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There is no sugar-coating it, Arsenal are in a serious slump at the moment.

Mikel Arteta’s side are supposed to be fighting for the Premier League title this season, but following their loss to Newcastle United last week, they are currently seven points behind leaders Liverpool.

Moreover, their defeat to Inter Milan during the week was their third in six games, and while the defence looks shaky, the attack looks blunt. In short, the Gunners need to change something and quickly.

Arsenal’s recent results

Opposition

Result

Inter Milan (A)

1-0 (L)

Newcastle (A)

1-0 (L)

Preston North End (A)

3-0 (W)

Liverpool (H)

2-2 (D)

Shakhtar Donetsk (H)

1-0 (W)

Bournemouth (A)

2-0 (L)

All Stats via Sky Sports

So, fans should be excited about recent reports that have suggested the club now have a golden opportunity to secure the services of an exceptionally gifted number nine, even if that would impact Kai Havertz’s game time.

Arsenal transfer news

According to a recent report from GIVEMESPORT, Arsenal will have the chance to launch an early bid for Sporting CP star Viktor Gyokeres in January.

The report has revealed that there is a gentlemanly agreement between the player and club that he can leave in the summer for around £62.5m, but should clubs wish to jump ahead of the ever-growing queue, then they can opt to pay £71m in January.

While that’s good news, the bad news is that, alongside the Gunners, the report also claims that Paris Saint-Germain and several clubs from the Saudi Pro League are now keen on the Swede, meaning there could even be significant competition in January.

In all, it could still be a complicated and costly transfer to get done, but due to Gyokeres’ incredible ability, one worth pursuing, even if that negatively impacts Havertz’s game time in North London.

How Gyokeres compares to Havertz

So, if Arsenal are going to spend up to £71m – or more – on Gyokeres in January, it certainly won’t be with the intention of making him warm the bench, meaning he’ll be in direct competition with Havertz for a place in the starting lineup.

With that said, how to the pair stack up against one another? Is it an easy win for the Sporting ace?

Well, unfortunately for the former Chelsea man, it very much is, as across his 51 appearances for Arteta’s side last season, he racked up a reasonable tally of 14 goals and seven assists, meaning he averaged 0.41 goal involvements every game.

However, in his 50 appearances for the Portuguese giants last season, the former Coventry City star, whom ex-teammate Maxime Biamou dubbed “unplayable”, scored 43 goals and provided 15 assists, equating to an obscene average of 1.16 goal involvements every game.

Things remain just as one-sided when we look at this season as well.

In just 17 appearances for the Lisbon side, the Stockholm-born goal machine has found the back of the net on 23 occasions and provided four assists to boot, meaning he’s currently averaging 1.58 goal involvements every game.

In contrast, the Gunners’ number 29 has got on the scoresheet seven times in 16 games and has one assist to his name, which works out to a still impressive but significantly worse average of 0.50 goal involvements per match.

Gyokeres vs Havertz from 23/24

23/24

Gyokeres

Havertz

Appearances

50

51

Goals

43

14

Assists

15

7

Goal Involvements per Match

1.16

0.41

24/25

Gyokeres

Havertz

Appearances

17

16

Goals

23

7

Assists

4

1

Goal Involvements per Match

1.58

0.50

All Stats via Transfermarkt

Ultimately, even when you account for a slightly weaker league, the difference in goalscoring ability between Havertz and Gyokeres is enormous, and if Arsenal want to claw back lost ground on Liverpool and Manchester City in the new year, then they must sign the Swedish goalmachine in January.

