Harry Redknapp claims modern players are to blame for West Ham United’s failings, per the Daily Star.
The Hammers have been in inconsistent form this season and sit ninth in the Premier League table, having won two and lost two of their last four outings.
What’s he said?
Redknapp believes that there is a lack of “love” for the club among modern players.
Indeed, he claims he does not know “half the players there anymore”, before veering perilously close to dangerous territory by claiming the club is filled with “foreign imports”.
Asked about why West Ham have been flattering to deceive, he told the Star: “It’s hard to put your finger on it, I don’t know. It’s a difficult one, I don’t know who the characters are, who the leaders are at the football clubs. It’s a changing world.
“I’ll be honest I don’t even know half the players there anymore [at West Ham]. They seem to have lots of foreign imports in and then go.
“[Mark] Noble’s the only one I really find I can relate to there, he’s a West Ham boy through and through. He’s a massive part of the club.
“It’s a changing world, I look back all them years ago when everybody at West Ham came from within four or five miles of the ground. It’s all local boys, all love the club, want to play for the club.
“Now players tend to go and drift off. It seems every time we get a real player, we get [Dimitri] Payet, he comes and then suddenly he wants to leave.”
Proper football man
Redknapp is perhaps the last bastion of proper football men.
His claim that West Ham’s squad is filled with foreign players who care little about the club should give you some idea about which way he voted in the Brexit referendum of 2016.
This is an old-fashioned belief that has precious little tethering to reality.
Manchester City, for example, had four main English players last season: Kyle Walker, John Stones, Raheem Sterling and Fabian Delph.
There were, by comparison, the same amount of Brazilian players. City picked up 100 points.
West Ham are not expecting to do that, of course, but Redknapp is merely disguising a lack of research behind a nationalistic ideal that no longer holds up in 2019.
Leeds United will have one eye on the summer transfer window and Manchester United man Andreas Pereira should be considered an unlikely, but quality, option.
There is no love lost between Leeds United and Manchester United, that much we know for certain.
The two sides bitter rivalry goes way back before the birth of the Premier League into the 20th Century and beyond. It is fierce, it is unrelenting, and it is not slowing anytime soon – especially if Marcelo Bielsa mounts a successful push into the top flight.
But could there be the briefest respite if United loan out one of their brightest talents to West Yorkshire?
Andreas Pereira has been one of the standout prospects in Manchester United’s revival under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and has recently been rewarded with an extension on his current contract, pending a four-year deal which could include a promise to go out on loan as makeweight (as per The Sun).
That being said, a move to Elland Road to help Leeds, should they achieve promotion, would be an ideal move for both parties.
The 23-year-old featured in their behemoth win over Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League and has continued to play a key role in midfield when replacing the missing Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba.
He has experience at the top level, as well as sufficient enough dynamism, skill, technical ability, and energy, to make a switch into a considerably more challenging environment under Marcelo Bielsa.
Indeed, as far as we are concerned the move would make perfect sense.
A loan deal would be significantly less of a burden should Leeds be relegated the following season – helping to avoid the tumultuous drop into financial instability, and it would inject serious quality into the forward areas of the pitch Leeds – an area where Leeds are undoubtedly struggling.
Leeds United fans, despite the rivalry, would you take Andreas Pereira on loan next season in the Premier League? Let us know in the comments below…
[ad_pod ]It’s official. Manchester United have confirmed the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as their manager on a three-year contract, after the Norwegian impressed hugely in an interim role having succeeded Jose Mourinho towards the end of December.The Red Devils’ former No.20 has suffered defeat on just three occasions since stepping into the hotseat, whilst noticeably improving the squad’s morale which had suffered significantly under Mourinho’s harsher management style.
Everything about the appointment looks rosy. Solskjaer gets the club and its ethos, is adored by the fans and the players, and has been getting results to boot – however, the history of appointing interim managers on a permanent basis suggests that United have gotten overexcited in handing the former Cardiff boss a three-year deal.
When Roberto Di Matteo won the Champions League and the FA Cup for Chelsea as interim boss, he was consequently, and deservedly, handed a two-year contract in the summer of 2012; the Italian lasted until November after a few poor results.
Which “global superstar” has just been named Man Utd’s worst ever January signing? Find out in the video above…
If the same ends up happening to Solskjaer, which it very well could given his not-so-impressive managerial career to date prior to his current stint at Old Trafford, then the length of contract handed to him by United chiefs could be a costly decision.
