Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has insisted winger Arda Turan will not be sold despite being linked with Liverpool FC, among others, talkSport reports.
The Turkish winger had been linked with moves away from the Vicente Calderon Stadium after expressing to CNN Turkey, his desire to play for a club “capable of winning the Champions League”.
However Atletico boss Diego Simeone denied the the claims, telling reporters:
“Arda isn’t going, definitely. I didn’t hear what he said but people have told me. Everyone has the right to say what he wants to, what’s important is what he does on the pitch.
“There isn’t a single Atletico supporter who wouldn’t say that Arda is one of the best players we have and that he gives his all in every game. He has a contract with the club, he’s ours, he’s an extremely important player for the squad and he demonstrates it when he has to.”
Turan, 25, signed for Atletico from Turkish club Galatasaray in 2011, and has become a key player for the Spanish side who are enjoying a very impressive league campaign. They currently sit second in the table, only behind Barcelona and seven points ahead of neighbours Real.
The Turkish international who also helped Atletico to triumph in the Europa league last season, has scored four goals in 16 appearances for them so far this term.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Liverpool chief Brendan Rodgers has moved early in the winter transfer window, already securing the services of England forward Daniel Sturridge in a £12million deal, and is believed to be keen to add to his squad further.
Sevilla forward Wissam Ben Yedder came off of the substitutes’ bench to score twice in his side’s 2-1 Champions League win against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, and Liverpool fans have urged their club to sign the 27-year-old.
Following a goalless draw in the first leg of their last 16 tie, there was all to play for in the second leg but neither side found a breakthrough before Ben Yedder, who has been touted as a player who would be perfect for West Ham United boss David Moyes, replaed Luis Muriel in the 72nd minute.
Six minutes later he had found the net twice and given Jose Mourinho’s men a mountain they couldn’t climb as they were eliminated from Europe’s elite club competition, with the Frenchman also scoring twice against Jurgen Klopp’s side in a 3-3 draw at Anfield in November.
Liverpool supporters were quick to have their say on the 5ft 7in attacker’s display via social media, and while one said “sell both Sturridge and Origi and sign Ben Yedder”, another simply said “I’d take Ben Yedder”.
Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Diafra Sakho has hit the ground running in the Premier League to say the least – but it isn’t just beginners luck.
The 24-year-old has scored in every Premier League match in which he has started – a feat unmatched by any player in England’s professional divisions. Quite a record to have.
We all know that some players seemingly have the knack of being in the right place at the right time, and those players are some of the greats in the history of the Premier League (i.e. Ruud van Nistelrooy). The Dutchman was lethal for PSV before he made his move to Manchester United in the Premier League and he managed to continue in that form through his time at Old Trafford and beyond at Real Madrid. Diafra Sakho had no such lethal prowess to carry with him into the Premier League and although his most recent season was a successful one for the Senegalese international, it was in the French 2nd division – not considered as a true test of a player’s ability ahead of a Premier League move.
After he scored his first few goals in the Premier League there was understandable a case that he may have been a bit fortunate, and his goal against Hull City was certainly just that, however when you’ve scored six in six appearances for your new side, surely it’s no fluke?
‘Big Sam’ made a good point following his fifth consecutive Premier League goal, when he suggested that Sakho was experiencing such an easy ride in the Premier League due to the fact that he has so far been underrated by the opposing teams. Professional clubs at the top level of football will spend the majority of their week analysing the approaching opposition, however it’s no surprise that a previously untested Senegalese striker from the French second division may go unnoticed. The West Ham manager also suggested that times will get tougher for Sakho when teams realise they have a prolific Premier League goalscorer on their hands. Only time will tell.
