after the Light Blues gave away a two-goal lead last time out. The result left both sides unbeaten in their last four outings in the Europa League, but Rangers will want to make amends when they take on the Portuguese giants tonight.

Gerrard’s side are currently unbeaten with 18 wins from 21 games in all competitions in total this term, whilst Benfica will be looking to rebuild having suffered back-to-back defeats to Boavista and Braga respectively before the international break.

Here at Football FanCast, we’ve worked on a predicted starting line-up, which sees the Rangers manager make three changes to the team that thumped Aberdeen at the weekend.

The Gers will be well aware that they could move three points clear of Jorge Jesus’ side at the top of Group D and qualify for the knockout stages, so Gerrard will want leave nothing to chance.

Allan McGregor is expected to keep his place between the sticks with Jon McLaughlin once again having to settle for a place on the bench.

It’s hard to imagine Gerrard making any changes to the back four, with Borna Barisic, Leon Balogun, Connor Goldson and club captain James Tavernier likely to start after keeping a second consecutive clean sheet in a row against Aberdeen.

Calvin Bassey could come off the bench, but we’re backing the Ibrox boss to keep his faith in Barisic, for now at least.

Ryan Jack remains a doubt after suffering an injury against Aberdeen, whilst Bongani Zungu has been ruled out due to injury, so bringing Steven Davis back into the fold alongside the in-form Glen Kamara makes sense, meaning Joe Aribo will be the man to drop out of the midfield three.

Kemar Roofe has been impressing on the right wing in recent weeks but Gerrard may opt to bring Ianis Hagi in on the right instead. The Romania international has been so strong in Europe since he first arrived at the Govan stadium, with two goals and an assist in six games in the Europa League (excluding the qualifying rounds) for the Gers so far.

Therefore, the ever-reliable Ryan Kent is likely to keep his place on the left flank with Alfredo Morelos leading the line once again.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must recall Steven Davis to face Benfica in Europa League on Thursday night…

Manchester City return to Premier League action with a game against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday, and Pep Guardiola can give the Citizens a much better chance if he restores Rodri to his starting line up.

The Spanish midfielder was left out of the squad that comfortably beat Marseille 3-0 on Wednesday, but it seems as if that was a minor fitness issue, so it would be a surprise to not see him make the squad that travels to Old Trafford.

So far this season, the 24-year-old has made 10 appearances in the Premier League, averaging a very solid 6.91 rating, suggesting that he has been a big part of City’s impressive defensive record in recent weeks.

Guardiola’s side have kept eight clean sheets in their last ten fixtures in all competitions and will be hoping for a similarly impressive defensive display when they travel to Old Trafford, especially with United having gotten the better of City in recent seasons under Solskjaer.

If City unleash Rodri in a defensive midfield role against United, then perhaps he could be the man to stop Bruno Fernandes, with the Portuguese midfielder undoubtedly the danger man ahead of the derby, when you consider his incredible start to the season.

In 10 appearances in the Premier League, the former Sporting Lisbon man has contributed an impressive seven goals and four assists, resulting in an average rating of 7.65.

This is enough to see him ranked as the fifth-best player in the top-flight so far this season, suggesting that if City can keep him quiet on Saturday, they give themselves a great chance of winning the game.

However, Rodri, who is valued at £57.6 million by Transfermarkt, has shown on occasions this season that he can bully opposition attackers out of the game using his height and strength, so if he sticks to the Portuguese attacker during the game, perhaps he can prevent him from having much influence.

Back in 2019, Guardiola was full of praise for the Spanish international, saying:

“Rodri was incredible today. We knew it but today I can assure you we have an incredible holding midfielder for the next decade or at least the years he will be here with a contract.”

Therefore, it seems clear that he is highly rated by the City manager, and if he is fit, he should definitely start at Old Trafford on Saturday.

And, in other news… Pep’s latest decision could spell trouble for 23 y/o tipped for a “long career” at City

West Ham legend Mark Noble is coming to the end of his career and, despite starting in the first game this season against Newcastle, he has only played four minutes since in the Premier League.

