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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

That couldn’t have worked out better could it?

Well, technically Forest could have kept a clean sheet to make it better, but you catch my drift.

There was a lot of talk in the build-up to the match about whether or not the postponement of the game against Reading would end up being a good thing or a bad thing for Nottingham Forest as they prepared to face Luton.

The topic of rest has been something that we have been discussing at FFC in recent weeks, and it looks as if it paid off as the Reds squeezed out a 2-1 victory away to Luton Town.

And seeing as Forest came out on the right side of the result, it gives us the chance to use this as possibly the best example that a little bit of rest can really help the cause, especially when it comes to forward Lewis Grabban who got the opening goal last weekend.

Watch Nottingham Forest Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Saturday’s game was one of the better examples that you could ask for that shows just what the odd bit of time off can do for a player. It is now so crucial that they bring in someone who can give him that time off on occasion so that he can be fully charged throughout the season and give them the goals when they need to.

It might sound like we are banging a well-beaten drum about how important Grabban is for Forest and how he needs some help upfront, but it just seems like something that needs to keep being reiterated until something is done about it.

When Nottingham Forest fell to two defeats in the space of four days last week against Wigan Athletic and Hull City, it served as a wakeup call that things needed to change at the City Ground if they were to carry on their march up the table, that they would be found out sooner or later.

Now Sabri Lamouchi has first-hand experience of what needs to happen to keep Forest ticking along throughout the season. Now the question is, will he act upon it and urge the higher-ups at the City Ground to do something about it?

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

It really has gone from bad to worse for Ivan Rakitic and the ongoing 2019/20 campaign is turning out to be a quite a nightmare for Barcelona’s Croatian sensation.

Of course, as far as sudden changes go, the 31-year-old’s situation probably takes the cake for the biggest one in recent times.

Just last campaign – which came off the back of reaching a World Cup final with Croatia – he was enjoying himself on the pitch for Blaugrana, playing consistently and being among the most used players under the still fresh manager, Ernesto Valverde.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

But all of that changed swiftly with some new arrivals last summer and Rakitic went from hero to zero practically overnight. Now, he is among the least used players in the squad, only tallying 186 minutes for the club in the current season.

And his lack of minutes naturally means that he is currently not really in top form. How could he be without any consistent appearances for his club?

This, however, resulted in Rakitic losing his starting position in his national team as well as Zlatko Dalić, Croatia’s national manager, decided to drop his star midfielder to the bench in their important clash with Wales last Sunday.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

The game ended in a 1-1 draw and whether Rakitic could’ve made an impact in the first half or not remains up for debate but the fact remains – things have continued going downhill for the midfielder and him potentially losing his status within the national team squad might be the final nail in the coffin.

It would be too early to say that his time under the sun has completely passed but with his nigh-on non-existent role at Barcelona potentially even undermining his involvement with Croatia’s squad, the only solution would be to go on the lookout for more minutes elsewhere.

For that reason, a separation from the Catalan giant seems inevitable unless things take another drastic turn and Rakitic’s former role at the club is suddenly restored.

But with all the rumours linking him with an exit – not to mention Frenkie De Jong and Arthur Melo reportedly completing Valverde’s preferred midfield trio ahead of Sergio Busquets – that seems rather unlikely to happen.

Liverpool fans were left unimpressed by the performance of their skipper Jordan Henderson during the 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Henderson, 29, found himself substituted during the encounter after the England international was largely ineffective playing in a deeper role for the Reds. He made way for Adam Lallana, who scored the resulting equaliser, with 20 minutes to play. The former Sunderland player is considered to be a marmite player among supporters.

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The skipper was not a threat offensively for Liverpool as he was placed in a much more defensive role by manager Jurgen Klopp. With a passing accuracy of just 81.3% and with only one long ball attempted during the match, Henderson was not bringing any creative spark to the midfield and illustrated his lack of quality in deeps areas of the pitch.

Klopp sees his captain as one of the key players in the Liverpool setup despite fans’ concerns about the Englishman. This is evident when his playing time is analysed. Last season he played 2782 minutes, and featured for 3041 minutes the campaign before.

Supporters were unhappy with their captain’s display on Sunday and made their feelings clear on social media after the full-time whistle.

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

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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 Sky Sports (as quoted by The Manchester Evening News), Graeme Souness has insisted Jonny Evans would walk into the current Manchester United team.

What did he say?

The 31-year-old played 198 times for the Red Devils in the early stages of his professional career, but is now part of the first-choice back four at fellow Premier League side Leicester.

Now, Souness has suggested that despite his increasing age, Evans still possesses some of the key qualities that mark him out as one of the better defenders in the league.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He said: “I’m an enormous fan, of this guy (Evans) as well. I think at 31, he may have not reached his peak yet. When you look at Man United have at the back, he walks into the Man United team, for me. He looks to be a really solid character, not short of ability, a modern centre-back at times, he’s more than comfortable to take it in areas where a lot of centre-backs wouldn’t.

