Everton have revealed that Gylfi Sigurdsson could be on the sidelines “for several weeks” with the knee problem that he picked up against Brighton & Hove Albion at the weekend.
Sigurdsson picked up the injury in the first match of his team’s 2-0 win at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon, but played on for the full 90 minutes.
The Iceland international will now undergo a scan to determine the extent of the problem, but it has been suggested that the attacker could struggle to play again this season.
A statement on Everton’s official website read:
“Gylfi Sigurdsson will see a specialist this evening to determine a time frame for recovery from the knee injury he sustained in Saturday’s Premier League win over Brighton at Goodison Park.
“It is anticipated that the 28-year-old Icelandic international could be sidelined for several weeks but it will only be after consulting with the specialist that a definitive time frame will be known.”
Sigurdsson, who is valued at £27m by transfermarkt.co.uk, has scored six times and registered five assists in 33 appearances for Everton during the 2017-18 campaign.
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The 28-year-old initially struggled to settle at Goodison Park following a big-money move from Swansea City in last summer’s transfer window, but his form has taken a turn for the better since Sam Allardyce arrived as head coach.
Roy Hodgson seems to be doing more damage to England than good at the moment, and it revolves around his selection policy.
When he was first handed the job he promised he would be looking at form rather than reputation when selecting who to call up to the squad. Reputation and who you play for seem to have been the biggest deciding factors if you are to earn a call up to the squad, with form being on the back burner in a complete u-turn on what he stated he was all about.
There is no doubting the England manager’s credentials as a football coach, his track record in domestic football leading up to his England duties spoke for itself.
A lot of articles have leaped to the defence of Hodgson after such a shambles of a World Cup saying that there is no one out there that could have done a better job than him given the players that were available to him for selection, that the poor offering of talented youth to step up to the big holes left behind by the older generation of stars who have hung up their boots for their country is a far wider spread problem that cannot be pinned on the manager.
Granted, from grass roots to senior level, England have got a very big problem on their hands at the moment with a big percentage of the star talent in the EPL currently being foreign and clubs choosing to look abroad to bring in their transfers rather than at a club’s own academy, there is a severe shortage of promising young English players who are being given the right type of opportunity to break into the senior squad of their own team let alone the England set up. If you take this into account then the future of English international football looks bleak at best, and will inevitably get worse before it gets better.
Nevertheless, Hodgson has a lot more talent at his disposal than the dross he has chosen to call up and he is not using the best that he currently has at his disposal, which begs the question why are people so quick to leap to his defence when it comes to player selection, or have the fans feeling a little bit more optimistic of the team’s chances of doing something other than looking second rate when competing against stronger opposition than that faced during qualifying rounds?
The England squad announcements always seem to have players from top reputation clubs, mainly Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea. There are certain clubs who play a greater majority of English than foreign players who seem to get overlooked a lot when it comes to selection. Despite the fact that Swansea’s Jonjo Shelvey has been selected, it still looks like there are a lot of players being called up that are second rate compared to the likes who are being left out. Shelvey, Andros Townsend, Jack Wilshire and Adam Lallana are all in the squad for the upcoming qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia yet, if you look at the present form and statistics of the likes of Stewart Downing, Mark Noble and Nathan Dyer, all look like better options who are in better form and can provide a cutting edge in the England midfield.
Not that these two games are anything to worry about, nor is the rest of the qualifying round. It is once we arrive at the competition proper in 2016 that the persistence to continually pick players based on reputation rather than form that will go a long way to further damage England’s chances of competing against sterner opposition, and making some sort of progress in the rankings and competitions.
The youth system and over use of foreign players at the domestic level will continue to cause issues at the international level if something is not done about it and fast, but when current selection revolves around the top clubs or players who have a reputation but are not playing to form compared to the wasted talent being left back at home then the manager is to blame for England’s continual slip down the FIFA rankings and poor performance on the world stage.