One thing is for sure, Sakho is excelling at West Ham and is in the form of his life. Sometimes signings like this happen – not very often but they do occur. He’s come out of nowhere to light up the Premier League and there’s no fluke to be found. There’s more goals to come from Diafra, and although he won’t continue to score every time he starts, it’s been a truly wonderful run that West Ham fans don’t get to appreciate very often. Teams will look to make it tougher for Sakho in the coming weeks, but clubs try to stop the best strikers every week and rarely manage to do so. It’s impossible to predict the future in football, and we’ll see how he does.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The latest Barcelona player to be linked with a move to the top flight is forward Alexis Sanchez, and while for many it seems something of a long shot in the upcoming January transfer window, he remains a likely transfer target of clubs such as Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea in the summer – but would he fit in?
The 23-year-old has struggled for his best form since moving to the Camp Nou last season from Italian outfit Udinese for an inflated fee of €26million, plus a further €11m in add-ons and it quickly became clear that he was to play a vital part in Pep Guardiola’s side. By the end of last campaign, with the much-vaunted coach doing his best to eradicate out-and-out strikers in his team, alongside Lionel Messi, he was their most potent attacking threat and finished the term with 12 league goals in 25 games and 15 across all competitions. It was far from the blistering form which we had become accustomed to seeing from him in Serie A, but considering the team’s struggles, he did reasonably well by all accounts.
Nevertheless, the departure of Guardiola appears to have hit Sanchez harder than most and the rise of Christian Tello and resurgence of Pedro have seen him slide down the pecking order at the club under new boss Tito Vilanova to the extent that he’s no longer assured of a starting place. He remains goalless in 10 injury-disturbed league outings this season and has just one goal in 18 across all competitions. All is clearly not well, but where has it gone wrong?
The main problem comes with the team’s possession-based game in that it grants Sanchez less space in behind the opposition’s defence to stretch his legs and use his exceptional pace. Starting predominantly on the right, a lot of the team’s play down that flank is revolved around getting the best out of Daniel Alves, while the Brazilian can often be found linking up regularly with Lionel Messi, who drifts out wide from a central position.
[ad_pod id=’unruly’ align=’right’]
It seems as if the league’s style of play has had an effect on his confidence and he’s garnered a reputation as something of a diver, which in Spain, is no mean feat. He can usually be found drifting in and out of matches, failing to impose himself and while his conversion rate has never been anything other than solid, the goal have dried up enough to warrant closer inspection of what else he does to contribute to the team.
Barcelona have opted for a far more direct approach this season, especially away from home, with the majority of their play coming down the flanks rather than through the middle, and while in theory this should suit Sanchez, he’s been unable to strike up a partnership with either Martin Montoya or Alves in the same way that he did with Mauricio Isla at Udinese and he’s simply not as comfortable playing with his back to goal than he is running into space behind.
The floating role that Messi occupies in the middle means the Chilean international lacks a fixed reference point and their understanding, while occasionally decent, is nothing like what the Argentine shares with his other attacking team-mates, most notably Cesc Fabregas. His role is to drag markers away from the middle, allowing Messi more space to exploit; it’s a selfless, somewhat sacrificial role much to the detriment of his overall impact on the side and he’d arguably suit Real Madrid’s counter-attacking style much more than Barcelona’s at the moment.
This has opened the door for a potential future switch to the Premier League, and while talk of a switch to Liverpool is fanciful to say the least given their recent standing in England, the possibility of both Manchester clubs and Chelsea being interested is a very real one.
The player’s agent Fernando Felicevich has ruled out a move for his client in the near future, telling todomercadoweb.es: “In no case will Alexis leave Barcelona. He has returned after injury and played well. Alexis stays in Barcelona.
“Has no reason to leave. He is at the best team in the world. In addition to that Barca has Messi, a player that everyone can learn from.”
