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Tottenham Hotspur fans don’t want Toby Alderweireld to sign a new contract at the club.

Football.London’s Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold reported on Wednesday that the Belgium international, whose current deal expires in the summer, could yet put pen to paper after Jose Mourinho’s arrival as manager.

The report states that the Portuguese was keen to sign the defender when Manchester United manager and is now hopeful of persuading him to remain in north London.

As it stands, Alderweireld can sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club in the January transfer window but there is said to be a growing confidence that the 30-year-old will commit himself to Spurs.

He has made 174 appearances in his time at Spurs and remains an integral part of the squad, playing 15 times in 2019/20.

Nevertheless, supporters are not keen on Alderweireld signing a new contract, with some believing that he is simply too old to be penning fresh terms.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

Meanwhile, Christian Eriksen’s future may have been decided.

تحوم الشكوك حول إمكانية مُشاركة ثنائي إشبيلية، إيفان راكيتيتش، وجويل كوندي، في مباراة ريال مدريد بالدوري الإسباني.

إشبيلية يحل ضيفًا على ريال مدريد، مساء الأحد القادم، على ملعب “ألفريدو دي ستيفانو”، ضمن لقاءات الجولة الخامسة والثلاثين من الليجا.

اقرأ أيضًا.. لوبيتيجي يغيب عن مباراة ريال مدريد وإشبيلية

وحسب صحيفة “موندو ديبورتيفو” الإسبانية، فإن تدريبات النادي الأندلسي الجماعية، اليوم الأربعاء، شهدت غياب الثنائي راكيتيتش وكوندي.

وأشارت الصحيفة إلى أنّ راكيتيتش تدرب بمفرده داخل صالة الألعاب الرياضية (الجيم) للتغلب على الانزعاج العضلي الذي يُعاني منه، فيما يُعاني كوندي من كدمة في القدم.

وأوضحت أنّه ليس من المعروف ما إذا كان الثنائي سيلحقان بمواجهة الأحد ضد ريال مدريد أم لا، ولكن هناك إمكانية لـ راكيتيتش أنّ يتواجد في مباراة الأحد، إذا عاد إلى التدريبات يوم الجمعة.

It’s seemingly becoming a regular occurrence for West Ham fans now to see Declan Rice called up to the England squad, and the 21-year-old midfielder is again back with the Three Lions this month.

The 6 foot 1 West Ham star was called up yet again to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their upcoming international games against Montenegro and Kosovo (per the FA’s official website), with Rice retaining his place in the team despite the Hammers suffering some fairly poor form in October that saw the east London side fail to win a single game (per BBC Sport).

And it is because of this form that made West Ham fans on social media confused as to why Rice still kept his spot in the England team, with the defensive midfielder playing every minute in October, as stats from Transfermarkt show, that saw the Hammers slip to 13th in the Premier League table (per the Premier League’s official website).

Here’s what some West Ham fans had to say about Rice’s England call-up on Twitter, with a few supporters confused as to why the defensive midfielder had been named in the Three Lions squad for this month…

West Ham fans, was Southgate wrong to call up Rice for this international break? Let us know!

Liverpool will be disappointed not to come away with all three points against Manchester United.

The Red Devils have been struggling so far this term, and had won just once – and on penalties as well – in their last five games in all competitions. The Anfield outfit, meanwhile, had a 100% record in the Premier League going into the match, and had led the division by eight points before the start of the weekend’s matches. Now, the gap at the top is down to six.

However, there was some good news for Jurgen Klopp. After recovering from a calf injury he had suffered back in August, Brazil international Alisson was included in the starting XI for the first time since then.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He was an ever-present in the league last term, as well as the Champions League, and his return will be a huge boost to the Merseyside outfit’s supporters, who were clearly pleased with the news.

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 Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Glen Johnson believes Roy Hodgson failed as manager of Liverpool because he wasn’t ready to manage such a big club.

What did he say?

The former Red spent six years on Anfield playing under the likes of Rafa Benitez, Kenny Dalglish, Brendan Rodgers and Hodgson, so is well-placed to judge what it takes to succeed at the club.

All four managers had different approaches and although the latter has had a lot of success at various clubs and in different countries, Johnson believes he lacked the mentality necessary to achieve with Liverpool.

Watch a Liverpool fan discover the internet and get a nasty surprise in the video below…

Speaking to The Anfield Wrap, via The Mirror, he said: “Well Roy, no disrespect, had come from smaller clubs and I don’t think he was ready to manage Liverpool.