The tactics are also quite predictable and one dimensional, which makes it that little bit harder for different players to come in and make a difference when it is needed. Hodgson’s stubbornness with selection and tactics is making it hard to make the right changes to improve the situation. When he does make changes or bring somebody new in to the squad it seems that it is someone who isn’t really as deserving of an opportunity as somebody more capable.
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The excuses are starting to wear thin now and Hodgson cannot keep hiding behind lack of players to select any longer. The job needs to go to someone who will truly push reputation and stature to one side and pick a team more deserving and capable of competing at the top level.
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Queens Park Rangers boss Harry Redknapp has hinted that he will raid the American MLS in January to search for some bargains and loan deals to improve his struggling Rangers squad.
The MLS season is now over and players such as David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Landon Donovan have used this time to move to Europe on loan to stay fit over the past few years.
Beckham is now a free agent and is looking for a new dawn in his career, with offers from China, Russia, Australia and Europe to consider, so it is unlikely that West London will be his next destination.
One man that moved back to the Premier League this time last year was Robbie Keane who enjoyed a successful loan at Aston Villa and Keane may be top of Redknapp’s list when it comes to January arrivals having been together at Tottenham a few years ago.
“The MLS market is one that we’ve got to look at,” Redknapp told Sky Sports.
“Robbie’s a good shout. He probably would be an interesting player.
“I haven’t spoken to him yet no but he would be an interesting player.
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“He’s a good pro and he would be the ideal type to have around for sure because he would give us something.”
Manchester United are keeping a close eye on Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Wanyama ahead of the summer transfer window, according to the Daily Mail.
What’s the word?
Wanyama has been at the North London club since 2016 when he signed from Southampton.
The Kenyan international has impressed with his strength in the middle of the park, but he has only managed to start two Premier League games this season, partly due to injuries.
According to the Daily Mail, United are considering their midfield options with Michael Carrick due to retire.
Wanyama is believed to be on their list, while Liverpool have also been touted as potential suitors.
Should Tottenham sell?
The 26-year-old has been a powerhouse in the team’s midfield, but since recovering from injury, the ex-Celtic player has not been selected regularly by manager Mauricio Pochettino.
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Eric Dier has taken the defensive midfield role, while Mousa Dembele is the other man in midfield.
Despite getting less minutes, Wanyama still has a role to play in the team, especially when Dier is required to slot back into the defence.
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Whether the Kenyan would be willing to eventually play a bit-part role remains to be seen.
One thing is for sure, though, chairman Daniel Levy will not allow the midfielder to go for a cheap price.
Forced to publicly apologise for fleeing Anfield early on Saturday afternoon, having failed to make Liverpool’s match day squad as they took on Everton, it’s safe to say Mamadou Sakho hasn’t quite lived up to expectations since swapping PSG for Merseyside last summer.
Indeed, initially purchased for £18million, making him the most expensive signing of Brendan Rodgers’ tenure at the time, and labelled by Ian Ayre as the ‘marquee signing’ fans had demanded for several transfer windows prior, despite often showing great promise, the centre-back is yet to justify his transfer fee or the Liverpool director’s billing.
Critics are not hard to come by, perhaps the most prevalent being Jamie Carragher; the Liverpool legend whom Sakho essentially replaced upon his retirement in summer 2013. If there’s one way for a centre-back to guarantee the Anfield faithful turning against him, it’s unquestionably running afoul of the greatest defender in recent Liverpool history, the Reds’ predominant representative on Sky Sports, capable of making even Lionel Messi look like a League One player through the powers of the studio whiteboard.
I’m far more fond of the Frenchman than many of his contemporaries. Whilst Martin Skrtel remains a throwback to more rugged, thuggish Premier League years and Dejan Lovren boasts the anticipation, intelligence and quality in possession of a modern defender, Sakho compliments both through his robustness and athleticism.
His pace in particular should be a key asset for Liverpool, whom through their rip-roaring, breakneck attacking style, have inevitably become one of the Premier League’s most susceptible to counter-attacking football; both Aston Villa and West Ham have claimed wins over the Reds this season despite recording less than 40% possession.