The 20-time Premier League champions were forced to shell out around £24m to Mourinho after giving him his marching orders back in December, having already payed out a combined £13.6 to get rid of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.
If Solskjaer does turn out to be yet another interim-turned-permanent flop, then United could be setting themselves up for yet another hefty pay-off, and yet another search for a manager who can take them back to their glory days – even someone who could achieve a quarter of what Sir Alex Ferguson achieved would be deemed a hero.
The faith United have shown in Solskjaer after just three impressive months is admirable, if ill-advised and something they may very well end up regretting before the year is up. Solskjaer has the potential to be a huge hit at Old Trafford, but he’s equally capable of becoming a victim of his own early success.
Joey Barton is never shy in causing controversy, with his self-styled philosophical ramblings and regular comments on topical issues both inside and outside football.
And this week has seen him make a brash claim that he would already have Sunderland secured as a Championship side, if he had been in charge of the Black Cats.
His comments, when speaking to the Fleetwood Weekly News, have a hint of jealousy and a tinge of sour grapes, but he also claims that his Fleetwood side, despite falling short this season, will mount a promotion charge next season.
He said: “We have not been able to recruit everybody we would want in the building. But we have a chance to shuffle the pack on that in the summer.
“We have some really key components already here with us. I think that is what has emerged this season whether or not we are successful and get promoted.
“That is for a select few. There are only so many that can do that.
“It is two (up) automatic and one by the play-offs. Everyone judges those sides as being successful but, let’s be honest, if I had Sunderland’s budget I’d have them up by this point.”
It’s a bold claim, and one that many Sunderland fans will simply laugh at.
He took a job at Fleetwood, and must have known the type of budget and restrictions he would have, compared to a bigger club.
Jack Ross has done a fantastic job at Sunderland, and the irony of Barton’s comments, is that, before the club was bought by Stewart Donald, Fleetwood were probably in a better financial position than the Wearside club.
If he does not like working with the finances he has at his disposal, he could just leave, or prove himself enough that a bigger club comes calling for him.
If the latter were to happen, I am not sure you would hear him complaining about having the opportunity to build a better squad then.
Maybe Barton should focus more on his own job at hand, and less on what the others are doing.
I am sure the Sunderland fans are only interested in Barton and Fleetwood on two occasions this season — the next of which will be during the penultimate game at Highbury, when it would be a perfect fitting, if the Black Cats secured automatic promotion in front of his envious eyes.
What do you think about Joey Barton’s comments, Sunderland fans? Does he have a point, or is it more nonsense from the former Newcastle man? Let us know your thoughts…
It still hasn’t quite sunk in that Arsenal are no longer managed by Arsene Wenger.
22 years of being a manager of any team is an incredible achievement, let alone to do it at a club in the biggest football league in the world and to achieve relative success each season, but that’s what Wenger did.
A moment in time – Arsene Wenger’s first game, 1996
Although successor Unai Emery has done well since taking over at Arsenal, bringing a fresh new style of football to north London and on course to take the club back to the Champions League on his first attempt, it’s still weird to see the Spaniard sitting in the same seat Wenger sat in for over two decades.
Both managers did well in their first season at Arsenal, but if you’re to look at which coach had the better start for the Gunners, Wenger beats Emery hand over fist.
In his first game as Arsenal manager, Emery’s side were easily beaten 2-0 by reigning champions Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners’ only defeat at home this season, but what was Wenger’s first ever game as manager of Arsenal like?
Joining the club in October of 1996, Wenger was entrusted upon to do well with the squad he had at his disposal. An unknown in English football, the Frenchman was quick to win over the Arsenal fans who were sceptical of his appointment by winning his first game in charge.
An away game against Blackburn Rovers, who had won the Premier League two seasons prior but were bottom when the Arsenal rolled into town, was the stage of Wenger’s first game in charge of the Gunners, and within three minutes of his first game in English football Arsenal had the lead, with Ian Wright giving the north London making it 1-0 early on.
Patrick Vieira, who was signed by Arsenal on the advice of Wenger the previous summer, assisted Wright for his second in the 53rd minute, sealing a 2-0 win for the Gunners.
Wenger would go on to lead Arsenal to third that season, and the rest, they say, is history.
Two or three years ago, the mention of Christian Benteke would be met with smiles from Crystal Palace fans and shudders from opposition defenders, but those reactions have since been reversed – the big Belgian has lost all form in front of goal and currently looks unlikely to score this season.
