MatériaMais Notícias
A 23ª rodada do Brasileirão terminou nos campos, mas aqui no LANCE! ainda tem disputa rolando! Queremos saber de você: quem foi “O Cara” da rodada? Vote em duelos abaixo, quantas vezes quiser!
Carlo Ancelotti has been accused of lying about James Rodriguez and why exactly the Italian boss bought him for Everton in the summer transfer window.
Speaking to ESPN (via Sport Witness), former Colombia star Ivan Valenciano has claimed that Ancelotti is ‘totally lying’ about bringing the former Real Madrid ace to the Goodison Park faithful more for footballing reasons and added that he ‘is more about merchandising than football’.
He also went on to claim that the Merseyside club ‘invested more in advertising than in a player’, given that they would have gained a lot of fans from both his native country and on a more worldwide scale because of his previous pedigree in the beautiful game.
The comments can be perceived as very harsh on Rodriguez’s actual footballing ability, especially given how well the attacking midfield player has done in adapting to the English game.
He has put in some very good performances for the Toffees in his debut season so far, with former Premier League striker Noel Whelan highlighting that the 29-year-old was especially ‘excellent’ in the 3-3 away draw against Manchester United back in February.
Rodriguez, currently valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, scored a very well-taken goal in that game, which is one of five strikes on top of a further eight assists that he has made in 21 matches in total over all competitions so far in the 2020/21 term (Transfermarkt).
Nonetheless, although his signing has certainly grown the fanbase, the Colombia international certainly offers a lot more on the pitch.
In other news, find out what early news before Burnley has left Blues fuming here!
This Sunday’s clash with Newcastle United is the very definition of a six-pointer for West Bromwich Albion.
The Baggies are currently sitting in the relegation zone and a win over Steve Bruce’s men this weekend would take them to within six points of 17th place in the table.
It’s a monumental game for Sam Allardyce and co, who are starting to see some more positive signs at The Hawthorns.
Draws with Manchester United and Burnley got them back on the right track before their win over Brighton breathed fresh life into their survival bid. Allardyce’s men were unfortunate not to take something from their clash with Everton on Thursday evening.
Mbaye Diagne scored what he thought was a late equaliser, only for it to be ruled out by VAR.
With prospects of survival looking a little rosier for Big Sam’s men, how will they line up on Sunday lunchtime? Here’s what we’re tipping to occur.
We think that Albion could make two changes to the side which lost to Everton on Thursday.
The first change is in the back four, where Semi Ajayi returns to the XI. The centre-back was sent off during the club’s 0-0 draw with Burnley and was back among the substitutes in midweek.
His presence has been colossal for the Baggies this term, however, so he replaces Dara O’Shea in the side. It’s harsh on the young defender but Allardyce has to get his selection spot on with so much on the line.
His other change comes on the left wing. Matty Phillips endured a quiet evening at The Hawthorns a few days ago and was beaten by Mason Holgate on a regular basis. The winger attempted half a dozen dribbles but only succeed with one as the Everton full-back made an eye-catching six tackles.
With Phillips’ inability to get the better of the Everton defenders, it means that the £19,000-per-week attacker is axed from the XI. Robert Snodgrass, the man who replaced him as a sub in that loss, starts on this occasion.
Besides that it’s an unchanged XI, particularly in midfield where Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Okay Yokuslu and Conor Gallagher were all so impressive against the Toffees.
The latter duo completed over 90% of their passes, while Maitland-Niles managed the third-most touches (72) in the Baggies side. They all have to start.
AND in other news, “Absolutely fantastic” – Exclusive: Pundit raves over West Brom star shining under Sam Allardyce…
Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri excelled at a potentially ideal time for West Ham United by hitting a hat-trick against Cadiz CF on Saturday, only to then deal the Irons a huge blow.
Reports by the Daily Star earlier in the week suggested that Hammers were preparing a new offer worth up to £32m, including add-ons, with the hope of signing the 23-year-old forward this month, after seeing a £27m bid knocked back earlier in the January transfer window.
Yet Sevilla, who signed the Morocco international for just €20m (£18m), are said to be relaxed as they demand no less than €40m (£35.5m) outright to release the man who fired them up to third in the La Liga table with a Man of the Match showing in Saturday’s 3-0 win.
En-Nesyri’s hat-trick at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium was his second in the space of only two weeks, after firing home thrice in a 3-2 win at home to Real Sociedad. He now has 12 goals in 19 games, more than any other player in the Spanish top-flight.