At the age of 33, the midfielder will probably not be overly frustrated with the lack of game-time and the club captain has a lot to give off the pitch.

However, he was key in the eyes of David Moyes at the end of last season, and a lot of fans have been reacting to the manager’s comments on the Englishman. Moyes said, “Mark Noble has a massive part to play here. Tomas and Declan have played ever so well but Mark Noble after lockdown was probably our best player so he’s got plenty more games in him.”

Noble has received a lot of praise in the past, including some from former Irons defender James Collins, who said he was an ‘inspiration’ and ‘absolute gent’.

These comments make perfect sense if you look at his stats from his last four games of last season. Noble picked up (SofaScore). He wasn’t at his best for the Watford game when he was rated 6.2 but still provided an assist, so he made an important impact.

Here is what fans are saying about Moyes’ comments on Noble:

West Ham fans, have a look at some of our other articles on the club here!

After enjoying a late season renaissance under Mikel Arteta in the previous campaign, Dani Ceballos extended his loan spell at Arsenal for another year.

The Spaniard made his return to the Emirates for a second successive campaign, and has well and truly established himself as a key part of Arteta’s starting eleven, playing every single Premier League game this season.

But on Sunday night against Leicester, Ceballos produced a shocking display as he lined up alongside Thomas Partey for the first time as a starting midfield pair.

Whether it was his new teammate’s presence, or the fact that his regular partner in crime, Granit Xhaka, was playing more as a left-sided centre-back, the Arsenal loanee just didn’t look to be at the races at all.

As per SofaScore, he lost possession 17 times over the course of the game, with many of them coming from poor first touches and a lack of concentration – a couple of times the midfielder just carelessly passed it to a Leicester player without any real focus or concentration.

He was also dribbled past three times on the night, the most of any Gunner, whilst he won just three of his eight total duels. Ceballos was just too easily shrugged off the ball, and in the 50/50s, struggled to come out on top.

With the Foxes making it clear that they were going to just back and hit the north Londoners on the counter attack like they did so successfully in their resounding win over Manchester City, Arsenal could ill afford to lose possession in dangerous areas.

Instead, there were a number of times where Ceballos was found wanting both in terms of his positioning and giving the ball away. The Spanird will surely be feeling slightly embarrassed at his performance at the Emirates at the weekdn.

West Ham United are in need of defensive reinforcements quickly with the season just a mere two weeks away, and fresh reports may have opened to door for that to happen…

What’s the word?

According to Cadena SER, reported Irons target Samuel Umtiti could have his contract cancelled at Barcelona as they look to shift him from the wage bill this summer.

It’s claimed that no club has come forward with an offer for the 26-year-old but it remains to be seen how likely this is given he has a contract until 2023.

The Hammers were linked with interest back in July by Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness). Umtiti is now valued at £28.8m by Transfermarkt.

Fills a need, for free?

David Moyes could do with another centre-back if West Ham are to avoid another relegation battle this season with the futures of Winston Reid and Fabian Balbuena up in the air; Angelo Ogbonna isn’t getting any younger at 32 and Issa Diop could miss the opener through injury.

Splashing in excess of £25m on Umtiti wouldn’t be a wise move whatsoever, but if he becomes available for free, then it’ll make the world of difference.

It means the club’s hierarchy will only have to fork out on his wages, which are currently reported to be around £210k-per-week but given his injury troubles, he may well have to accept a lower amount if he’s to be given an opportunity.

The 26-year-old played 19 times this season and averaged 2.4 clearances, 1.7 interceptions and an impressive 92.4% passing accuracy, via WhoScored.

Ex-Barca defender Eric Abidal once claimed that Umtiti was “a world-class player” whilst current teammate Sergio Busquets lauded him as someone with “great potential”.

The World Cup winner has always been a player that has read the game well but injuries have hindered his playing time severely, so perhaps a move elsewhere is exactly what he needs to become revitalised.

He’d help fill a crucial need at the London Stadium, but it’s only worth it if he becomes available for free.

AND in other news, West Ham signing “special” £16m star could help bring the best out of Haller…