Having arrived at Selhurst Park for an eyebrow-raising £27m, the striker looked likely to repay that hefty price tag after his debut season in SE25, in which he scored an impressive 17 goals in all competitions under Alan Pardew and Sam Allardyce, but he hasn’t been worth even a quarter of that since.
In fact, since netting his 17th strike in red and blue in a 4-0 trouncing of Hull on 14th May 2017 – a result which ensured the Eagles remained in the top flight – the 28-year-old has scored just three times. He has not been short of opportunities in the starting XI or in front of goal, either, having racked up 596 minutes this campaign despite spending a period of time on the sidelines due to injury.
What, then, has gone so spectacularly wrong for the Palace number 17 since his Pardew/Allardyce heydays? Well, therein is the first explanation: the aforementioned managers’ playing styles were perfect for the big target man, who thrives off of direct service and lots of balls into the box.
The two honchos who have taken the helm since – Frank de Boer and current boss Roy Hodgson – prefer a passing game, creating triangles and working opportunities around the box slowly or on the counter instead of hitting a striker whenever possible, as highlighted by Luka Milivojevic:
“What is true is that we have a lot of penalties but we deserve them because we try and move the ball around the box, because you can’t get a penalty out of the box. And that means we have a lot of skilful players who receive the ball in the box, which is very hard to defend against, especially in the Premier League.”
Benteke is often left at the back-post waiting for a cross that never comes as Andros Townsend much prefers to cut in and try his luck on his left, while Wilfried Zaha is far more concerned with winning penalties – a key part of Palace’s success.
Serbian Milivojevic netted his 10th penalty of the season against Newcastle at the weekend and his 19th since joining the Eagles in January 2017. So frequent is the sight of the Palace captain firing home clinically from the spot that many surely forget that, once upon a time, Benteke actually took penalties for the Croydon outfit.
The former Aston Villa man has taken six spot-kicks for Palace and scored just three but, nevertheless, the fact he is no longer on penalty duties means a crucial, albeit small, portion of his opportunities to find the net have been shaved off.
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Perhaps if he was still trusted to take them, he would still be scoring other chances, too – he absolutely shouldn’t take that mantle from Milivojevic ever again, though, after his horror miss versus Bournemouth in December 2017.
As previously mentioned, the 6 ft 3 forward has been hit with a knee injury this season that kept him out for 133 days and 22 games between 1st September and 12th January – since returning to action, the towering striker hasn’t had the spring he used to.
Prior to that setback, Benteke was a massive threat from set-pieces and crosses but he rarely wins anything in the air these days. Perhaps, also, the Palace players don’t trust him to get there first if they do swing the ball into the box.
That certainly wasn’t the case two seasons ago, when Benteke was the first man every Eagles player looked for when they got forward. Such was the Belgian’s output that campaign, the likes of Everton and Chelsea came calling the following summer, although both will be counting their lucky stars that they never managed to prise the striker away from Selhurst Park given his capitulation since.
Perhaps his head was turned by the prospect of another shot at one of the top six clubs. Antonio Conte and the Blues were in search of a plan-B striker and eventually turned to Olivier Giroud instead – a move which has worked out nicely for all involved except Palace, who have been stuck with the £120,000-a-week flop.
Which player with “no potential” has just been named Crystal Palace’s worst ever January signing? Find out in the video below…
With Michy Batshuayi now first choice striker under Hodgson until he inevitably returns to Stamford Bridge, Benteke’s chances finally look to have run out and Steve Parish will surely look to offload the misfiring hitman if possible in the summer.
It’s a huge shame that he hasn’t been able to keep up the form he discovered during the 2016/17 term and, while he continues to spurn opportunities for fun, the few remaining Palace fans willing to defend their former hero will keep gradually losing their faith in him.
What do you think, will Benteke ever find his feet and head again? Or is he a shell of that player already?
Jimmy Kebe is one of those players Leeds United fans will back at and think, ‘oh, yeah, that happened’.
The winger picked up a bit of a following at Reading thanks to his effective brand of kick and run football. With a little bit of skill added, of course.
The Brian McDermott gamble which paid off, Kebe was a real Championship hero. He could have done great things within the perimeters of the second tier – either becoming a Royals legend or cementing himself as a ‘get of out of league card’. You know, the kind of mercenary who gets the job done at the lower levels but cannot be trusted in the top flight.
Unfortunately, Kebe wanted another slice of the cake. And this one did not digest too well. A disastrous move to Premier League side Crystal Palace was where the sugary treat started its journey and a shocking mess back in the Championship with Leeds United was where it ended. Appropriately matching our biological metaphor.
