All posts by n8rngtd.top

Oh Dejan Lovren, what would we do without you?

Who would drive Mohamed Salah to get his coffee? Who would outlandishly claim to be one of the best defenders in the world? Who would fall flat on their face trying to stop Yannick Bolasie?

Most importantly though, who would stand idly by while Gareth Bale scores worldies?

Now, don’t get us wrong, the Croatia international is a Champions League winner and World Cup finalist with over 50 caps and over 170 appearances for one of the biggest clubs in the world, so we don’t care to knock him too much.

That said, his helpless expression as Bale pranced past him to equalise for Wales on Sunday night reminded us of that fateful night in Kiev.

The Real Madrid superstar certainly has a knack of scoring wonderful goals, and unfortunately for Lovren, he has now been on the receiving end of that twice.

We can almost hear Simon and Garfunkel’s Sounds of Silence playing in the background while watching Bale give the Reds defender flashbacks of the 2018 Champions League final defeat. Sorry Dejan.

For some reason, the rumours of Philippe Coutinho returning to Liverpool just won’t go away.

A move back to Anfield for the Brazilian was speculated this summer, but nothing ever came of it as he ended up moving to Bayern Munich on loan.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Coutinho has been in red hot form since joining the Bavarians, as he’s contributed to four goals and won two Man of the Match awards in six Bundesliga appearances.

ESPN once again brought up the prospect of Coutinho moving back to Merseyside on their most recent Transfer Rater, but that suggestion was quickly shot down by Shaka Hislop.

The former Newcastle goalkeeper said that he believes Bayern Munich will make the move permanent and that Liverpool don’t actually need to change anything in their attack.

It’s hard to disagree with Hislop on this one. The Reds are the current champions of Europe, and they’re on the verge of breaking the consecutive wins record in the Premier League – they look a lot more solid without the playmaker in midfield.

The 27-year-old isn’t needed at Liverpool and Hislop is absolutely right to shoot down this suggestion.

Liverpool have taken exception to comments made by Liverpool Echo journalist Ian Doyle, after he said that manager Jurgen Klopp’s midfield experiment did not go as planned.

The Reds got past Genk on Wednesday with a 4-1 win in the Champions League, with a brace from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and goals from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah completing the goal tally.

Liverpool’s win in the Champions League came off the back of five changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Manchester United on Sunday, with Naby Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain replacing Georginio Wijnaldum and captain Jordan Henderson.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Despite scoring a quartet of goals in Belgium, Doyle wrote in his column in the Liverpool Echo that the midfield three didn’t work and that they may not feature together again.

He said: “The midfield may have been the one many supporters wanted but it’s clear why this was the first time it had been seen.

“This wasn’t a case of Liverpool getting away with it – the individual performances were too good for that – but as an experiment, it was an engine room that underlined why it may not be seen again any time soon.”

Supporters took exception to the journalist’s remarks about the players in the middle and voiced their feelings on Twitter.

Here you will find some of the best reactions from Liverpool fans…

Roy Keane has called Tottenham full-backs Danny Rose and Serge Aurier “Dumb and Dumber” following their disastrous performances in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool.

The current situation at Spurs went from bad to worse after suffering yet another loss at the weekend, the club’s sixth of the season in all competitions.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Nothing seems to be going right at the moment for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, and the prospects of escaping the nightmare they currently find themselves in aren’t looking good either – especially after watching Aurier and Rose fumble their way around Anfield. The former fouled Sadio Mane, leading to Mohamed Salah scoring the decisive goal from the penalty spot.

As Keane pointed out during his assessment, it didn’t help the pair’s case that two of the best in the business lined up on the opposing team, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson.

Not one to shy away from making big statements though, the former Manchester United man told Sky Sports:

“The two Tottenham full-backs were dreadful. Dumb and Dumber, I’d call them.

“I thought they were really poor. You can’t compare them to Liverpool, the two lads who are absolutely fantastic.

“Particularly going forward, okay defensively there’s parts of the games they can improve on but going forward they were absolutely fantastic.”

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Tottenham Hotspur did not receive a single bid for Christian Eriksen in the summer, per The Athletic’s David Ornstein.

What’s the word?

The Denmark international was heavily linked with an exit from Spurs throughout the most recent transfer window.

Ornstein, writing in his Athletic column that is published every Monday, reports that the playmaker had set his heart on a move to either Real Madrid or Barcelona, though neither club were keen on bringing him to Spain.

Manchester United are said to have registered an interest, only for Eriksen to rebuff those advances before a formal bid could be tabled.

Eriksen’s contract expires at the end of the season and he has yet to sit down for talks over an extension, per Ornstein.

Stuck with him

This feels like a problem for Spurs.