Sakho’s ball-playing qualities are often criticised, yet I see the situation rather differently. Looking remarkably uncomfortable in possession is a recurring theme of the 24 year-old, but in terms of using the ball productively, he boasted a higher pass completion rate, 92%, more passes per match, 50.17, and more accurate forward passes per match, 38.78, than any of his centre-back partners last season.
The defender creates good angles to move the ball forward; whereas the rest of the defence appear content to shift the ball around the back four, he attempts direct, horizontal passes. Perhaps the legacy of occasional displays in defensive midfield for PSG.
These are Sakho’s predominant strengths that in my opinion, combined with his height and power, suggest all the makings of a top defender. It’s incredibly telling that he earned Didier Deschamps’ faith for the World Cup in Brazil, starting every fixture at centre-back in a France squad that included Rafael Varane, Eliaquim Mangala and Laurent Koscielny – hardly lightweights amongst world football’s centre-half elite.
That being said, Sakho hasn’t been able to influence Liverpool’s habitually pedestrian defending as much as expected since moving to Anfield just over twelve months ago.
Last season, a campaign which saw him make 18 appearances in the top flight, Liverpool conceded 50 times, giving them the second-worst defensive record in the Premier League’s top eight after Tottenham. Conclusively, just one of the Reds’ ten clean sheets last year were in Sakho’s presence. A 5-0 win over – no prizes for guessing – Tottenham.
The situation is paralleled this season, and exacerbated further by the departure of Luis Suarez, reducing Liverpool’s firepower considerably. Liverpool have already recorded three losses after just six fixtures, haemorrhaging on average 1.5 goals per match. Sakho was at the heart of both defeats to Aston Villa and West Ham, in the latter fixture directly contributing to a Hammers goal through an individual error.
And I’m sure we all remember, as Jamie Carragher was quick to point out post-match, the Frenchman’s role in Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace in May that essentially cost the Merseysiders any chance of claiming the Premier League title on the final day of last season. Images of Sakho negatively shifting his body back towards his own goal, echoing the famous ‘back and to the left’ scene from JFK, still probably flicker on Carragher’s eye lids late at night.
Positioning and pressure could well be Sakho’s biggest weaknesses. A regular flaw of athletically-blessed centre-halves, the Liverpool defender often relies upon his physique, rather his intelligence or reading of the game, to rescue him from difficult situations. Likewise, although any player of PSG will be no stranger to the pressures of European football, nothing quite matches the consistent, relentless intensity of the English top flight.
Yet, these are recurring trends amongst Ligue 1 defenders. Laurent Koscielny for example initially bore the brunt of huge criticism when Arsenal snapped him up from Lorient in 2010, but after adapting his game to Premier League requisites, the 29 year-old is now considered to be one of the division’s top centre-backs. Similarly, it took well over twelve months for Mathieu Debuchy to reproduce the form from his Lille days at Newcastle, but, at least by Arsene Wenger’s reckoning, he’s now a £12million-rated No.2.
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There’s no debate that Sakho is yet to justify his £18million price-tag. So far in his Liverpool career, the Frenchman has struggled to outweigh the good performances with the bad – a situation further amplified by his exclusion from the match-day squad and subsequent Anfield walk-out on Saturday afternoon.
We are talking about a 24 year-old defender however, who has currently registered just 21 Premier League appearances and amongst them, shown signs on slender occasions of better times ahead. Brendan Rodgers purchased Sakho with the next decade in mind; he certainly possesses the potential to remain in the Anfield first team for that long, but further performances to suggest this will have to come sooner rather than later.
With his professionalism and commitment now as questionable as his form in a Liverpool jersey, eyes will now be firmly on the French stopper.
It could be worse Nando, you could be one of these guys…
Newcastle will be looking to end a four-match losing streak when they host Wigan in the Premier League on Sunday.
