Loads of Leeds fans have been reacting to their rather lucky late equaliser against Nottingham Forest, and the overwhelming reaction it that it’s about time they got away with one.
Leeds fans were fuming last week when Pontus Jansson received a one-match ban, mainly due to the fact that Brentford’s Sergi Canos had not.
Jansson was charged by the FA for his criticism of the referee after the 1-1 draw with Brentford, but Canos bizarrely escaped punishment for a clear headbutt during a touchline scuffle.
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It’s been ages since Leeds last won a penalty, and fans are absolutely loving the fact that they’ve finally had a lucky decision go their way.
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Marcelo Bielsa’s side looked to be heading towards a troubling defeat at Elland Road on Saturday evening, as a dominant performance wasn’t enough to crack Forest open.
Roofe made it 1-1 with just ten minutes remaining, but Forest players were furious as the replays clearly showed the striker bury the ball with his hand.
You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…
Leeds United suffered a disappointing result in the Championship last Saturday after losing 2-1 to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
Despite the defeat, there was at least one positive to take away from the game with 17-year-old Leeds youth product Jack Clarke impressing in his 14-minute cameo.
And midfielder Kalvin Phillips has since come out to praise his younger team-mate.
The Breakdown
“He’s a massive talent,” Phillips told the Yorkshire Evening Post. “He’s been training with us since the start of the season and we’ve always known that he’s the type of player who can take people on and get the people excited.
“He did that [at Blackburn] and if he carries on working like he has done then he’ll get better and better.”
When all fit, manager Marcelo Bielsa certainly has some strong options to choose from when selecting his attack meaning game time is likely to be limited for Clarke.
However, Clarke has shown he is more than capable of standing in for a more senior member of the squad and will only continue to get better under Bielsa as the season progresses.
The Argentinian is renowned for being a coach capable of getting the best out of his attacking players, and Clarke is one of many forwards at the club who are likely to benefit massively from his arrival at Elland Road.
All in all, Clarke looks like a player who could offer much to Bielsa’s squad despite his age and may just be the latest gem to come out of Thorp Arch.
Sunderland needed a fresh start this season after back-to-back relegations. With new owner Stewart Donald and new manager Jack Ross at the helm, Sunderland now look like the good times might be about to return to the club after a torrid last few years.
Sunderland had fought relegation for three years in the Premier League and last year, the club barely put up a fight as they slid to down the table.
This year, however, Sunderland have been brilliant and currently sit third in the table, three points off league leaders Portsmouth, albeit The Black cats do have a game in hand.
Ross has sealed up the club’s terrible defence while also giving Sunderland one of the best attacks in the league, led by academy product Josh Maja.
Maja has been a sensation this season and according to Donald, he is one of three players who have indicated that they would like to stay at the club.
The Breakdown
According to the owner, Lynden Gooch and Denver Hume are also keen to remain at the club. Following a summer where the club lost Joel Asoro while also having the ongoing contract situations of Didier Ndong and Papy Djilobodji, to hear that three young players are keen to remain at the club is great news going forward.
Gooch and Maja especially are going to be crucial in getting the club back into the Championship but also keeping them there. After so many years of negativity, the contract updates show that Sunderland are on the up.
The problem with being a really good team is that your players are all international stars. That’s exactly the issue that The Lilywhites have as today the England squad was announced and five of the 28-man squad named for games against USA and Croatia are Spurs lads.
Harry Kane, Harry Winks, Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Kieran Trippier will be travelling to St George’s Park to train with Gareth Southgate’s team ahead of the USA friendly and the crucial UEFA Nations League match against Croatia. The two games are matches that interest Tottenham fans very little and as a result of that, and the on-going injury crisis at the club, the fans have been urging their five England stars to drop out of the squad.
In truth, it’s very unlikely that any of their stars will pull out of the squad and to the players, representing England will be one of the biggest honours they can have. That doesn’t mean that the fans aren’t happy, though, and seeing as Dier has recently returned from injury and Alli was injured with England last time out, the fans will be holding their breath as they pray the five Lilywhites return to the club unharmed.
You can read The Lilywhites’ verdict on their England internationals here:
Tottenham fans everywhere are determined to see their internationals get some sort of break and will hope that their stars are at least rested for one of the two games.
On Tuesday, Joe Cole revealed that he had retired from football at the age of 37.
The supremely-gifted attacker came through the youth system at West Ham United, and turned out for the Hammers on 150 occasions before moving to Chelsea.
Cole made 281 appearances for Chelsea before moving to Liverpool, and also played for Lille and Coventry City in the latter stages of his career.