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Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes Nov 7, 2024

Australia’s limited-overs captain has recovered from a knee problem

AAP20-Dec-2021

Aaron Finch will bolster Melbourne Renegades’ batting•Getty Images

Aaron Finch will play his first match since the T20 World Cup final when he returns for Melbourne Renegades in their BBL clash with Perth Scorchers.Australian captain Finch, who steered his country to its maiden T20 crown in the UAE last month, has missed the start of the BBL season because of lingering knee soreness.It follows knee surgery that allowed him to play at the World Cup, where he averaged 19.28 across seven innings, with a top score of 44 against England.The second-highest run-scorer in BBL history, Finch will bolster Renegades’ inexperienced top order after their slow start to the season with the bat. Having finished last in the previous two campaigns, Renegades won a nail-biting opener against Adelaide on the final ball, before suffering successive defeats to Strikers and Brisbane Heat.Related

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Renegades again find themselves last on the table ahead of Wednesday night’s clash with the Scorchers at Marvel Stadium.”The last couple of games, batting second, a little bit of inexperience probably creates a bit of chaos at times,” Finch said. “[Mackenzie] Harvey has started off beautifully and the way Zahir [Khan] has joined the group and done really well has been really impressive.”But you couldn’t ask for a huge amount more from a really young group of guys who haven’t played much T20 cricket. “[When your top six is inexperienced] you’re always going to have your back against the wall but it’s something that we knew was going to happen a few weeks ago.”The way the boys have embraced it and taken on the challenge has been really impressive.”Finch hasn’t done a lot of running in recent weeks but had a hit in the nets on Friday and trained again with Renegades at Junction Oval on Monday.”[The recovery] was just hampered by the World Cup,” he said. “We pushed really hard to get back for that and it was a risk well worth taking, but it just probably needed a little bit more time.”From the end of the World Cup to now has been a good, solid month of rehab, which has helped. I’ll hit a lot of balls in the next couple of days and I’m feeling good at the moment.”The skill acquisition part of it is something that I don’t think needs a huge amount – at 35 years old I think there’s a decent base to fall back on.”Fast bowler James Pattinson (general soreness) is a chance of returning from injury on Wednesday night, while Shaun Marsh (calf) won’t play in the first of two matches against his former team.Marsh is undergoing a rehabilitation program in Perth and is expected to join Finch at the top of the order later this month.

MatériaMais Notícias

O atacante Matheus Davó, emprestado do Corinthians ao São Bernardo, vem se destacando como o principal atacante do Tigre do ABC no Campeonato Paulista desta temporada. Ele foi eleito o melhor nas partidas contra Ponte Preta e Red Bull Bragantino.

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– Fico muito feliz em estar ajudando a equipe a fazer um campeonato muito bom. Estou trabalhando forte todos os dias e graças a Deus as coisas tem acontecido de uma forma positiva dentro do campo. Espero que continue dando tudo certo e que possamos terminar o Paulista numa boa colocação – afirmou Davó.

Na competição, Davó é o principal assistente do time, com duas assistências para gol. O atacante também é o que mais finalizou do elenco até o momento, com duas finalizações por jogo. Ele também é o segundo que mais dribla do plantel, com 60% de acertos.

> TABELA – Confira e simule os jogos do Timão no Campeonato Paulista

No entanto, Davó será desfalque do Tigre contra o Corinthians, nesta quarta-feira (16), às 21h30, na Neo Química Arena. Como ele está emprestado pelo Alvinegro, uma cláusula em seu contrato impede sua utilização.

Before Jurgen Klopp arrived, Liverpool supporters just wanted to see their team be competitive in the fight for Champions League qualification, year in, year out.

This is a proud and prestigious football club, one of the biggest worldwide, but it was a fallen giant despite the anomaly of that 2013/14 season, supercharged by the once-in-a-lifetime Luis Suarez.

Only, he wasn’t actually an unrepeatable kind of forward, for Mohamed Salah would arrive three years beyond the Uruguayan’s sale, and has forged a legacy for the ages.

Mohamed Salah has surpassed Luis Suarez

Salah might be the greatest Liverpool forward of the Premier League era. Sure, Suarez took a rather average team, fused together with the very spirit of Steven Gerrard and posted 31 goals and 13 assists across 33 top-flight fixtures.

Again, Robbie Fowler is a division great, while Fernando Torres’ time on Merseyside was unforgettable, almost indefinable in the connection he forged with the city. Michael Owen literally won the Ballon d’Or in 2001 while rising to prominence with the Anfield side.