Barcelona are not a club that you walk away from in a hurry, even if you are struggling, but should the rumours coming out of Old Trafford regarding Nani’s future come to fruition and the Portuguese winger be allowed to leave, then all of a sudden a spot has opened up in the side, with the jury still well and truly out on Ashley Young, while Manchester City’s lack of creativity from wide areas is well-documented.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Chelsea on the other hand, could perhaps do with another player to supplement their 4-2-3-1 system, with a heavy reliance on all three of Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar to start to have any sort of impact, and Marko Marin seems to have disappeared at Stamford Bridge since his surprise summer move.
It would be a great shame if Sanchez were to be dubbed a failure at Barcelona because he has the potential to be a world-class player when he matures, but his fragile confidence has played a part in making him an increasingly square peg in a round hole.
His future is far from assured, even if his recent struggles are understandable, and a move to England, where his pace, crossing ability and tactical awareness would mark him out as a superb signing for plenty of top flight clubs, even if only the Manchester duopoly and Chelsea stand a reasonable chance of tempting him away.
Leeds United will look to keep their faint play-off hopes alive when they host Championship table-toppers Wolverhampton Wanderers at Elland Road on Wednesday night, and Whites fans have begged manager Paul Heckingbottom not to start midfielder Eunan O’Kane, rated at €1m (£900,000) by Transfermarkt.A 3-0 defeat against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Friday night combined with other results over the weekend on Tuesday night have left the Yorkshire outfit nine points adrift of the top six with just 11 games of the season remaining, and they need to start picking up wins.It won’t be an easy task against a high-flying Wolves team though, and the Elland Road faithful are keen to see O’Kane dropped from the XI following his performance against Boro alongside Kalvin Phillips in the middle of the park, and after being left unimpressed with the 27-year-old’s post-match comments.Leeds supporters have been quick to have their say on the inclusion of the Republic of Ireland international in the team vs Wolves, and while one said “please don’t start O’Kane and Phillips for tonight’s game Paul Heckingbottom”, another said “if I see O’Kane in that starting line-up tonight, I’ll actually cry”.Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…[ad_pod ]
After Mario Balotelli’s latest Liverpool no-show against Real Madrid, Reds hero Jamie Carragher described the Italian as a “panic” buy. In truth, there is some logic to this, with the Merseysiders having taken a massive £16m gamble in a bid to replace Luis Suarez with Brendan Rodgers having realised he’d entered the season with a lack of options up top.
Although Balotelli has been, well… awful so far, he is not the worst ‘panic purchase’ ever, with these TEN the pick of the bunch…
[ffc-gallery]
CLICK ON ROBINHO TO REVEAL THE TEN
[/ffc-gallery]
[ad_pod ]
[ad_pod id=’ricco’ align=’center’]
10) Roman Pavlyuchenko
We’ll kick off with Pavlyucheno at Spurs. Fresh from selling Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane in 2008, then Lilywhites chief Juande Ramos asked chairman Daniel Levy for David Villa or Samuel Eto’o… before getting the Russian in. He wasn’t the worst buy ever, notching 42 goals in 113 games, but he failed to hit the highs expected of him after his late move and was not of the qulity of his predecessors.
9) Savio Nsereko
Who? Hammers fans may have repressed the memories of Savio, who arrived late in January 2009. The Germany U-20 international cost £9m as was drafted in after Craig Bellamy left. He now plays in Kazakhstan. ‘Nuff said.
8) Paul Konchesky
“One of the very best left-backs in the league and certainly deserving of a place in the England set-up.” Then Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson.
Despite the glowing praise from ‘Woy’ in 2010, Konchesky was by no means the answer to Liverpool’s left-back woes. When Hodgson was replaced after six short months at Anfield, Kenny Dalglish shipped out the former England star to Nottingham Forest on loan.
7) Marouane Fellaini
The most recent panic buy on our list, Marouane Fellaini’s move to Manchester United last year was an odd one. After a summer in which David Moyes missed out on a host of big names, he was force into a late £27.5m deal to bring one of his former Everton charges with him. Had he moved a matter of weeks earlier a release clause of nearer £20m could have been triggered, but instead the late panic sees United still lumbered with the big-haired Belgian.