“He can make passes, senses danger, of course, he should at 31, but he’s an all-round top-class centre-half for me.”

Late bloomer

Despite making just short of 200 appearances for the club, Evans never really established himself as one of the first names on the team-sheet at Old Trafford. The Northern Ireland international has since stepped up his game considerably however, and in his debut campaign with Leicester last season, averaged impressive numbers of 1 tackle, 1.4 interceptions and 6.1 clearances per game.

Would he have become the centre-half he is now if he had just remained at United? Probably not. His exposure to consistent first-team football at Premier League level has helped him massively, and he may well be the ideal partner to Harry Maguire – his former Leicester teammate of course.

Compared to Maguire’s current partner in crime, Victor Lindelof, Evans has averaged more tackles, clearances and blocks this season in the Premier League, whilst he has also managed to pick up an assist. United could certainly do a lot worse than bringing the veteran defender back.

Rangers claimed top spot in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon as they rounded off the latest set of matches before the international break with a 5-0 win over Hamilton Academical.

The Gers went into the game knowing that a win would see them top of the league whilst they also needed to bounce back from a European night to forget in Switzerland where they lost to Young Boys.

They responded in fine style at Ibrox, then, with a superb 5-0 win and Steven Gerrard and his players will be very pleased with what they managed to do during the game.

And, indeed, fans will be happy to see Jamie Murphy returning to the fold with him getting around 25 minutes of action after coming on as a sub with the game effectively wrapped up.

It’s been a long time since fans have seen him playing for their club thanks to injury, and the reaction on Twitter was suitably positive.

Here’s the best of what Rangers fans had to say about his return…

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Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has returned to first-team training ahead of this weekend’s clash with Burnley, per the London Evening Standard.

The England captain sustained ankle ligament damage in January’s loss to Manchester United.

The BBC subsequently claimed that he could be out until March, but the aforementioned London Evening Standard report claims that he could even feature this weekend.

The London Evening Standard claim that Kane has been reminded previously that he must not push himself too hard and manager Mauricio Pochettino may subsequently start him on the bench, particularly with back-to-back derbies against Chelsea and Arsenal looming.

Indeed, Spurs have not lost a Premier League game since the forward was ruled out, beating Fulham, Watford, Newcastle United and Leicester City. They were eliminated from both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup but beat Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie last week.

Nevertheless, Spurs are delighted that Kane is readying himself for a comeback. Take a look at the best reaction on Twitter below!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

Wednesday night was a huge for both Eden Hazard and Real Madrid.

The former Chelsea man started his first Champions League game for Los Blancos following his summer switch from Stamford Bridge against PSG at Parc des Princes.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, it will be a game he’ll soon want to forget, given that the Galacticos were beaten 3-0 on the night by a superior side.

And Hazard was a major contributing factor to the defeat, turning in a rather underwhelming performance.

He had just one shot during the game, deployed one key pass and had four dribbles to his name. When we also factor in that he registered only 54 touches, 36 passes and just 80.6% passing accuracy, the picture becomes that much clearer.

Perhaps it’s not the worst performance of the Champions League proper’s opening round, but Real needed more from the Belgium international.

After all, if you pay £89m for a player, a Galactico, for that matter, he has to perform instantly and become the talisman.

Of course, he could take some time to get going, but his reputation has gone against him here – his display not befitting his price tag.

With Real slipping to a disappointing defeat, it has become clear that he will have to start delivering sooner rather than later.

Tottenham Hotspur could be about to end deadline day with a bang…

What’s the word?

According to Sky Sports reporter Aden-Jay Wood, Spurs are keen to sign Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele before 11pm tonight, though any deal won’t be easy.

“Hearing Tottenham are interested in a deadline day move for Ousmane Dembele, not an easy deal to complete but Barcelona want him gone. Dele Alli to Everton almost completed,” he tweeted.

Late coup

This would certainly be a statement of intent from the north London outfit as they look to round off a busy day of activity.

Earlier this afternoon, the club announced the arrivals of Juventus duo Roman Bentancur, who has signed permanently in an initial £15.9m deal, and Dejan Kulusevski, who arrives on loan for £8.3m fee with an option to buy for £29.2m, via the BBC.

The Frenchman has been hindered by persistent injury problems during his time at the Nou Camp but whenever he has featured, he has been impressive.

Dembele has directly contributed towards 54 goals from 129 appearances (31 goals); a goal or assist every 139 minutes. By comparison, Heung-min Son’s record for Spurs sits at one direct contribution every 110 minutes. Not hugely different, all things considered.

The £27m-rated wide man has earned plenty of praise during his time in Spain, even despite not playing as many minutes as he’d probably like. Ex-teammate Lionel Messi dubbed him a “phenomenon”, whilst former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu once claimed “he is better than Neymar.”

Having let Bryan Gil depart on loan to Valencia to get some game time, there is certainly space in the squad for a versatile forward capable of playing up front and on both flanks, so Dembele would be a very nice signing indeed.