No one compares to Salah though, whose unceasing brilliance over what will be eight years this summer has etched his name into eternal Premier League folklore. Journalist David Lynch has called him an “all-time great”, praise that echoes across the country.

Premier League: All-time Top Scorers

Rank

Player

Apps

Goals (per game)

1.

Alan Shearer

441

260 (0.59)

2.

Harry Kane

320

213 (0.67)

3.

Wayne Rooney

491

208 (0.42)

4.

Andy Cole

414

187 (0.45)

5.

Sergio Aguero

275

184 (0.67)

6.

Frank Lampard

609

177 (0.29)

7.

Thierry Henry

258

175 (0.68)

8.

Mohamed Salah

274

165 (0.60)

9.

Robbie Fowler

379

163 (0.43)

10.

Jermaine Defoe

496

162 (0.33)

Stats via Premier League

Salah needs just 11 Premier League goals to surpass Thierry Henry and insinuate himself among the top seven goalscorers in the league’s history. The 32-year-old requires merely 20 strikes to overtake Sergio Aguero in the top five. The big-boy league.

Liverpool have been treated to a wondrous talent, one who spearheaded trophy-laden success throughout the Klopp era and might just have a definitive say in a similar fight under Arne Slot’s wing this season.

It all could have been so different though. In that weird, bleak hinterland between Suarez’s exit and Klopp’s advent, Liverpool wanted to replace their all-powerful number nine with a new attacking talisman – and settled on Lazar Markovic.

Lazar Markovic was supposed to be Liverpool's superstar

Farewell, Suarez. At least that £75m transfer fee can be put toward a thrilling rebuild that will set Liverpool up for an age at the highest echelon of English football, right?

Right?

Liverpool: Summer Transfer Signings 2014

Player

Signed from

Transfer Fee

Adam Lallana

Southampton

£25m

Lazar Markovic

SL Benfica

£20m

Dejan Lovren

Southampton

£20m

Mario Balotelli

AC Milan

£16m

Alberto Moreno

Sevilla

£12m

Divock Origi

LOSC Lille

£10m

Emre Can

Bayer Leverkusen

£10m

Rickie Lambert

Southampton

£4m

Javier Manquillo

Atletico Madrid

Loan

Sourced via Transfermarkt

It was a disaster of a window, though not without its (in hindsight) silver linings. How funny that Divock Origi, a £10m signing from Lille who was tasked with replacing Suarez in the aggregate, would score the win-settling goal in the Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur, five years later, despite never really establishing himself as a high-scoring star.

For Markovic, no such luck. The young winger arrived from SL Benfica for a pretty hefty £20m fee, with correspondent James Pearce looking back at the transfer flop and saying: “He was rated as one of the most exciting young talents in Europe.”

His Liverpool career probably reached its apotheosis when he played a rather simple, Busquets-esque pass into Phil Coutinho’s vicinity against Southampton in 2015, who thus proceeded to dispatch one of the most awe-inspiring ranged strikes in the Reds’ Premier League history.

That, sadly, is the tale of the tape. Or rather, a fleeting bright moment bespeaking high footballing merit that sits alongside a sweep of struggle.

Markovic’s poignant failure is one of sadness, but it’s not unusual. Many a highly-touted prospect has been hurtled to the wayside upon stepping into the rigours of big-time football.

He featured 34 times for Liverpool throughout the 2014/15 season, posting three goals and one assist. His growth was stunted, however, and the now-30-year-old was loaned out to Fenerbahce the following campaign. Klopp arrived during this time and probably took one perfunctory glance at the Serbian’s file before eliminating him from contention.

Avram Grant, formerly of Chelsea and Markovic’s manager during his first stint at Partizan, even said this: “I can say that apart from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Markovic is one of the best talents I’ve ever seen at 19 years of age.”

This gushing praise fell flat, sort of like a drunk in the rain.