Alan Pardew’s men have so far struggled to recapture the form that took them to a fifth-place finish last season. Since beating West Brom in October, the Magpies have endured a terrible run of form with just one point from their past five matches. Disappointing losses at home to West Ham and Swansea were followed by arguably their worst result of the season – a 2-0 loss at Southampton.
They looked like finally ending their losing run against Stoke on Wednesday night, but conceded twice in the last 10 minutes to slump to their fourth straight defeat. They are languishing in 14th place and in desperate need of a victory to kick-start their season.
Papiss Cisse may have scored in his last start against Stoke but the Senegalese striker has struggled so far this campaign after bursting onto the scene so spectacularly in January earlier this year. Newcastle’s other star striker Demba Ba has been more productive with eight goals to his name already and will be looking to further add to his tally in this clash.
Roberto Martinez’s Wigan have lost three of their past four clashes, but were far from disgraced in Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to defending champions Manchester City. Spanish attacker Jordi Gomez netted a sublime hat-trick in Wigan’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Reading and will pose a threat to Newcastle’s leaky defence. Arouna Kone and Franco Di Santo are also quality forwards with seven goals between them his season.
Wigan have never tasted a Premier League victory at St James’ Park, but if they break their duck it will be the first time Newcastle have lost three home matches in a row since April 2009.
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Southampton have sparked into life this transfer window by recently adding both Mohamed Elyounoussi and Stuart Armstrong to the club.
Elyounoussi joins the Saints from Basel for a £16m fee, as reported by Sky Sports, while Armstrong left SPL champions Celtic and arrived at St. Mary’s in a £7m deal (via BBC Sport).
Having now strengthened his midfield and attacking midfield options with the signings of Elyounoussi and Armstrong, manager Mark Hughes must now turn his attention to up front.
Guido Carrillo has failed to have any impact since joining Southampton in the January transfer window, Manolo Gabbiadini and Shane Long have barely done any better in front of goal, while Charlie Austin is constantly picking up injuries.
Furthermore, Hughes should consider making an approach for Tottenham target man Fernando Llorente.
Llorente, who is valued at £6.3m by Transfermarkt, hasn’t been able to impose himself at Spurs after leaving Swansea for north London with Harry Kane the club’s undisputed No.9.
The 33-year-old could now be made available for transfer and would be a great buy for Southampton if he were to be signed.
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Llorente can add the sort of firepower up front the Saints have been missing. The former Juventus centre-forward scored 15 Premier League goals for Swansea in the 2016/17 campaign and, in a team like Southampton that possesses much better players than the Swans, Llorente could easily hit similar figures again.
While he may represent a short-term option, Llorente would still be a drastic upgrade – that wouldn’t cost much – on most of Southampton’s strikers.
According to reports in The Mirror, West Ham United are hopeful that striker Andy Carroll, rated at €10m (£8.8m) by Transfermarkt, could be fit to return for their final two Premier League matches of the season in May.
It was thought that the 29-year-old would miss the rest of the campaign having suffered a hairline fracture to his ankle last month, which The Mirror says wrecked a potential move to the Premier League holders Chelsea before the January transfer window slammed shut.
The centre-forward, who has scored two goals in 12 top flight appearances this term, hasn’t featured for David Moyes’ men since a late substitute outing in their 1-1 draw against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on January 4, but the report adds that there is a new belief that he could be back in action in May having undergone a successful operation.
While they will hope not to be, West Ham could still find themselves in a relegation battle when they face Leicester City at the King Power Stadium before hosting Everton at the London Stadium on the final day in May, and they may need their 29-year-old striker to be involved even though Marko Arnautovic has been brilliant in the centre-forward role in his absence.
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The Irons currently lie in 12th position and four points above the bottom three following their 2-0 win against Watford last time out, but they face a daunting trip to a free-scoring Liverpool side on Saturday.