It was not only his goals that saw En-Nesyri stand out against Cadiz this weekend, as he dictated the flow of Sevilla’s attacking gameplan to warrant a match-high 10 out of 10 rating from WhoScored.
It was his best match rating of the season so far, having offered a game-high five shots – three more than anyone else – of which four were directed on target. He also provided two key balls from 14 accurate passes, which SofaScore deemed to have created two big chances for Sevilla to find the back of Jeremias Ledesma’s net as they awarded him a 9.8/10 rating.
En-Nesyri has now created five clear-cut chances for Sevilla to score in La Liga fixtures this term but remains without an assist, despite offering four times his average key passes a game (0.5). No forward in La Liga has created a higher number of chances where there is a reasonable expectation of a teammate scoring without a shot being converted.
He also moved his successful dribbles a match average to 0.4 after successfully driving play forward with the ball at his feet on two of his six attempts against Cadiz – only four attackers across Spain’s top-flight offer two or more successful dribbles a game. One of those four attackers is Sevilla winger Suso, who attempted (8) dribbles against Cadiz.
En-Nesyri also contested more offensive aerial duels (3) than any of his teammates on Saturday, while attempting one defensive aerial contest further saw the €50,000-per-week (£44.5k-p/w) marksman match his season average of two or more duels won a game with a 51% success rate.
En-Nesyri even confirmed after the match that he had been suffering with sight issues after the foul he drew late in the first-half that led to his second goal.
But for as good a performance as En-Nesyri produced, maybe at a high enough level for West Ham to match Sevilla’s demands for a winter sale, he went on to perhaps deal a huge blow to the Irons’ hope of securing a transfer this month.
“Nothing has changed, all this comes with work and concentration. Now we are going for more, for now, I’m staying at Sevilla, I’m going nowhere,” he told Movistar+, via quotes by Estadio Deportivo. “I want to finish the year here. It’s a great club and I want to be here.”
En-Nesyri’s declaration will likely be seen as a huge blow at West Ham as the club searches for a new striker to replace Sebastien Haller.
After all, the Moroccan’s match-winning performance against Cadiz saw En-Nesyri offer more shots (2.2, Michail Antonio) and key passes (1.5, Aaron Cresswell) than any Irons player offers per game in the Premier League, of those to have featured on more than five occasions, per WhoScored.
Moyes should be looking to do all he can to convince En-Nesyri to have a swift change of heart before the window slams shut, as well as urging West Ham co-owner and Chairman David Sullivan to present the extra millions needed for a transfer, as he looks to be player who could be a very useful addition to the Hammers.
AND in other news, West Ham consider January bid for “phenomenal” striker boasting 15 goals in 19 games.
Liverpool were reportedly interested in signing Napoli centre-back Nikola Maksimovic this month and the Serbian international could be the man to ease their defensive woes.
It was suggested recently by talkSPORT’s Jim White that Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis claimed that Liverpool were previously interested in the 29-year-old, and expects them to still be interested due to their current injury problems, although he suggests that he has not heard anything of late about their interest.
If the stats are anything to go by, Maksimovic would go some way towards fixing Klopp’s problems in defence this season.
The German manager is set to be without the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez for the majority of the campaign, which has led to a frankly ridiculous number of different centre-back pairings so far this season.
Adding someone such as Maksimovic would add experience and consistency into Liverpool’s backline, with the Serbian having enjoyed a relatively injury-free career thus far. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Joel Matip.
The Reds have scored just six goals from set-pieces so far this season, which has them seventh out of all the Premier League sides, whereas last season they finished joint-top of the rankings with 17, which certainly suggests that they are missing the aerial threat of Van Dijk, with the Dutchman scoring five goals in the top-flight last season.
If Liverpool were to return for the Napoli centre-back this month, he could help replace that aerial threat, as he stands at 6 foot 2 and winning aerial duels looks to be one of his main strengths.
The Serbian has won on average two duels per game in Serie A, and 3.3 duels per game in the Europa League.
Fabinho, meanwhile, has averaged 2.1 won duels in the Premier League and just 0.8 duels in the Champions League, so you could definitely argue that Maksimovic is stronger in the air than the Brazilian.
Therefore, Michael Edwards should return for the 29-year-old this month, as with Transfermarkt valuing him at just £13.5 million, he could be a relatively cheap, short-term solution for Klopp’s side this season.