There was another spell at West Ham in there, and of course, Cole also represented Aston Villa.
It would be fair to say that Cole did not make too much of an impression at Villa though, turning out on just 16 occasions for the club before leaving in 2016.
Villa’s official Twitter account was keen to pay tribute to Cole on Tuesday, but the reaction from the Championship club’s fans was not exactly fantastic.
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Indeed, a number had even forgotten that the former England international had played for them, despite the fact he made 12 Premier League appearances during the 2014-15 campaign.
Cole has played for the United Soccer League side Tampa Bay Rowdies since 2016, but has now officially hung up his boots.
A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Villa fans can be seen below:
Last summer, Arsenal’s new head of recruitment got to work and brought in five new players over the summer, namely Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira, both of whom have been incredibly impressive so far this season.
Despite a successful summer, Arsenal still need to improve their squad and this January, they will need to dip into the transfer market.
As it stands, Arsenal still lack depth on the wing and in midfield. Unai Emery has only used four midfielders this season, and with Aaron Ramsey out of favour at the club, Emery will need to add to his midfield.
With that in mind, The Sun is reporting that Arsenal are planning a move for Pablo Fornals and are willing to activate his £17.8 million release clause.
The Breakdown
A talented midfielder who loves to get forward, Fornals was superb for Villareal last year as he scored three goals while also registering 12 assists in La Liga.
Although Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka have formed a solid partnership over the last few weeks, the Swiss international still has the ability to make mistakes. Moreover, he’s incredibly immobile and when put under pressure, his ball control is not good enough for a player playing for a top-six side.
Fornals may not have the physicality to play at the base of Emery’s 4-2-3-1 but what he could offer is a great option off the bench and possibly a player that could challenge Ozil for his place in the side.
According to Swansea City’s official website, attacking midfielder Bersant Celina is a doubt for Saturday’s clash with top of the table Norwich, but this could allow Wilfried Bony his chance to start.
What’s the latest?
The Swans website reports that Celina was due to link up with the Kosovan national team for matches against Malta and Azerbaijan during this international break, but the 22-year-old was forced to stay in Wales for treatment on a groin injury.
He will now be assessed ahead of Norwich’s visit on Saturday, but the club have not offered any firm return date.
The Playmaker FC squad decided to wind-up some unsuspecting Brazil fans at the Emirates on Saturday night. Watch the hilarious results in the video below…
Celina was signed by Potter for £3m from Manchester City this summer after he impressed on a loan spell with Ipswich last season, scoring seven league goals in 35 appearances for the Tractor Boys.
He has continued that form with his new club too and, generally playing in the number 10 role, he has netted twice and provided one assist for the Swans.
Bony’s chance
There is no doubt that Celina would be a big miss if he is ruled out for Saturday’s clash with the league leaders. However, it could allow striker Wilfried Bony his first major chance to impress Potter since returning from a long-term injury.
The Ivory Coast international replaced Celina late on in the Swans’ last game against Bolton, but he could be included from the start up alongside the in-form Oliver McBurnie to give Potter’s side a frightening attacking threat.
Bony has been out for nine months after damaging knee ligaments in a Premier League game against Leicester back in February. The 29-year-old is a top striker though and, now in his second spell with Swansea, he has netted 38 times in 89 appearances for the club.
So, Swansea fans, would you like to see Bony start on Saturday? Have your say by voting in the poll below.
Leeds United loanee Lewis Baker was handed a first league start in midfield for the Championship clash against Reading at Elland Road on Tuesday night, but it didn’t end well for the Chelsea man.
The 23-year-old has often found himself on the substitutes’ bench with the likes of Adam Forshaw, Mateusz Klich and Samu Saiz preferred ahead of him, but the absence of Pontus Jansson again against the Royals saw Kalvin Phillips drop into the backline and Forshaw switch to a more defensive midfield role.
Baker then lined up alongside Klich for his first start of the campaign, and he had a big opportunity to impress.
On the Chalkboard
The midfielder looked to have the ideal chance to express himself at home against a side struggling towards the bottom of the division, but he completely failed to take it.
While the lack of game time may have caught up on him, the 23-year-old should have been ready to grasp his opportunity, but it just didn’t happen for whatever reason before he was hauled off by Marcelo Bielsa at half-time.
Samu Saiz – who probably would have counted himself unlucky not to get the call-up originally – then came on and made the impact that the person he replaced had failed to.
The Playmaker FC squad decided to wind-up some unsuspecting Brazil fans at the Emirates on Saturday night. Watch the hilarious results in the video below…
What now for Baker?