Journalist Andy Brassel said that Liverpool’s young acquisition was a player of “rare talent”, but unfortunately it was so recherché that Markovic was unable to find it within himself. He toiled.

Throughout his maiden year, Markovic featured often, but that was all she wrote. One year after his arrival, he was discarded and thrown out on a series of loan moves that culminated in a permanent move to Fulham on a free transfer.

For a player who was of such ‘rare’ quality, indeed likened to Messi and Ronaldo, arguably the two greatest footballers in history, he quite heavily fell from a promising position and failed to pick himself back up.

Perhaps, in a way, this was the ‘OG’ Salah. A talented and electric forward with a growing sense of style and skill, capable of shouldering that Atlas burden that Suarez balanced on his back with such preternatural poise.

Supposed to be, in any case. Liverpool are hardly complaining now, not with one of the greatest forwards in modern history flourishing for their team.

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Posts ByEthan Lamb Nov 14, 2024

تحدث روبي فاولر نجم ليفربول السابق، عن مستقبل محمد صلاح جناح الفريق، ومحادثات تجديد عقده، بالإضافة للثنائي فيرجيل فان دايك وترينت ألكسندر أرنولد.

وينتهي عقد محمد صلاح مع ليفربول في نهاية الموسم الجاري، ولم يصل بعد إلى اتفاق للتجديد.

كذلك الأمر بالنسبة لفيرجيل فان دايك، وترينت ألكسندر أرنولد والذي تفيد التقارير بأنه توصل لاتفاق مع ريال مدريد.

ويرى فاولر أن ليفربول يجب أن يمنح محمد صلاح ما يريد من أجل بقاء المصري في آنفيلد.

وقال فاولر في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “ميرور” البريطانية: “بالتأكيد كمشجع لليفربول، أريد أن يحتفظ ليفربول بهم”.

وأضاف: “أريد بقاء اللاعبين الثلاثة، أعتقد أن عدم حسم الأمر حتى الآن أمر سيء للنادي، لكن مهما حدث، فأنا مؤمن تمامًا بما قدمه محمد صلاح، وما حققه كان استثنائيًا، لقد كان لاعبًا رائعًا مع ليفربول، ولاعبًا لا يُصدق هذا العام”.

وأكمل: “سأمنحه ما يريد، لأنه أثبت جدارته، أي شخص يأتي إلى ليفربول الآن سينفق مبالغ طائلة على ضمه، بالإضافة إلى راتبه، فلماذا لا نمنح محمد صلاح هذا المبلغ لشخص مجرب؟”.

اقرأ ايضاً.. ميرور تكشف خطط سلوت لتعزيز ليفربول الموسم المقبل.. 5 صفقات جديدة وموقف محمد صلاح

وأشار: “لا أعرف ما سيحدث، من بين اللاعبين الثلاثة، سأندهش لو وقع الثلاثة، وسأندهش بنفس القدر لو لم يوقع اثنان منهم”.

وأستطرد: “أحرص على عدم المبالغة في انتقاد صلاح لأنه كان رائعًا هذا العام، لم تكن مباراتاه الأخيرتان رائعتين (أمام باريس سان جيرمان وضد نيوكاسل)، ونحن نعلم ذلك، وسيكون أول من يعترف بذلك”.

واسترسل فاولر: “أنا حذر من أن يهاجم أحد صلاح، لأنه يُفترض أنه أفضل لاعب في العالم، وأفضل لاعب في العالم، لديه لحظة سحرية في أي مباراة، ولم يُظهر ذلك قط ضد نيوكاسل، ولا أريد أن أثير ضجة إعلامية، لكن هذا هو المقلق على الأرجح، لم يُظهر أي شيء يُذكر”.

وأستدرك: “ولكن بالنسبة لما فعله محمد صلاح، وما حققه، وما سيحققه في المباريات المتبقية، لا أشك في أنه سيكون لاعبًا يسجل المزيد من الأهداف وسيسبب الفوضى والخراب (للخصوم)”.