6) Robinho
In 2008 Robinho was seen as the man to kick-start the big money Abu Dhabi reign at Manchester City. The club paid a massive £32.5m to beat Chelsea to his signature from Real Madrid… with the player’s infamous press conference slip revealing that he thought he actually signed for the Londoners. A bright start soon tailed off as it became clear the Brazilian was signed with no real plan of action.
5) Benni McCarthy
At just £2.5m, West Ham thought they’d bagged a bargain in 2011 after landing McCarthy from Blackburn. The South African had been decent at Ewood Park during his four year stint, but question were asked of his fitness and desire towards the end. The Hammers went on to be relegated a matter of months later with their strike saviour failing to score in 14 outings.
Vice-chairman Karen Brady also described the player as “a big fat mistake” after his contract was terminated at a cost of £1.5m.
4) Park Chu Young
Signed in during Arsene Wenger’s August 2011 late splurge, Park Chu-Young is undoubtedly one of the very worst panic buys in Premier League history. The Gunners chief needed to add more flair and guile to his team so took a gamble on the South Korean, who had been impressing in France with Monaco. You can count his number of Gunners performances on one hand, and the striker now plies his trade in the Middle East with Al Shabab after awful loan spells at Watford and Celta Vigo.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
3) Alfonso Alves
Right up there as one of the worst ever panic buys is Alves. Middlesbrough broke their transfer record in 2008 to lure the Brazilian to Wearside in a £10m deal, with Gareth Southgate then saying: “His goalscoring record in Holland in particular but in Sweden, too, has been prolific. We hope he will reproduce that sort of form for us.”
That he didn’t, as Alves cost the club roughly a £1m per goal – a far cry from the bang Heerenveen got when he netted 45 in 38 games – with half of his tally coming in the space of two games against Manchester United and Manchester City. When ‘Boro were relegated to the Championship in 2009 he was sold to Qatari side Al-Sadd.
2) Fernando Torres
With Chelsea desperate to challenge for the title, the £50m addition of Fernando Torres was seen as a sure fire way to overhaul Manchester United’s dominance. But, the move – a deadline day one in January 2011 – was an absolute shocker, with the Spaniard failing to achieve the highs he produced with such regularity at Liverpool. Reds hero Jamie Carragher has since revealed the utter shock at getting such a fee for a player whose best days were behind him, and Torres is now seeing out his Blues contract on a two-year loan at AC Milan.
1) Andy Carroll
After Liverpool mugged off Chelsea in the Torres deal, they promptly went and blew £35m on Andy Carroll after just a few months of decent form in the top tier. Newcastle repeatedly knocked back big offers from the Reds until, in a state of blind panic, the Merseysiders laid down their current record fee to convince the Magpies with minutes of the transfer window remaining. Carroll is now at West Ham after a terrible spell at Anfield.
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has warned clubs monitoring Christian Benteke that he will not be sold, according to the Daily Mail.
The 21-year-old Belgian has been a big hit following his summer move to the Premier League side, dislodging former captain Darren Bent as the club’s centre-forward and becoming the focal point of their attack.
This has led to whispers that a number of top teams are tempted to make a move for the ex-Genk forward, but Lambert stated that he will be going nowhere:
“Christian has been excellent for us. He is a big strong lad but he can also play.
“If he keeps progressing the way he has so far, he will be an incredible player.
“I have to hold onto Benteke. He’s going nowhere.”
He went on to claim that Benteke will get even better:
“I have run out of things to say about Christian. He is not the finished article but he has been excellent for us and a fans’ favourite.
“You have to be a good player to get into the current Belgium side and he has scored plenty of goals for them already.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Eric Dier started for England on Thursday night but many fans of the Three Lions were not impressed with his performance.
Having come on a late substitute against Tunisia in his country’s opening match, Dier was trusted by Gareth Southgate from the start against Belgium, with the national team boss opting to rest a number of his key performers.