“We’d be worried about playing a smaller team at Anfield. No disrespect to the smaller teams but you have to grab the bull by the horns and just go and put them to bed, and he just didn’t have that sort of mentality, it was all a bit straight line and defensive.”

That goes some way to explaining why the former England manager wasn’t the right fit. Along with poor signings such as Milan Jovanovic and Paul Konchesky – who each made just 18 appearances for the club – he won just 13 out of 31 games.

Negative mindset

Hodgson’s most notable success in recent years has been at Fulham and West Brom, whilst he has done a very respectable job at Crystal Palace after taking over in difficult circumstances.

However, at both England and the Reds it is fair to say he was a disaster because he didn’t understand the ethos of Liverpool in terms of what was expected from the team.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Results failed, in part, due to his negative set-up and defensive style, with his side scoring 41 goals under his tenure. Many fans were also frustrated at an attitude which saw the Reds “praying for draws” against the likes of Blackburn, Wolves and Bolton.

Liverpool fans’ concerns at the time were justifiable, having seen their team play negatively with one striker in several games, as well as enduring a seven-game winless streak which also included a League Cup defeat at home to Northampton.

He also failed to get the best out of Fernando Torres, with the Spaniard scoring only six goals in 22 games, which suggests that Johnson is right in his assessment that Liverpool too often failed to assert themselves as a dominant threat.

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

During pre-season, one of Leeds’ main concerns was with their defence.

Pontus Jansson had walked out of the door for Brentford while they shipped four goals against Manchester United in Australia too.

It wasn’t the ideal start to life without the Swedish central defender but the impressive Ben White has come in and looked a class above in the Championship, winning the PFA Fans’ Player of the Month award for August.

Marcelo Bielsa has disclosed his ability to play in a holding role in midfield but despite his displays so far, there is still one area where he’s failed to fully help the Whites.

On the chalkboard

Last term Bielsa said that defending set-pieces was an issue so losing the aerial threat of Jansson was unlikely to help. That has indeed been the case this term too as the Argentine admitted: “We speculate, but it’s true set-pieces are difficult for us.”

The former Leeds centre-back won a colossal 4.9 aerial duels last term which would have played some hand in helping to get rid of the danger in those sorts of situations.

However, when it’s come to defending in 2019/20, there are still plenty off issues in this regard.

Leeds have only conceded three goals but two of them have come from set-pieces. If it wasn’t for Kiko Casilla that would have gone up to three or potentially even higher at the weekend.

The presence of Aapo Halme and Mads Andersen caused Bielsa’s men plenty of difficulties last Sunday as the pair had four efforts between them from dead balls into the area.

Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

With White in defence, they conceded a sloppy goal against Nottingham Forest from a corner while they failed to clear a set-piece sufficiently versus Swansea which led to Wayne Routledge’s late strike.

The Brighton loanee has won 2.1 tackles and made 3.9 interceptions per game according to WhoScored but when it comes to battles in the box, he and the rest of the defence have looked up against it on a regular basis.

Had it not been for corners, Leeds would have only conceded once this season so there is clearly an issue there. It’s not a case of White’s aerial presence either because he’s won 3.3 duels in those scenarios each outing.

It’s difficult to slate the 21-year-old’s performance but there is still a naivety to Leeds’ defence that can be exploited from dead balls. They must be wary of this as the season plays out.

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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…

Charlton boss Lee Bowyer has revealed what he thinks is the reason behind his side’s excellent start to life back in the Championship.

The Addicks earned promotion with a dramatic late winner against Sunderland in the League One playoff final last term, and have begun life back in the second tier in unbelievable fashion.

Bowyer has overseen four wins and two draws from the south Londoners’ first six games back in the Championship, with Charlton one of three teams not to lose a game along with Swansea and West Brom.

What did he say?

Speaking to London News Online, the 42-year-old said: “The players just don’t stop until the end. That makes a massive difference. Our fitness is different to other teams – we are getting stronger at the end of games.

“I think [the fitness] is down to the way we train. Our intensity in training is really, really high. Other clubs might not train at the same intensity.”

Bodes well for the season 

The Championship is one of the most gruelling divisions in Europe with a whopping total of 46 games to play across the campaign.

The players’ bodies will undoubtedly be tested at times, and injuries are a given for most sides.

Whilst technical ability and being able to put the ball in the back of the net is obviously crucial, having the weapon of outlasting your opponents and picking them off when they are at their weakest is also a wonderful trait to have amongst the squad – it certainly bodes well for the Addicks’ hopes of a successful season.