It remains to be seen if there’s enough time to get this one over the line but if it can happen, then it’s an exciting one. The Barca man could thrive under a manager like Conte.

AND in other news, Alasdair Gold offers Spurs update ahead of deadline…

Wolves currently find themselves in the midst of somewhat of a crisis at right-back with both Nelson Semedo and Ki-Jana Hoever sidelined with thigh injuries.

Luckily it appears as though the former could be back in contention after the international break whilst there is still no clear time frame on the latter’s return to action.

The injuries have meant that usual left-back Jonny Otto has had to play out of position at right-wing-back, with manager Bruno Lage not having a third senior option.

However, the West Midlands club does have an exciting young right-back coming through the ranks in 18-year-old Harry Birtwistle.

In the Pipeline

Birtwistle, who is of both British and Singaporean descent, signed his first professional contract back in October and has seriously impressed for Wolves’ U23s.

The right-back has made a combined 19 appearances for the U23s in both the Premier League 2 and EFL Trophy, scoring three goals and assisting twice with Wolves U23s currently sat third in the Premier League 2 Division 2 table.

Last season, the 18-year-old made 23 appearances for the U18s, impressing regularly and thus being handed a chance for the U23s, an opportunity that’s certainly been grabbed with both hands.

When Birtwistle signed his contract five months ago, Scott Sellars, Wolves technical director, said: “Looking forward, Harry needs to keep performing for the under-23s to a high standard and, when January comes, we will assess where he is in his journey; whether he needs to go out on loan or stay here and work with the under-23s and first-team.”

There’s certainly a pathway to the first-team for the young Singaporean, as well as his teammates in the U23s squad, but if injuries continue to be an issue for Wolves’ wing-backs, a first-team call-up may not be far away.

In Semedo, the West Midlands club have found a decent replacement for Matt Doherty, who left Molineux in 2020 to join Tottenham, having joined Wolves in 2010 as an 18-year-old.

The Irishman made 302 appearances for the club, overseeing two promotions as well as an FA Cup semi-final and an impressive run to the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Doherty’s time at Wolves can be an example to Birtwistle as to how hard work can eventually lead to first-team opportunities, with the 18-year-old certainly being one of the West Midlands club’s brightest youth prospects. Described as “rapid” by Tim Spiers, the youngster has previously professed that he’s modelling himself on PSG wing-back Achraf Hakimi after stepping further back in his position on the pitch.

Supporters will always have a particularly soft spot for players in the first-team who have come through the youth ranks, with Luke Cundle being a recent example. There’s no reason as to why the same can’t apply for the right-back.

In other news: Lage can find Wolves’ next Traore in rarely-seen teen who does “things out of nothing”

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is interested in a deal to appoint Jose Mourinho as the Toffees’ next manager.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Kaveh Solhekol, with the Sky Sports journalist revealing on The Transfer Show that the AS Roma boss is one of the names under consideration for the vacant managerial position at Goodison Park following the sacking of Rafael Benitez last weekend.

Speaking about Everton’s shortlist of candidates, the transfer insider said: “This is a story that has just come in from our North West office. They are saying that Jose Mourinho is now under consideration to become the next Everton manager.

“An official approach has yet to be made to Mourinho’s current club Roma by the Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, but he is contemplating the prospect of bringing the former Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs manager to Goodison Park.”

Fans will be livid

Considering the fact that Everton have just parted with a manager whose best days are quite clearly behind him, the prospect of appointing a new head coach in exactly the same mould is undoubtedly something that will leave the Goodison Park faithful livid.

Indeed, while Mourinho has enjoyed a remarkable amount of success in the game, winning a plethora of trophies throughout his career – including two Champions Leagues, one UEFA Cup, one Europa League, three Premier League titles, three LaLiga titles and two Serie A titles – it is an unavoidable fact that the last trophy the 58-year-old lifted was back in 2017, five years ago.

Furthermore, while the Portuguese manager has always had something of a reputation for rubbing people up the wrong way, this trait appears to have been exacerbated in recent years – with Tottenham Hotspur sacking Mourinho just 17 months into the job after reports of a players’ revolt against the management style of the former FC Porto boss.

This also appears to have been reflected on the pitch, with Jose only being able to guide Spurs to sixth in his first season in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as well as leaving the club languishing down in seventh place after 32 fixtures in 2020/21 – prior to his sacking.

Yet still, another reason against the appointment of Mourinho is the fact he would more than likely demand an extremely hefty wage to take the job at Goodison Park, with the 58-year-old earning around £10m-per-year during his time in North London – a figure which is just shy of £200k-per-week.

As such, while the legendary Portuguese coach may well be a “heavyweight” name, as Hayley McQueen suggests, should Everton wish to build towards a brighter future at Goodison Park, they should not be considering the appointment of a manager whose best days are in the past.

In other news: Everton urged to appoint “unbelievable” Big Dunc alternative, fans would surely fume