And, in other news, Bye-bye Matip: Klopp must swoop for £50m titan destined for “an amazing future”…
MatériaMais Notícias
Após a vitória do Vasco sobre o Flamengo em São Januário, Eurico Miranda provocou o rival afirmando que comemorou o resultado acendendo um charuto
Wolves’ recruitment over the last few seasons has been second-to-none – signing the likes of Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho for a combined £20m is smart, smart business.
Although it hasn’t always gone their way…
In the last January transfer window, the Midlands outfit were linked with a move for wing wizard Jarrod Bowen whilst he was ripping it up for Hull City in the Championship.
The Athletic’s Tim Spiers reported at the time: “They are admirers of Jarrod Bowen at Hull City but the forward would cost £20 million.”
He would go onto sign for Premier League rivals West Ham for that exact fee, so the decision to turn their nose up at that sort of price is now certainly looking like a massive mistake.
Perhaps a surprise considering the Old Gold had been monitoring him ever since his breakthrough at non-league Hereford United.
The 23-year-old somewhat made a decent impact in his maiden half-season in east London, providing one goal and four assists as the Hammers narrowly escaped relegation.
Now settled, Bowen has become one of David Moyes’ most lethal options in attack and Wolves know all too well about that having been truly stung by him earlier this season.
Per WhoScored, the winger has scored three goals in nine appearances whilst also averaging 2.2 shots, 0.9 dribbles and 0.8 crosses per game.
Two of those strikes came against Nuno’s men, where he rated out as SofaScore’s Man of the Match (8.2). He absolutely gave Conor Coady (5.9) and Romain Saiss (6.2) nightmares.
Football.London graded his display a 9/10 and said: “[Bowen] took his goal superbly, composing himself before curling past Rui Patricio to give the Hammers the lead.Right place at the right time to tap home his second of the game. Should have had a hat trick.”
Bowen is now valued at £25.2m by Transfermarkt, an increase of 25% on what the Irons paid for him in January – and that’s finally starting to look like an absolute steal.
His former Tigers boss Grant McCann regularly waxed lyrical about his potential during his time in Yorkshire, dubbing the maestro an “exceptional talent” who is often “unplayable.”
Without Diogo Jota, Nuno could’ve done with a player like Bowen in the side. He would’ve taken some pressure off of Raul Jimenez in terms of goalscoring.
AND in other news, Wolves can find a Conor Coady successor in “exceptional” teen sensation…
There was a lot to take in as Leeds United beat Aston Villa 3-0 on Friday night.
The Whites were in fine fettle as they demolished the Midlands outfit with three second-half goals from Patrick Bamford, but the game could easily have gone another way if Marcelo Bielsa didn’t spot one potentially dangerous situation.
Indeed, Pascal Struijk looked like a walking red card in the early knockings of the game, and Bielsa subbed him in the 20th minute, allowing Leeds to continue to play with aggression and intensity in the midfield without the fear of an impending red card.
While that decision may have won the game for Leeds on Friday, it may end up doing more harm than good over time.
Struijk has firmly cemented himself as a first-team option this season, starting half of United’s league games so far, but this early substitution against Villa could seriously dent his confidence.
We shouldn’t forget that the centre-back is still developing as a player and he’s still in the early stages of his career and a cut-throat decision like this could take something away from the way he plays.
Indeed, it’d be understandable if Struijk is fearful of making mistakes or picking up yellow cards in the future due to the looming danger of being taken out of a game early as he was at Villa Park on Friday.
Of course, being wary of making mistakes is a good thing, but overthinking things isn’t and if Struijk starts second-guessing everything he does on the pitch, he will lose some of what made Bielsa describe him as a “complete player” earlier this season.
Hopefully, Bielsa has sat him down and fully explained the decision to sub him and what he should do going forward in order to avoid a similar situation.
Fingers crossed this doesn’t play on the 21-year-old’s mind. It could have detrimental long-term consequences depending on how the 21-year-old reacts.
AND in other news, Bielsa FAVE acted as a brilliant Kalvin Phillips replacement for Leeds…
Peter Lawwell would be living in a dreamland if the Celtic CEO were to bring Henrik Larsson back to Parkhead to replace Neil Lennon.
What’s the word?
According to the Glasgow Times, Larsson is among the candidates in the running to replace Lennon should Lawwell and majority owner Dermot Desmond call time on the Irishman’s Lennoxtown tenure.
