Archive for the ‘Liverpool’ Category

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Antonio Conte has been casting envious glances in the direction of the substitute’s bench at White Hart Wembley. Who has been the object of his desire? Well, nobody in particular, he has just decided that he wants a “Fernando Llorente” type of player to sit with his other game-ready spectators, come on for the final three minutes and miss a sitter.

Who is the object of his desire? Well, unless you have just returned from a cheap package trip to Mars, you will be aware that good old Andy Carroll, of West Ham, is the one causing Conte to flutter his eyelashes at David Moyes in the hope that he will release the former Newcastle United and Liverpool striker into the waiting arms of the Italian. (more…)

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Apparently, Henrikh Mkhitaryan not only holds the key to the Alexis Sánchez transfer, he IS the key.

Without his agreement to go in the opposite direction and turn out for Stubborn Old Man for the next eighteen months or so the deal could collapse.

As reported in The Guardian, the Armenian doesn’t see himself as a makeweight in this saga, but as a very important ingredient and, as he is not agitating for a move and is quite happy to remain at Old Trafford, he is carefully weighing up his options. (more…)

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Now there’s a leading question and one which has already been the subject of many a debate around the local hostelries of England and, probably, elsewhere.

In order to reach an, (almost), satisfactory conclusion we have to look at the cost involved in bringing them to the club against the number of goals scored.

Obviously as four of these players are in the first season with their clubs we will use only goals scored this season as the yardstick.

So, in reverse order, here are the “best” strikers in the Premier League. (more…)

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Today we continue our look at what the short term future holds for the top six managers.

Yesterday we concluded that JĂĽrgen Klopp will stay at Liverpool beyond this season, Antonio Conte will leave at the end of this season and Stubborn Old Man will, (probably), stubbornly carry on in his role as captain of the Titanic which is how he is viewed by many football followers, not just those of his own club.

The difference being that, if he were to abandon ship, then it probably wouldn’t sink and may even rise, submarine-like, with a new man in charge.

So to the other three and we start with:

Pep Guardiola (more…)

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We are talking about what will happen with the top six managers come the end of the season.

Today we look at the managers of Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool with the other three spotlighted tomorrow.

Warning!! There now follows some indisputable reasoning and irrefutable logic the like of which is only normally heard when two politicians are arguing the case for their respective parties. (more…)

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It would appear that Alexis Sánchez will have a choice of two clubs to join when he finally gets his wish to leave Arsenal.

He would actually have a choice of several clubs if he were prepared to move away from England but, to give him credit, he wants to stay in the Premier League rather than take the easy money on offer in a warmer climate with less competition and fewer games.

So a return to Spain has been ruled out and he managed to politely price himself out of a move to Bayern MĂĽnich by demanding wages he knew would never be offered. PSG would also probably be an option but, as we said, he has decided that the Premier League is where he wants to be. (more…)

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Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is jealous of the success Antonio Conte has had at his former club Chelsea, says pundit Tony Gale.

“I think he feels a little bit jealous of Conte and what he’s achieved at Chelsea,” Gale said on Sky Sports. “He shouldn’t be because he achieved so much himself.

It kind of takes the little edge and pressure off of what’s happening at Manchester United, that probably isn’t good enough.

The football they’re playing isn’t quite good enough at the moment.” (more…)

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So Alexis Sánchez may move to Manchester City. Then again, he may not. It all really depends on what mood Pep Guardiola is in at the time.

There was a short period when it seemed that City no longer had any interest in the Chilean but then Gabriel Jesus went and got himself injured and this, it appears, has reignited that interest. City would expect to get him for around ÂŁ20 million.

If this money is offered to Stubborn Old Man then he would be well advised to take it as the alternative is to let the player go for free in summer. To City it doesn’t make a lot of difference. They either pay the money now, and to Arsenal, or they wait and pay the money in summer but to Sánchez as a signing-on fee. (more…)

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On another ground-breaking day of football transfers Sky Sports News, having finally tired of leading with the perpetually “Breaking News” that Philippe Coutinho has signed for Barcelona, led with the equally earth-shattering headline, (to some people anyway), that once great Yorkshire giants “Dirty” Leeds had signed Yosuke Ideguchi from Gamba Osaka which, apparently, IS a football club and not a savoury dish involving prawns.

Now we are well aware that Leeds United is still a big club and is probably destined to return to the Premier League at some stage in it’s future but the signing of a 21 year-old Japanese player for an undisclosed fee, (ÂŁ500,000 is the best press guess), who has immediately been loaned out to Spanish giants Cultural Leonesa until the end of the season, is hardly the stuff of which world headlines should be made. (more…)

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The row between José Mourinho and Antonio Conte has now escalated to the point where pistols at dawn could replace the current handbags at teatime.

How has it reached this? How has a simple comment from Mourinho been blown up out of all proportion whereby all past histrionics and bad behaviour are now being quoted on both sides of the argument?

The answer is simple; the media is to blame 100%

Why is the media to blame? Because they are the ones who report, to use a Trumpism, “fake news”. (more…)