While Chelsea loanee still has a hope of being involved in the coming weeks with the busy festive period to come, in reality surely his Leeds career under Bielsa is over.
The Argentine boss will likely explore other options rather than give the 23-year-old the nod in his starting XI, which is something he has already clearly been unwilling to do in the past.
This was Baker’s chance to prove that not only could he tear up the Championship like other Premier League loanees in Harry Wilson and Harvey Barnes have done, but instead both his current and parent club are likely to be highly unimpressed.
The career of a Premier League footballer is a relatively short one in comparison to other professions, so it makes sense that the players involved want to cash-in their talents while they can. Admit it you would, wouldn’t you?
Thanks to the ever increasing TV money, endorsements and sponsorships in the sport now, players are able to play the game with their employers when it comes to wages and other fees.
At the end of the day, it’s the players on the pitch that bring in the money through their performances and their associations.
You just need to look at Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Juventus, they paid nearly £100 million for his services, but within 24 hours of his arrival, the club had sold $60million worth of shirts with his name on the back.
In the Premier League, Manchester City have the highest collective wage bill estimated at £261 million, but individually who are the 20 highest earning players? We take a look.
Javier Hernandez – £140,000
Soccer Football – Premier League – Chelsea vs West Ham United – Stamford Bridge, London, Britain – April 8, 2018 West Ham United’s Javier Hernandez celebrates scoring their first goal with Marko Arnautovic REUTERS/Eddie Keogh 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 contact you
West Ham’s owners will surely not be happy with Hernandez’s first season back in the Premier League, after scoring just eight goals.
The Mexican will argue that he wasn’t given any form of real service during a turbulent season for the Hammers.
There is no doubt the 30-year-old’s reputation as a goalscorer for Man United and Bayer Leverkusen gave him the opportunity to negotiate such a huge wage.
Ilkay Gundogan – £140,000
Gundogan arrived in Manchester in June 2016 from Borussia Dortmund for an estimated £20 million.
But just six months later he suffered a knee ligament injury that forced him to the sidelines for nine months. Since his return in November 2017, the German featured heavily in City’s title winning season.
Raheem Sterling – £150,000
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If there is one player that shows the ‘Pep effect’, it is Raheem Sterling. His performances last season for City certainly justified his huge wages and fans are starting to see why he cost the club almost £50 million.
The 2017/18 season was a record breaking one for the winger, as he scored 18 leagues goals and missed just five games.
Vincent Kompany – £150,000
He has had his injury issues but there is no denying that Vincent Kompany is still an important member of Manchester City’s squad.
Days have gone when the club captain is paid the most and considering his injury problems the Belgian will surely be more than happy with his weekly pay packet.
Cesc Fabregas – £156,000
Fabregas’ arrival at Chelsea in 2014, wasn’t well received by Arsenal fans, but his decision has been more than justified.
With two Premier League titles, a FA Cup and a League Cup, he has certainly been worth the £30 million Chelsea paid Barcelona and the wages of course.
David Silva – £160,000
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 03: David Silva of Manchester City celebrates scoring his sides second goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and West Ham United at Etihad Stadium on December 3, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Incredibly David Silva is the highest paid player at Man City and only the 15th highest in the league.
The 30-year-old’s contract currently runs until Summer 2020, but if he continues performing like he did last season, he will surely be looking at another contract extension.
According to The Mirror, via Sky Sports, striker Jermain Defoe has hinted at a move away from Bournemouth in January.
The 36-year-old has seen his playing time dramatically reduced this season at the Vitality Stadium, failing to make a start in the Premier League. This is partly due to the fantastic form of fellow strikers Callum Wilson and Josh King, which has given manager Eddie Howe no other option than to play them.
However, one club’s loss is another’s gain, and this would be a brilliant opportunity for Derby to make a move for the England international.
Not only would this be a chance for Defoe to link up with manager Frank Lampard, whom he played alongside in the claret of West Ham and the white of England, but he may be the answer to one of The Rams’ biggest problems.
Out of the top eight teams in the Championship, only Middlesbrough have scored fewer goals than Frank Lampard’s men. But what is more worrying is that, other than Jack Marriott, the bulk of goals have come from midfielders or wingers. Marriott is the club’s top scorer, but six goals in 15 appearances this season is not necessarily the greatest return. On the other hand, if there is one player that knows how to find the back of the net, it’s Defoe, who has been prolific wherever he has played.
This is not a huge concern for Derby, particularly compared to some other clubs’ problems, but Lampard may be able to use his relationship with Defoe to broker a deal.