The Hoops sit a mammoth 13 points behind Old Firm rivals Rangers in the Premiership standings as their drab run of results continued with a 1-1 draw at home to St. Johnstone on Sunday, dealing further damage to any lingering hopes of claiming their tenth title in a row.
Lennon was given fresh assurances that his position is secure on Sunday night, despite now boasting just two wins in Celtic’s last 12 games across all competitions, having begged the board for more time after fans again descended on Parkhead to let make sure their voices could be heard.
Desmond also spoke with Lennon last week and vowed the under-pressure gaffer will be given the chance to save Celtic’s season before further crunch talks were held on Sunday.
But managers are being touted left, right and centre to eventually replace Lennon if he cannot stop the rot, with Larsson among those should Lawwell be able to lure the Hoops hero away from FC Barcelona.
Larsson is currently Ronald Koeman’s right-hand man at the Camp Nou following his own ill-fated managerial spells in his native Sweden with Landskrona Bols, Falkenbergs FF and Helsingborgs IF over the years.
Heading for disaster
While Larsson returning to Parkhead – the scene of four Premiership triumphs for the former Barcelona, Manchester United and Celtic striker – would be a romantic notion for supporters to clutch to at a time of crisis, Lawwell would be setting the Hoops up for further disaster by appointing the 49-year-old.
Larsson has not held a managerial role since his second spell in charge of Helsingborgs came to a swift end in August 2019, just two months into his tenure, after guiding the club to a mere two wins in nine games that saw the Olympia natives keep only two clean sheets.
Koeman’s number two did not enjoy even a modicum of success during his first spell with Helsingborgs between 2015 and 2017, either, having been in charge as Di Roe were relegated from the Allsvenskan.
Lawwell appointing Larsson to take charge of Celtic would only serve to see the Hoops’ CEO throw a club legend onto the fire, let alone offer him a baptism of fire, in a similar way to Alan Shearer’s time in charge at Newcastle United in 2009 when his eight-game reign failed to prevent relegation from the Premier League.
Filippo Inzaghi flopped in charge of AC Milan, too, with the Rossoneri’s iconic striker winning just 14 of his 40 games in charge on route to a 10th-placed Serie A finish – their worst in 17 years – and he now resides with Benevento Calcio in the second-tier of Italian football.
A similar future would likely be on the cards for Larsson if he were to return to Parkhead this winter, so if he has any sense at all, he would reject the chance of a Lennoxtown homecoming if Lawwell is naïve enough to offer one.
AND in other news, Peter Lawwell can invoke shades of Scott Sinclair by signing a “phenomenal” £20m wonder for Celtic.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has never really had anyone pushing him onto the next level, which is perhaps why his performances at Goodison Park have started to dip but that could all change this summer…
What’s the word?
According to ESPN, the Toffees are among a host of clubs chasing Manchester United’s number two Sergio Romero before the start of the new season next month.
With Dean Henderson set to compete with David De Gea for the starting spot, the Argentinian veteran could slip down the pecking order at Old Trafford.
Newly-promoted Leeds United and Chelsea are two of the other teams mentioned with interest.
Pickford competition
Pickford has been a fairly reliable shot-stopper for Everton over the past few years, but complacency has appeared to creep in recently.
Following a 3-0 thrashing by Wolves last month, the Toffees faithful hammered the 26-year-old on Twitter, blasting him for being a “disgrace to the club” as well as a “clown.”
It’s not the first time either with the ECHO suggesting that some sort of mistake or blunder is in him each time he steps out onto the field, which is rather worrying.
But when Maarten Stekelenburg is the backup, there isn’t much that can be done.
Romero may not have the most games under his belt in recent seasons, but he’s a more than adept option between the sticks and Alex Iwobi knows that all too well.
During a rare start in the FA Cup back in January 2019, the 33-year-old silenced the Nigerian winger, forcing him off just after the hour mark due to his poor display – only Pierre-Emile Aubameyang could find his way past the 6 foot 4 colossus.
“Whenever he plays, he performs,” said his boss Ole Gunnar Solksjaer just last week, adding that Romero was a “very good goalkeeper” whilst centre-back Eric Bailly labelled him one of the best in the world and claimed that he’s dependable”.
Marcel Brands must swoop him up at all costs.
AND in other news, Serie A colossus could be a cheap Gabriel alternative…