Kebe switched to Elland Road to reunite with former boss Brian McDermott in 2014. “He has fantastic pace, he is a real team player, and he made and scored goals for (Reading) in the Championship and the Premier League,” McDermott told the official club site (via Yorkshire Evening Post). “I’m delighted he’s come on board and I’m really looking forward to working with him again.”
Some things are best left in the past, and Jimmy Kebe is one of them.
The winger debuted in a six-goal drubbing at the hands of rivals Sheffield Wednesday, which pretty much set the tone for the rest of his ‘career’ at the club. In nine appearances for the club, he managed just one a single goal. Quite sad really.
At times he looked like his old spritely self, in the sense that he sprinted up and down the line like a hyperactive dog, but his energy was very, very rarely ever coupled with an end product. Both Kebe and his biggest fan, McDermott, did not last too long in West Yorkshire.
The Malian retired in 2015 to pursue a career in poker, where, apparently, he is not doing badly (as per Poker News).
Leeds fans, what are some memories that stand out? Join the discussion by commenting below…
It was a result not many Arsenal fans expected, and it was certainly a performance nobody saw coming.
At a stadium known for its hostility and where only Juventus have won at this season, not many would have guessed Unai Emery’s Arsenal, who have been infamously poor on the road this campaign for both losing and conceding goals, to go to the San Paolo and not only win, but win as the clearly dominant team.
Not even three days after Arsenal escaped Vicarage Road with three points and a clean sheet against Watford, who dominated the Gunners with 10 men for most of the match, going from a London rival to Napoli is a leap many teams would not be able to cope with, and yet somehow the Gunners managed to do it.
Aside from Aaron Ramsey coming off injured with a suspected hamstring injury, it was a perfect performance from Arsenal. Emery got the tactics spot on in a match where the Gunners were threatening in attack and surprisingly solid in defence, with Alexandre Lacazette and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, in particular, impressing on the night.
The whole performance was everything Arsenal fans dreamed what would happen, and with arguably their hardest game of the season over and done with, it’s important Emery uses the tactics and lessons he learnt in Naples to make his team as good on the road as they are at home.
The win against Napoli could be seen as the game that buried Arsenal’s away form demons if the club can continue such level of quality on the road in upcoming games against Wolves and Leicester City, and if they can, the Gunners have set themselves up for an interesting 2019/20 season.
Arsenal fans, can the club continue this good run of form? Let us know!
Leeds United fans on Twitter are raging after Chris Wilder’s comments about their club following confirmation that Sheffield United would be playing in the Premier League next season.
Despite it being a day of celebration for Wilder and his team he couldn’t help but go on a tirade about his closest rivals.
The Blades manager let loose his thoughts on his Yorkshire rivals whilst he was celebrating his team’s promotion to the Premier League.
Wilder said in a YouTube video on the club’s official channel.
“We’ve had one defeat in 13 and I’ve got muppets from Leeds talking about the pressure being on us.
“Bamford and (Adam) Forshaw and a couple of others. It’s over to you and this, that and the other.
“They got beat seven times since Christmas. We’ve been beaten once. We’ve set it up from Christmas to be in the race and we’ve steamrolled it.”
The Sheffield United boss held his nerve towards the end of the season, culminating in promotion to the Premier League for his club, whilst the Whites faltered at the final hurdle.
Wilder had often talked about Leeds towards the business end of the campaign. The manager has had the last laugh firing back one more time after the Blades’ triumph.
His comments touched a nerve with the Elland Road faithful as they branded him classless and embarrassing for focussing on Leeds on the proudest day of his managerial career.
Manchester United fans have taken to Twitter in disbelief, after Ashley Young said that he couldn’t fault the ‘effort and attitude’ of the players after they drew 1-1 with bottom placed Huddersfield.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men could only manage to get a point against the 20th-placed Terriers, who have recorded just three wins all season and have also conceded 75 goals along the way.
Will OGS still be in charge of Man Utd come next May? The Flying Pig discusses in the video below…
As a result of the disappointing draw, the Red Devils can no longer qualify for the Champions League, and it was a performance that practically summed up the dismal nature of the mess the club currently find themselves in.
The players in red were just walking around, nobody was putting any effort in, and the general attitude of the team just stank out the John Smith’s Stadium, so Young’s comments suggesting the opposite of that have rightly hit a nerve with the supporters.
Let’s see what the livid United fanbase on Twitter are saying about the captain’s words…