Dier was a firm fixture for Spurs at club level last season, making 34 appearances in the English Premier League either in midfield or defence.
However, some football fans are now questioning his future at international level, deeply unimpressed with his display against the Belgians.
Belgium emerged from the match as 1-0 winners and deserved their victory, despite also making a number of changes, with Dier struggling to hold his own in the middle of the park.
Does he have what it takes to remain a contender for starting places in the England set-up?
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
These fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts…
Seven points adrift with just ten games remaining, maintaining their Premier League status is no longer the ultimate challenge West Brom face. With relegation now seemingly inevitable, the Baggies’ attentions must shift towards whether the club has the robustness to cope with life in the Championship. The early signs aren’t promising.
Just a quick look at the second tier and beyond shows how hard it can be for former Premier League clubs; Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds, Charlton Athletic, Wigan, Wolves, Bolton Wanderers, Fulham and Sunderland all fall into the bracket of sleeping giant that have struggled to come to terms with the harshness of the Football League and failed to find a way back to the top flight. Seven of those have even dropped into the third tier, and bitter rivals Wolves have even suffered double relegation.
That’s the reality West Bromwich Albion now face; the possibility of double relegation or at the very least, a long and arduous fight back to the money-rich lands of the Premier League. And the overriding concern is how poorly-equipped the Hawthorns outfit are for that challenge at this moment in time.
Soccer Football – Premier League – West Bromwich Albion vs Huddersfield Town – The Hawthorns, West Bromwich, Britain – February 24, 2018 West Bromwich Albion first team coach John Carver with manager Alan Pardew REUTERS/Rebecca Naden EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please con
Currently, they don’t even have a permanent chief executive or chairman after the owner sacked both earlier this month and although there will likely be appointments at the end of the season, the Baggies essentially enter the Championship without a rudder, a figure who oversees all departments and sets the club’s direction.
And speaking of Gouchuan Lai, he doesn’t offer much direction either. The Chinese owner only watches a handful of games per season, and was more eager to maintain the club’s continuity than instigate changes when he took a controlling stake. Excepting the recent sackings, he’s been very much a silent partner – watching the club’s decline from afar.
[ad_pod ]
Many would argue that’s a good thing, considering how tyrannical some foreign owners have become in English football. But it also hints at a limited interest in the club, or at the very least a distinct distance between the owner and the coalface. Often, issues can be lost in translation, especially along lines of communication that cross continents.
That’s just at boardroom level – the more pertinent concern is the state of the first-team. At 29, West Brom have the oldest average squad age of any Premier League team this season and it would be the oldest in the Championship as well. Will West Brom’s ageing warriors really be up for the challenge of 46 gruelling, hugely physical games against younger sides that unanimously view beating a former Premier League team as an irresistible scalp?
Soccer Football – Premier League – West Bromwich Albion vs Huddersfield Town – The Hawthorns, West Bromwich, Britain – February 24, 2018 West Bromwich Albion’s Jonny Evans warms up before the match Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please c
It seems inevitable some of West Brom’s elder personnel will opt out of that – the likes of Gareth Barry, Chris Brunt, Gareth McAuley and James Morrison – especially if another club offers them a final chance in the Premier League. The Baggies then face a fight to keep the players in their peak years. We already know Jonny Evans’ contract includes a £3million release clause, and there will likely be interest in Craig Dawson, Salomon Rondon and Kieran Gibbs as well – Premier League standard players who will surely interest other clubs.
Style of play is a huge problem too. In theory, West Brom are built for the Championship through their attritional philosophy, but that also means there’s a lack of differentiation between the Baggies and the rest of the division. They play in a way most second tier teams are accustomed to and deal with weekly, and if anything the philosophy will only level out any difference in quality between West Brom and Championship opponents. That’s part of the reason why West Brom always struggled against Football League opposition in the FA Cup and the League Cup under Tony Pulis.