وشدد: “إنهم لاعبون رائعون، لذا، كنادٍ لكرة القدم، تريد أن يجدد أفضل لاعبيك عقودهم، وأنت تريد لاعبين متاحين للانضمام إلى ناديك لأنك تريد أن يُرفع معنويات الجميع، تريد أن يُرفع معنويات زملائك في الفريق”.

وأفاد: “وإذا وقّع أيٌّ من الثلاثة عقودًا، فسيمنح ذلك الجميع دفعةً معنويةً، هذا ما نريده في كرة القدم، أتحدث كما لو أنهم فازوا بالدوري، لكنهم سيحصلون على دفعة معنوية مع الفوز بالدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز”.

وأتم: “لكن تخيّل لو فازوا بالدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز ثم جددوا مع هؤلاء اللاعبين الثلاثة، أعني، سيعود أفضل نادٍ في العالم، أليس كذلك؟”.

MatériaMais Notícias

Andreas Pereira será jogador em definitivo do Flamengo. Em negociações com o Manchester United (ING) há semanas, o clube fechou a compra e já prepara o anúncio oficial da permanência do meia, que assinará novo contrato até 2026. O Flamengo pagará 10,5 milhões de euros aos Red Devils (R$ 63 milhões), que manterão 25% dos direitos em caso de uma futura venda do Andreas Pereira.

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Ainda não é assinante do Cariocão-2022? Acesse www.cariocaoplay.com.br, preencha o cadastro e ganhe 5% de desconto com o cupom especial do LANCE!: GE-JK-FF-ZSW

Andreas Pereira chegou ao Flamengo em julho de 2021. O meia soma 25 jogos com o Manto (14 vitórias, cinco empates e seis derrotas), tendo marcado cinco gols. O empréstimo foi sem custos ao clube da Gávea, que desembolsou R$ 817 mil com comissão de empresários, como consta no demonstrativo financeiro.

Only a victory in Melbourne will keep the Ashes alive heading into the new year

Andrew McGlashan24-Dec-2021There is a chance that 2021 finishes as a record-breaking year for Joe Root, and record-equalling for England, but for significantly different reasons.Root currently sits fourth in the list for most runs scored by a batter in a calendar year, and needs 159 to go ahead of Mohammad Yousuf’s golden 2006 mark. His team, meanwhile, is one defeat away from equalling the record for most Test losses in a calendar year, which is currently at nine, registered by Bangladesh in 2003.Related

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The two records are closely linked. If Root achieves his in a single innings – ideally the first time England bat in the match – it will give them a chance of avoiding the second. Having not passed 300 yet in the series, where they trail 2-0 after two games, they have to put up a total that will pressure Australia, even if the MCG pitch is on the livelier side, more than seen of late.”It’s been very enjoyable personally, in terms of batting, spending time out there making some big scores, but nothing compares to winning,” Root said of personal success amid a struggling team. “If I perform well in the last three Tests here, it gives us a good chance of getting the scores on the board to win games.”Root has twice fallen after passing 50 in this series, nicking Cameron Green on both occasions, with England having produced just four half-centuries – the other two coming from Dawid Malan. Root carries a huge burden in this fragile batting order and desperately needs others around him to lift their games. There are likely to be changes with Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow in the mix with Root imploring his fellow batters to keep it simple.”It’s asking all of our batters, whoever it is that does play, to do basic things very well. Give yourself an opportunity to go and make big runs and build big partnerships,” he said. “I bang on about that all the time but it’s the fundamentals of batting: be willing to concentrate for long periods of time, being able to wear bowlers down, take themselves deep into an innings and make those big scores that put you ahead of the game.”If you look at these last two games, it’s been mental [lapses], not through lack of confidence or anything like that, but understanding of conditions and sniffing the danger. I think we can be a bit smarter about that.”He is also willing to carry that responsibility himself as he continues to search for a first Ashes hundred in Australia, having spent time working in the nets at the MCG to ensure he knows where his off stump is, so he can judge what to play and what to leave.”That’s the most frustrating thing on my part, an experienced batter shouldn’t be making that mistake twice,” he said. “Hence why I’ve been doing the work and I expect better from myself.”Despite the continued batting problems, it was the bowling that dominated the fallout from Adelaide after Root’s comments that he felt England got the lengths wrong, which led to Ricky Ponting questioning why he did not push the bowlers into changing.Does Joe Root have a big score in him to finish the year?•AFP