Eriksen has struggled thus far this season, scoring just one goal and assisting one more, and one feels that the club could struggle to find a buyer in January, which will be their last opportunity to do so.

Indeed, Ornstein suggests that the club would rather keep him than not but, still, it is merely good business sense for Spurs to look to receive a fee in the next window.

At this point, though, they could be losing out on a major chunk of change.

Chairman Daniel Levy reportedly told Real that he would want over £100m if he were to sell in the summer but, now, there’s very little chance of a club bidding anywhere near that when they could sign him for free a few months later.

In January, the price will surely have halved but if Ornstein is right – he usually is – Levy may be stuck with an albatross around his neck, merely watching the clock as his contract ticks down.

That may not exactly be Eriksen’s fault – although recent form doesn’t help his cause – but nonetheless, Levy is now faced with drumming up interest in a player who received no bids during the summer or losing him for nothing.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

How do you solve Leeds United’s striker conundrum?

Even the man who was once heralded as the ‘best coach in the world’ by Pep Guardiola can’t quite seem to figure it out as the Whites’ woes in front of goal continue.

However, there is one man who believes he knows what Marcelo Bielsa needs to do to get the best out of his team.

Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

What’s been said then?

Former Leeds United defender Joe Newsome has stated that he believes the solution to Leeds’ striking puzzle is to play both Patrick Bamford and Eddie Nketiah together.

In an interview with Yorkshire Post, he said:

“I think they have tightened up a little bit at the back, they look to be a little bit stronger defensively but it is quite apparent that they don’t score enough goals and there’s this issue between Bamford and Nketiah.

“I know Eddie came on against Preston last Tuesday and scored but then I was at the Birmingham game last Saturday when he took Bamford off and put Nketiah on at half time but I felt we lost a bit of the physical side of it. We lost some of the work that Bamford does.

“Like everybody else, I’d like to see them play together but whether that is going to happen under Bielsa or not we have to wait to see.”

We mastered the trick in the video below in 8 attempts… could you do better?

How would it work?

It’s all well and good for Newsome to say that he wants to see the two strikers playing together, but there’s no explanation for how that would work.

Of course, playing two strikers would see another player lose their spot in the team, and in Bielsa’s system that may not be possible.

Every role is there for a reason, and if you take one player out the team it doesn’t always tick in the way it usually does.

Unfortunately, it seems as if Newsome’s dream of seeing Bamford and Nketiah together isn’t going to come true as it would require a huge tactical rejig, and with Leeds playing as well as they have been doing that just doesn’t make much sense.

After all, Bielsa has previously stated he’s seen no evidence the system would actually work.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

While speaking to BBC 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, Micah Richards said that Jurgen Klopp has had a bit of a “Keegan meltdown” in regards to his response to Pep Guardiola’s comments on diving.

What did he say?

It all started when the former Barcelona boss spoke after the Reds had beaten Aston Villa 2-1 at Villa Park. Sadio Mane had been booked in that first half for diving, and Guardiola said after his side’s match against Man City: “Sometimes it is diving, sometimes it is this talent to score incredible goals in the last minute.”

This clearly got under Klopp’s skin, with the former Borussia Dortmund boss responding: “When I came into the interview after the game [at Villa Park] I really had no clue what the other Premier League results were. That is the truth. I didn’t ask anybody, It was 45 minutes after the game when I heard the results of the other games. When I come into the dressing room I don’t say: ‘What’s the result of the other games?’ I had to speak to players, I had to speak to a lot of people and then I went into interviews. I didn’t think for one second about the other games.

“Then, after the interviews, [he will ask] how did the other teams play? Then someone told me City won in the 86th minute and all this happened. I don’t understand these types of things. My brain is not big enough to think about another team as well. I have enough to do to think about us. Tomorrow we play Genk and that deserves all my attention and gets it. That is the only way I can do it. After that we can speak about Manchester City – we have to.”

Former Manchester City defender Richards has now had his say on the unfolding dram.

He said: “Sounded like a Keegan meltdown. After explaining for a minute or so that he doesn’t want to talk about Man City, he talks about Man City – it’s mind games. That’s what the title race needs. Two great managers, Pep’s come out on top a couple of times and he’s just trying to upset the apple cart a little bit. It looks like it has stirred up Klopp, to be honest. The way Klopp has reacted there, it’s like he has had a bit of a nibble.”

Don’t be like Rafa

Sunday’s clash at Anfield between the two sides will have huge implications on the title race. If Liverpool win, they will lead the Citizens by nine points with less than a third of the season gone, but if the visitors triumph, the gap will be reduced to three. A draw will mean that the Manchester outfit have missed their chance to close the deficit.