Britain Football Soccer – West Bromwich Albion v Swansea City – Premier League – The Hawthorns – 14/12/16 West Brom manager Tony Pulis during the match Reuters / Peter Nicholls Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
Of course, the squad could be of a wholly different complexion this season – partly by choice, partly by financial constraints, partly by the situation imposed upon them – and for all of West Brom’s ageing veterans, there are some promising young players at the club too. Oliver Burke, Rekeem Harper, Sam Field and Jonathan Leko all fall into that bracket and the Championship would give those youngsters a better platform to prove themselves than the top flight, especially amid the current climate where every bottom half side is essentially involved in the relegation battle.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
But one way or another, a huge squad overhaul is inevitable, and it’s the scale of change required at the club that’s perhaps the most alarming. From the boardroom to the manager to the players, West Brom will be employing almost wholly different personnel come the end of the summer.
That can go both ways; while it may extinguish the negative mindset that often engulfs teams when they enter the Championship from the top flight, the lack of continuity and familiarity can prove equally debasing. New signings need time to gel, just as fans need time to warm to them. If the feel-good factor isn’t there almost instantaneously, it could prove to be a very long season.
For a club much less equipped to handle the Championship than the Premier League, a double-relegation like Wolves’ is a plausible possibility.
Liverpool escaped an embarrassing return to Champions League football with a last gasp 2-1 victory over Ludogorets at Anfield.
The Bulgarian minnows frustrated the five-times European Champions and looked set for a famous draw before summer signing Mario Balotelli popped up in the 82nd minute for his first Liverpool goal.
Ludogorets then silenced the Anfield crowd with a 91st minute equaliser when Dani Abalo rounded Reds stopper Simon Mignolet and slotted home in front of the euphoric travelling Bulagarian fans.
But Liverpool raced down the other end and earned themselves a penalty when goalkeeper Milan Borjan clipped Javier Manquillio in his own area, and Reds captain Steven Gerrard calmly slotted home from the spot to save Brendan Rodgers’ side’s blushes.
It was similar performance from Liverpool that saw them fall to a 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa last weekend, which has further strengthened the claims that Liverpool may not be able to replicate their title challenge from last season, as well enjoy a successful run in the Champions League.
So here’s three things we learned from Liverpool’s latest frustrating performance at Anfield…
They really do miss Daniel Sturridge
The fact Liverpool have lost a Premier League game at home to Villa and then struggled to beat minnows Ludogorets in the Champions League since Daniel Sturridge was injured whilst on England duty suggests Rodgers is struggling to work without him.
He may have Mario Balotelli at his disposal to score the goals in Sturridge’s absence, but even then there’s no real evidence that the Italian can make the exact same impact as the England striker.
There’s also a shift in the way Liverpool line-up when Sturridge is unavailable, and that clearly has a detrimental effect to Liverpool’s hopes of another successful campaign.
Balotelli’s first Liverpool should give him the confidence to go on get more, though, but only time will tell…
Adam Lallana has been rushed into action too quickly
Lallana’s performances for Southampton over the last few years have no doubt warranted his call up in to the England set-up, but a knee injury during the summer has halted his chances of replicated such efforts for his new club.
Lallana finally made his debut in the loss to Aston Villa last weekend but after his performance against Ludogorets it’s clear to see he is no where near the fitness or pace needed to make the required impact just yet.
Luckily the Liverpool fans realise that and are refusing to get on his back just yet…
Coutinho looks a shadow of his former self
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Last year, Coutinho was one of Liverpool’s top performers as they went so close to winning their first ever Premier League title. But so far this season the 22-year-old Brazilian has been well off the pace.
He doesn’t appear to be the confident, free-flowing and exciting midfielder Liverpool had the pleasure of enjoying last season. Instead he has been sloppy, reckless and less effective in the middle of the park for Rodgers’ side.