Bowyer also said that the aim is to simply stay in the Championship and re-establish themselves in the division, although if his charges are able to perform at a high level consistently for 90 minutes, there is no reason why they cannot aim their sights a bit higher.

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We all know the David Luiz life cycle at this point. Make a huge mistake, recover, impress, score a stunning goal and finally revert back to step one.

And Liverpool can thank their lucky stars that the mercurial Brazilian is at the start of that cycle right now, as he has struck a wonderful free-kick in at Anfield before, but he looked dazed and confused on Saturday evening.

After a dominant performance from the hosts in the first-half, Unai Emery was probably pretty comfortable with the score only at 1-0, but his £8m summer signing then gave away a penalty for an obvious tug on Mohamed Salah’s shirt.

Watch Arsenal Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Salah converted in fine style, and it wasn’t long before he skipped away from Luiz a second time before finishing even more impressively to make it 3-1.

This image sums up Luiz’s afternoon perfectly, as he was on the wrong side of the referee’s favour and was simply left in the dust by Salah on multiple occasions.

He couldn’t deal with the Liverpool forward, and his apparent bemusement in the image above practically screams ‘HELP’.

Arsenal fans had better hope he recovers quickly and moves onto the next stage of his cycle before the clash with Tottenham next weekend.

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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…

As quoted by The Shields Gazette, Newcastle ace Isaac Hayden has opened up on why he thinks he hasn’t received a call-up to the England squad yet.

What did he say?

The 24-year-old has enjoyed an impressive start to the current campaign in the centre of midfield for Steve Bruce’s side, but missed out on a place in the Three Lions squad for the upcoming EURO 2020 qualifiers.

Now, Hayden has suggested England boss Gareth Southgate’s intent on getting more attacking players into the side has hurt his chances of a call-up.

Watch Newcastle United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He said: “I think the issue is that with the way that England play, they tend to go with a lot more attacking, ‘flairy’ type of players in that area. They rarely restrain themselves – from what I see looking in from the outside, Gareth only really has one or two players who can play in that more (defensive) position.

“Unfortunately, for me, I’ve got Jordan Henderson, Liverpool captain and Champions League winner, who in the last couple of years has really stepped up his game to the levels where he is now. Then you’ve obviously also got Declan Rice, who’s 20, and who has quit the Ireland, so it’s difficult to leave him out.

“It’s difficult for me to get in there, but I think the most important thing for me is to just keep playing the games I’m doing. If I’m playing the games and performing to the required level, then if I get in, I get in. If not, I’ll carry on playing and working.”

Disappointment

Despite claims he wanted to move back to London with his family, Hayden stayed put at Newcastle over the summer, and has shown incredible professionalism in knuckling down and getting the job done.

The former Arsenal academy product can consider himself desperately unlucky to miss out on a place in the England squad. The holding midfield role is a specialist position, and the 24-year-old has taken to the task well under both Rafa Benitez and Steve Bruce.

Hayden averaged an impressive 2.9 tackles and 1.6 interceptions in the Premier League last season, whilst Henderson managed just 1.4 tackles and 0.9 interceptions.

If the comparison with the Liverpool star is unfair because the Reds tend to dominate games, then the fact Hayden’s numbers slightly better what Rice produced at West Ham too (2.9 tackles and 1.5 interceptions) should underline how unlucky the Newcastle man is.

Hayden’s biggest problem perhaps? He simply goes about his job with the minimum of fuss. But if he continues to keep up his form over the course of the campaign, Southgate would be foolish to ignore him.

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Leeds’ deadline day didn’t offer too much chaos but despite adding Illan Meslier and Eddie Nketiah on loan, they received a huge boost with the confirmation that Kalvin Phillips would be staying and discussing new terms.

The news was confirmed by Yorkshire Evening Post and Phil Hay of The Athletic as the player’s agent Kevin Sharp revealed he would be sitting down immediately to talk about an updated contract.

Phillips was one of the stars in the Leeds side last term, playing 44 times across both midfield and defence, winning 2.6 tackles per game and the same number of aerial duels. He was a stalwart for Marcelo Bielsa and he should now be buoyed by the fact he doesn’t have anything lingering over his future.

The reaction to him staying was understandably that of delight on Twitter. Two fans focused on Victor Orta, throwing praise towards the Director of Football. One said he had pulled a blinder this window by keeping the 24-year-old in Yorkshire.

A fellow supporter said that it was the best signing of the window whilst another described it as the best news of the summer.

Phillips attracted £14m interest from Aston Villa during the course of the transfer market whilst he also caught the eye of Wolves and Bournemouth.

Here’s the best of the reaction.

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