Renowned for his tactical ingenuity rather than his mind games, Guardiola has clearly taken a conscious swipe at Liverpool. However, there was no real need for a response from the 52-year-old, yet he has let himself be drawn into a battle of words between the two bosses and, as Richards said, he has come out looking the worse of the two.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

This is not the juiciest of mind games, granted, but the fact that Klopp has already been drawn into reacting does not bode well, and may give his opposite number the incentive to try this tactic more often. It is is vital that the German does not fall into the same trap as Rafa Benitez.

The “facts” speech has now gone down in Premier League folklore, but Benitez’s comments were only in retaliation to previous words from Sir Alex Ferguson, perhaps the best at mind games of them all. The Spaniard then proceeded to lose his cool. Steven Gerrard, the captain at the time, even said that he was “embarrassed” when watching the monologue.

The Merseyside club were top of the league at that point, but Benitez showed the pressure had got to him, and Manchester United would eventually go on to win the title.

These quotes from Klopp do not equate to a full-blown “facts” moment, but he must make sure not to react so out of character in the future. In a title race of such small margins, it could be the difference between lifting the trophy and missing out once again.

A few Rangers supporters have been lauding Joe Aribo on social media for his “stunning” goal which opened the scoring against Livingston on Sunday.

Aribo began the affair as the left-hand option in Steven Gerrard’s three-man midfield line, partnering Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara in the Gers’ engine room.

It was the 23-year-old’s tenth start in the Premiership this season, and first across all competitions since the end of October when Aribo played the full ninety-minutes against Ross County.

He had been resigned to a seven-minute cameo against FC Porto in the Europa League on Thursday night, but rewarded Gerrard’s renewed faith with the go-ahead goal at Livingston in the 33rd-minute on Sunday.

Watch Rangers Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Rangers worked the ball forward in the Livingston half with a direct pass into the feet of Alfredo Morelos, who found Scott Arfield while under pressure. The Canadian moved the play onto Aribo who’s left-footed effort flew past Matija Sarkic.

Aribo’s strike ensured Rangers entered the break in the lead, and saw that he earned the praise of the Ibrox faithful on social media.

It was the summer signing from Charlton Athletic’s first goal for the Gers in the Scottish Premiership, following Aribo striking thrice in the Europa League qualifying stages and once in the League Cup.

Here are some of the messages shared…

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana is being lined up as a potential transfer target for PSG, according to the Daily Mirror.

Lallana, 31, has made just eight appearances this season for the Reds, finding difficulty in breaking into a team that sits at the top of the Premier League.

The former Southampton captain did score the equaliser at Old Trafford to ensure that Jurgen Klopp’s men maintained their unbeaten start, however.

He’s out of contract at Anfield in the summer, leaving the French giants free to pursue his signature on a free transfer when the January transfer window arrives.

Thomas Tuchel wants Lallana to replace forward Edinson Cavani, who is being linked with a move to the MLS.

LA Galaxy are chasing the Uruguayan to replace the recently departed Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who left the club after two seasons.

Lallana would hardly be a natural replacement; in his 186 Premier League games, the England intentional has scored 30 goals, a strike rate that falls some way short of Cavani’s.

Here’s how some Liverpool fans reacted to the transfer rumour:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking to GQ, ex-Manchester United forward Louis Saha has suggested even Sir Alex Ferguson would “struggle” managing at the club now.

What did he say?

The iconic boss left the Red Devils back in the summer of 2013 after clinching the Premier League title, and United have not managed to win it since. The likes of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho have come and gone, whilst Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has also endured a difficult patch with reports claiming he was fighting for his job earlier this season.

Now, Saha has revealed that football’s major changes over the course of the past few years would make managing United now a difficult task even for someone like Ferguson.

When asked how Solskjaer’s current line-up compares to his own time at Old Trafford, he said: “It’s hard to compare two eras, because football has changed. United remains a huge club with a massive fan base. Commercially they are still doing great. They still want to bring young players through, but football has changed. There’s technology, VAR and social media now.

“Even Sir Alex Ferguson would struggle with this. He had a bit of social media to manage, but it wasn’t the same as now. Group spirit is lesser now; players are more individual. Players play for their branding, their own legacy, rather than the club legacy. The platform has changed.”

Modern football

Talk about getting out at the right time. Ferguson left United whilst he was at the top of the mountain, and ever since then, it has been a steep climb back down for the Red Devils. As Saha alludes to, the ever-growing influence and power of social media means every performance and game is scrutinised more than ever before, leading to wildly extreme opinions and verdicts as people attempt to out-shock each other.

Ferguson’s achievements at Old Trafford are unparalleled, and he surely would have gotten more out of the current United team in this new environment. But it is difficult to shake off the feeling that trying to win the Premier League and dominate the European scene would have been a major hurdle for even the great United boss to try and overcome.