“I like to give our bowlers, especially the senior ones, that responsibility,” Root said. “They have more than 300 Tests between them and over 1000 wickets, and they know what they are doing. It’s working alongside them, it’s not a dictatorship. Every now and again, you don’t always agree on everything and that’s fine. Ultimately, it’s about coming to a point where you get the results we want. Unfortunately, in the last game, we didn’t quite get there.”There has been differing reaction from within the England camp with Stuart Broad saying in his column, which came out while the second Test was still progress, that the economy rates would have “gone through the roof” by bowling fuller, while in the James Anderson suggested there could some validity in the criticism, although he referenced data that showed Australia were no fuller.”We have to be better at assessing it during a game,” Anderson said. “We can’t just go after the game ‘we should have bowled fuller’. If we are bowling too short, at lunch we need information back, saying we need to push our lengths up. We have to be a bit more proactive at that too as a whole group.”In Australia, you have to hit the pitch hard and bowl every ball as if your life depends on it, as fast as you can, because you don’t get anything here for just putting it on a length. You have to put your back into it. It is a balancing act to make sure it is full enough but not floaty. Look at the numbers. They show both sides bowled similar lengths. They did not bowl any fuller than us. But it is a case of the difference in techniques of the batters. It must be, because they took 20 wickets and we didn’t.”All parts of England’s game are going to have to work harmony in Melbourne if this series is to be alive going into 2022, but it could well be Root who has to make the difference for them in the end.

Head coach worried about ability of players coming into side from domestic ranks

Matt Roller18-Jan-2022

Brandon King is among the next generation of West Indies batters•PCB

Phil Simmons has echoed his limited-overs captain Kieron Pollard’s analysis that West Indies “have a batting problem” but insists he is not worrying about his job as head coach after a shock 2-1 ODI series defeat at home to Ireland.West Indies were bowled out for 269, 229 and 212 in their three ODIs against Ireland at Sabina Park in Jamaica, with Pollard describing their scores in the last two games as “totally unacceptable”, adding that “overall, holistically, I think we have a batting problem”.Speaking from Barbados ahead of West Indies’ five-match T20I series against England, which starts on Saturday, Simmons said that his batters were failing to translate their progress in training into results on the pitch, but stressed that scapegoating players already in the squad would only serve to mask the systemic failings to develop them at a domestic level.Kensington Oval at 50% capacity

CWI have launched ticket sales for the T20I series against England with a strict 50% limit on capacity due to Covid-19 regulations in Barbados.

Only fully-vaccinated fans will be permitted entry, and those in the ‘party stand’ will also require negative antigen tests, while all fans will be encouraged to socially distance and wear masks.

Tickets are half-price for Barbados nationals and CWI said there was “a high chance” all games would sell out.

All five games will be played at Kensington Oval, with the first T20I on January 22.