In perhaps the most inevitable sacking of all time, manager David Hockaday was fired yesterday evening after just 70 days in charge at Leeds United.He saw only six fixtures as Elland Road boss but his credentials were questioned from the off, in no small part due a rather uninspiring win-rate of 34% at ConferenceÂside Forest Green Rovers.Hockaday failed to gain the faith of the players, the fans or Leeds owner Massimo Cellino, who relinquished with the 56 year-old’s services after the Whites were knocked out of the Capital One Cup by local rivals Bradford City.The Yorkshire outfit suffered four losses, picked up four red cards, conceded eleven goals and only scored four times with Hockaday at the helm.But the past is the past and Massimo Cellino now has the task of finding the next Leeds manager as soon as possible. With that in mind, here’s a list of SIX men who could go on to succeed Hockaday at Elland Road.
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EAMONN DOLAN
Reading Academy boss Eamonn Dolan was firmly in the frame for the Elland Road gig earlier this summer before Massimo Cellino fell in love with the idea of David Hockaday.
The 46 year-old’s managerial experience at senior level is relatively limited; he stepped in briefly as Royals caretaker after Brian McDermott was sacked in 2013, and also boasts an impressive campaign with Exeter City – the club he ended his playing days with – in 2003/04, steadying the ship after coming in as caretaker the year previous to narrowly miss out on a play-off spot in the Conference league.
But the former Republic of Ireland junior has been at the heart of Reading’s academy since 2004 and in that time the Madjeski outfit have produced a number of impressive talents, including Shane Long, Alex Pearce, James Henry, Jem Karacan, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Jordan Obita, Alex McCarthy, Hal-Robson-Kanu and Ben Hamer – all of whom are now regulars at either Championship or Premiership level. Click here to view the full list of academy graduates.
Dolan’s overall track-record is impressive and perhaps most importantly to Cellino, he’s a coach – rather than a manager – who has worked under the a Director of Football before. Reading employ one, as did Exeter back in 2004.
But Reading were incredibly reluctant to see him leave earlier this summer, with Director of Football Nicky Hammond describing Dolan as “an integral part of our club”. Relinquishing the Irishman from the Madjeski would take a £400,000 compensation fee, which proved too rich for Cellino’s blood just a matter of months ago.
NEIL REDFEARN
Neil Redfearn has taken the Leeds hotseat temporarily twice before – in fact, he’s been appointed caretaker manager for the Whites, Halifax Town and York City on a combined six occasions since 2001 – and finds himself in that familiar role once again after David Hockaday’s abrupt departure:
Could this be the former Barnsley, Charlton and Oldham midfielder’s time to take the Elland Road job permanently?
Prior spells as manager of Scarborough and Northwich Victoria didn’t go too well. In fact, the Vics claimed just one point from nine games with Redfearn at the helm. But he did win twice in four matches with Leeds in February 2012 between the reigns of Simon Grayson and Neil Warnock.
He’s highly thought-of within the Leeds set up too, currently combining the roles of Development squad manager and Academy manager, and also worked with the first team under Brian McDermott.
Massimo Cellino will undoubtedly be considering other options but Redfearn has the advantage of opportunities to impress, as he prepares Leeds for their home clash with Bolton tomorrow afternoon.
ROLANDO MARAN
This article would bear no clout without the discussion of at least a few Italian managers, considering Leeds are now owned by an Italian who has added no less than seven players from the Italian leagues to the Elland Road squad this summer.
And according to the International Business Times, Rolando Maran has emerged as the favourite to replace David Hockaday.
The 51 year-old has spent most of his management career in the Italian lower tiers, with spells at Cittadella, Brescia, Bari, Triestina, Vicenza and Varese, earning himself a reputation as one of the best managers outside of the top flight.
But his defining moment came in the 2012/13 season with Catania, guiding the side to an incredible eighth-place in Serie A, breaking their record for the number of home wins in a top flight campaign.
Maran was then sacked, rehired and sacked again by Catania last season, quite ridiculously, and has been out of the job since April. The bookies feel fairly certain of his chances at Elland Road, with odds of 11/10.