“It’s there to see: our batting quality is not there,” Simmons said. “Everything comes from lower down: if you’re coming into our squad and you’re averaging 30s when you come to the top level, you’re not going to average 40 or 50.”The holistic approach means that all through the ranks, all the way from the Under-19s, we have to be looking at preparing people to play at the international level. Averaging 20s and 30s at the domestic level doesn’t prepare you for the international level.”How much the players are assessing the situation and playing the situation… it’s not really happening. Yes, [Sabina Park] was a difficult pitch to bat on for all three days at the start [of the innings], but we got through most of the difficult period and then things went astray. It’s about bad shot selection … that’s a huge part of the batting failure.”Simmons, who was re-appointed as head coach in October 2019 and oversaw West Indies’ failed defence of the T20 World Cup he won with them in 2016, insisted that he was only focused on improving the players at his disposal, not his future in the role.”If I start worrying about my job then I have problems,” he said. “I am worrying about the success of the team and I am worrying about how we get players to be playing their roles. That’s all I’m concerned about. You’re always under pressure as coaches when the team’s not doing well, in any sport you play, and when the team is doing well, the coaches are forgotten. That’s the nature of the job.”I enjoy it everyday. My role is seeing the players and working with them, trying to bring out different things in them. To be honest, when we practise, there’s a lot coming out, there’s a lot being shown. It’s just how they adjust and assess the situation when they cross the rope … because that’s where it’s falling down.Related

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“Every ball is a situation in the game and we’ve got to be able to assess that situation and know how to play. If you’re 20 for 3, you play differently to if you’re 40 for 0. These are the situations that we need to highlight and need to assess properly.”West Indies’ squad for the England T20Is contains only six players who made appearances during their Super 12s exit at the T20 World Cup, with a handful of young players including Dominic Drakes, Romario Shepherd and Odean Smith included. The trio all featured in December’s 3-0 series defeat in Pakistan – where the squad was depleted due to a Covid-19 outbreak – and Simmons said that he hoped they would continue to bring “energy” to the group.”There’s a lot of difference from the World Cup, as you saw in Pakistan,” he said. “Yes, we lost the three games, but there was a lot more energy, a lot more enthusiasm and that’s the same with this group for this series against England. There’s an influx of maybe six or seven guys who were not there against Ireland and there’s a lot of energy coming in.”It [would be] a difficult situation if we had the same team from the World Cup but we have a lot of new faces and a lot of guys who want to make an impression and be a part of the team going forward. From that point of view, it’s not as difficult as it might seem.”We as a cricketing nation always have players who have the ability to hit the ball over the fence and it’s something I don’t want to take away from my players, but I also want my players to be clinical. In situations where you don’t need to do that, well, we must be able to get ones, to get twos.”[I want them] to bowl yorkers at the end instead of missing them, and hitting them more consistently than we are right now. There’s a few things that we haven’t been doing properly and we’re working very hard on them. The important thing now is for the youngsters to come in and hone their skills and be able to execute them in the middle, not just in practice.”

Leeds United moved back to the top of the Championship table on Wednesday night with a comfortable win over Luton Town at Elland Road.

The Whites secured all three points in style, with a 3-0 victory, and kicked it off with an impressive, Paulo Di Canio-esque, volley from full-back Sam Byram.

Joel Piroe made it 2-0 just before half-time with a close-range poacher’s finish, before Dan James wrapped up the win with a terrific lobbed finish off the bench in the second half.

One of the team’s top performers on the night was not directly involved in any of those goals, however, as Ao Tanaka once again impressed in midfield.

Ao Tanaka's performance against Luton

The Japan international was constantly available to his teammates in the middle of the park and ended the 90 minutes with an eye-catching 114 out of 120 passes completed.

Tanaka, who had 135 touches of the ball, was always looking to take responsibility to progress the play for his side and played his passes quickly to put Luton on the back foot.

The former Fortuna Dusseldorf star was also strong out of possession. He won five of his seven ground duels, although lost his only aerial contest, to make three tackles and two interceptions to cut out Luton attacks.

These statistics illustrate how important he was to the side in and out of possession, despite not being directly involved in any major moments.

There was one Leeds player, however, who provided similar qualities on and off the ball and was even better than Tanaka – centre-back Pascal Struijk.

Performance in Numbers

Want data and stats? Football FanCast's Performance in Numbers series provides you with the latest match analysis from across Europe.

Expand Collapse Pascal Struijk's performance against Luton

The Whites captain was the real hero for Daniel Farke’s side on the night with his terrific showing at the heart of the defence, as he showcased his ability on both sides of the game.

His biggest moment in the match came just after Leeds had taken the lead through Byram, as the defender incredibly cleared a shot that seemed destined for the back of the net off his own goal line, after it had been dinked over Illan Meslier

The Yorkshire Evening Post’s Graham Smyth described it as an “acrobatic” clearance and started his post with “WOW”, which was also the collective response heard from the crowd afterward.

Vs Luton

Pascal Struijk

Ao Tanaka

Touches

131

135

Passes completed

116

114

Long passes completed

5/7

5/7

Duels won

8/11

5/8

Dribbled past

0x

1x

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Struijk also completed more passes and won more duels than Tanaka, whilst he was not dribbled past a single time by the Luton players.

These statistics show that the Dutch titan dominated the game with his defensive work and helped to control and dictate the match with his use of the ball.

Couple that with his miraculous clearance to prevent the away side from drawing level at 1-0 up and that is why he was Farke’s real hero and even better than Tanaka on Wednesday night.

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Posts ByDan Emery Nov 27, 2024

علق أسطورة نادي آرسنال، بول ميرسون، على مستقبل الثلاثي محمد صلاح، فيرجيل فان دايك وترينت ألكسندر أرنولد، مع ليفربول، في ظل اقتراب عقودهم من الانتهاء.

وتنتهي عقود الثلاثي في نهاية الموسم الحالي يوم 30 يونيو المقبل، وليس هناك أي اتفاق مع ليفربول على الاستمرار.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ديني: محمد صلاح سبب تأخير تمديد عقد فان دايك مع ليفربول

وتحدث ميرسون عن وجهة نظره عبر مقاله في شبكة “سكاي سبورتس”، وقال: “لقد كنت أقول ذلك منذ ثمانية أو تسعة أشهر، لا أتوقع أيًا من محمد صلاح، ترينت ألكسندر أرنولد وفيرجيل فان ديك يجددون مع ليفربول”.

وتابع: “لأنني ببساطة لا أعرف لماذا لم يوقعوا حتى الآن، لماذا تستمر في خسارة 80 ألف جنيه إسترليني أسبوعيًا، أسبوعًا بعد أسبوع طوال الـ18 شهرًا الماضية؟”.

وأضاف: “سأكون مندهشًا إذا استمر الثلاثة مع ليفربول، إلا إذا كان النادي مستعدًا لمنحهم 30 مليونًا أو 40 مليونًا في حساباتهم البنكية”.

وواصل: “إذا أراد ليفربول الاستمرار في النجاح والمنافسة بقوة مرة أخرى في الموسم المقبل، يجب عليهم الاحتفاظ بالثنائي محمد صلاح وفان دايك، على افتراض أن أرنولد قد غادر بالفعل (إلى ريال مدريد)”.

واستمر: “أعتقد أن محمد صلاح وفان دايك هما الأفضل في مراكزهما، إذا كان بإمكاني شراء أي لاعب جديد، سأفعل كل شيء لشرائهما”.

وزاد: “إذا خسرت فان دايك وأرنولد، فأنت خسرت نصف الدفاع، وإذا خسرت محمد صلاح، فأنت تفقد 30 إلى 40 هدفًا في الموسم، ومن سيتعاقد معه سيكون سعيد الحظ لأنه سيضمن هذا العدد من الأهداف”.

واستفاض: “عندما يكون لديك هؤلاء اللاعبين بتلك الموهبة الكبيرة وبهذا المستوى الرائع، يجب عليك كناد ألا تتركهم بلا عقود على الأقل عامين أو عامين ونصف وتقول علينا التفاوض الآن”.

واستمر: “لا يمكن أن تترك الأمر هكذا حتى يصبح لديهم 32 أو 33 عامًا دون أن يرغب بهم أحدًا، فهم أعمدة أساسية في الفريق”.

وأتم: “من الناحية الرياضية، هذه جريمة، لأنك تسمح لثلاثة من أفضل اللاعبين في العالم بأن تنتهي عقودهم، وقد يرحلون بدون مقابل، ويذهبون إلى أي مكان يريدونه”.