GIANLUCA FESTA
Football – Nationwide Division 1 , Preston North End v Portsmouth , 22/3/03Gianluca Festa – Portsmouth in action against Preston North EndMandatory Credit:Action Images / Stuart Crump
Another Italian manager believed to be in the running for the Whites post, albeit at odds of 25/1, is former Middlesbrough defender Gianluca Festa.
The 45 year-old is by no means the most qualified candidate on this list – his only experience as a head coach thus far has come during a short-lived spell at third-tier Italian side Lumezzane.
But he knows Massimo Cellino well, having worked as assistant manager and reserve team coach at Cagliari, and was brought in by the Leeds owner to take over from Brian McDermott on the now infamous ‘Mad Friday’.
He took charge of the Whites squad for just a matter of hours before McDermott was quickly reinstated, demoted to the position of translator for loan signing Andrea Tabanelli.
The midfielder’s deal was cancelled by the Football League a week later and he, along with Festa, disappeared from the Yorkshire scene rather abruptly, until the ex-Pompey man was linked with the Leeds gig once again in the summer, before it was given to David Hockaday.
But Festa fits Cellino’s management structure well, has enjoyed a brief taste of Elland Road life and is currently unemployed, which could convince the Whites owner to give him another go.
Here’s the Italian netting the winning goal against Everton on New Years’ Day 2002, during his Riverside spell:
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Gary McAllister
Gary McAllister will be a name more recognisable to the Elland Road faithful. Not only did the former Scotland international make nearly 300 appearances for Leeds in the 1990s, he also managed the Yorkshire club for 50 games in 2008.
McAllister’s short period in the Leeds dugout started well, securing them a play-off spot in League One after taking over from Dennis Wise. It ended on a drab note however, losing to Histon in the FA Cup and MK Dons in the league. Yet, his overall win-rate for Leeds stands at a respectable 50%.
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The 49 year-old is a favourite of the Yorkshire fanbase and was linked with the Whites hotseat in the summer. He and Massimo Cellino are alleged to have met up on several occasions, but the Italian denies holding formal interviews with McAllister.
The former Leicester, Leeds, Coventry and Liverpool midfielder was quite the footballer during his playing days, making it into the 1993/94 PFA Team of the Year and winning the Man of the Match award in the 2001 UEFA Cup final. Here’s a look at some of his best goals:
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STEVE CLARKE
Of all the managers currently looking for employment, Steve Clarke is unquestionably one of the most popular and proven.
After working as assistant manager at Newcastle, Chelsea, Liverpool and West Ham, the Scot was named West Brom boss in 2012. With the assistance of Romelu Lukaku, he guided the Baggies to an 8th-place finish in the top flight, breaking the club record for Premier League wins and equalling their strongest campaign since 1981. The season was marked by an incredible 5-5 draw against Manchester United on the final day:
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The 51 year-old was given his marching orders in December 2013 however after a run of four straight defeats, a decision viewed by many as exceptionally harsh.
Clarke was then placed on gardening leave until May 2014, and surprisingly missed out on the recently-vacated Crystal Palace job to Neil Warnock.
The Scotland international may feel the need to prove himself again at Championship level, and he’s certainly the most impressive candidate on this list. But whether Massimo Cellino would be able to meet his wage demands remains to be seen.
Martin Jol was delighted as his side held Arsenal to a draw at the Emirates, despite a last minute penalty miss from the Gunners, but his main praise was focussed on his top striker, as reported by talkSPORT.
Dimitar Berbatov put in a top class performance against London rivals Arsenal, as Fulham came from 2-0 to draw 3-3 at the Emirates and Jol was delighted with his summer signings’ contribution.
“He’s a fantastic player,” Jol told talkSPORT.
“He could play for any other club in Europe, for the biggest clubs. Even at Manchester United he was top scorer in England.”
“We talked about it the other day in training.
“I said there is probably not one player in England who can wait for the keeper [when taking a penalty].
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“That is why he came to me on the byline because he was waiting for the keeper and he scored, so it was an awesome penalty kick.”