Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will not overspend on greedy players in January.
The Reds will almost certainly be spending money in the new year to improve their squad after missing out on key transfer targets in the summer and they let first team players leave on loan.
Rodgers has promoted youngsters such as Raheem Sterling, Suso and Andre Wisdom to the Reds first team this season and things are slowly coming together at Anfield after another three points yesterday against Fulham.
Despite picking up points in recent weeks, the Anfield club are desperately lacking strikers and heavily rely on Luis Suarez for their goalscoring opportunities.
Rodgers is keen to add to his squad but is not willing to give in to ridiculous agent demands when it comes to player contracts.
If a player wants more money than they are offered then Rodgers simply feels they do not have enough passion to play for the prestigious English club.
“You have to get hungry players in who want to work and want to fight to be successful – that is the biggest thing for me,” Rodgers told Sky Sports.
“They will get a good contract coming here but if they want to argue over money, and other things that go around it, I don’t want them here. In my experience those players will eventually let you down anyway.
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“So, for us, it is about getting players in who are hungry to succeed and to pull on the shirt.
“That’s the simple message for any player coming here – you can’t take the money and run. You have to earn the right to play for this club and to help us succeed.”
Tottenham Hotspur will be moving into their new state-of-the-art stadium for the 2018-19 season in the summer.
It is an exciting development for the club as they try to match their elite Premier League rivals.
On the pitch, Spurs have shown stark progression over the years having finished third and then second in the last two seasons.
Despite the fact that manager Mauricio Pochettino has transformed the team into genuine contenders, they have not won a trophy since their 2007-08 League Cup triumph.
Many will be hoping that the new ground will give the club a huge boost moving forward.
However, there are plenty of supporters who have been left disappointed by the price hike in season tickets for the 2018-19 campaign.
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On Monday, the North London outfit confirmed on their official website that the prices will range from £795 to £2,200.
Spurs tweeted a quote from chairman Daniel Levy about the club’s soon-to-be home, and the majority of fans responded with anger about the season ticket prices.
Everton’s John Stones was not exactly a classic high-profile signing when he arrived at Goodison Park on January Deadline Day 2013, with the transfer pretty much going unnoticed by most.
Now the 20-year-old is one of the most impressive young players in the Premier League and he has the potential to become a future Everton and even England captain. John Stones made his debut for Barnsley aged 17 and made a total of 28 appearances for The Tykes, before The Toffees secured his signature for an undisclosed fee rumoured to be around £3m.
Seemingly out of nowhere, and mainly due to injuries to the Everton defence, Stones was given his Premier League debut in a 1-0 victory over Chelsea, coming off the bench for the final few moments. Due to an injury to Phil Jagielka, Stones made his first Everton start against Stoke City and he kept his place thanks to a number of impressive performances. In his first full season with Everton, Stones made a total of 21 Premier League appearances and was rewarded with an England call-up for the friendlies against Peru, Ecuador and Norway where he won his first three caps.
A few seasons ago, Stones was trying to break into the Barnsley side. Now he’s a first team regular for Everton in the Premier League. So far this season he has missed only two Premier League fixtures in a struggling Everton side. He has had a few outstanding performances, too, notably against Liverpool and West Brom.
Stones was rewarded with another international call-up last week as he looked to cement his place in the England line-up. But he picked up a bad ankle injury in the defeat to Manchester United and was forced to withdraw.
One thing is for sure is when he’s fit again, he will return to the squad without having to battle for his place in the starting XI again. He is growing as a player very rapidly by getting regular game time in the Premier League and playing alongside the experience of Tim Howard, Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka.
He’s working under a creative young manager in Roberto Martinez and the 41-year-old Spaniard has tipped Stones to be a future captain.
“He is a leader. He is born with that quality. He has real high standards in everything he does and for a young man he has always got the right approach on a daily basis,” said Martinez.
“In my eyes he is a potential captain and leader, someone very close to Phil Jagielka and Gareth Barry.
Positive comments from the Everton boss and it’s fantastic to see Stones being rated so highly and getting game-time at the top level. It’s relatively easy for managers to give game-time to attacking youngsters because mistakes aren’t always so costly with them. But to give a young defender regular Premier League football? Martinez is helping Stones grow rapidly and he can definitely become Everton’s future captain.
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I’d go one step further and claim that the 20-year-old can be the captain of England in the future. There’s a collection of young Englishmen who are experiencing regular football in the Premier League and those players are the next generation of the national side. It’s great to see the likes Tyler Blackett and Raheem Sterling, along with Stones, getting regular football, and the next generation will need a captain. John Stones fits the bill – he’ll only improve and he’s learning from some highly experienced players.
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Liverpool have little time to recover as they host a revived Southampton at Anfield on Saturday after three winless matches.
Reds manager Brendan Rodgers was left incensed after Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat by Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Wednesday, believing his side were denied two ‘clear’ penalties. As has been the case for much of the season, Rodgers’ side were unlucky to go 2-0 down early on after strikes from Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale, but the officials did little to appease the Northern Irishman with Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez harshly denied penalties.
Rodgers insisted his side were ‘magnificent’ and could not have played any better than they did, but both he and Liverpool are in the business of results and they are not falling for the club at the moment. Back-to-back draws against Swansea and Young Boys in the Europa League as well as a run of only one win in nine matches may belie the general quality of Liverpool’s play, but that alone will not suffice for much longer.
All that makes Saturday’s clash a must-win for Liverpool against a Southampton side that has not lost in their past four games and has endured perhaps an even worse run of luck.
Defensive errors have blighted the promoted side’s campaign so far with both their draws in the latest undefeated run – versus Swansea 1 – 1 and Norwich 1 – 1 on Wednesday – coming courtesy of goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga blunders after Southampton had taken the lead. Indeed the Saints have dropped more points (16) from winning positions than any other side in the Premier League this season.
Comprehensive wins over QPR and Newcastle in between these draws appeared to instil plenty of belief amongst a talented group, particularly in defence where the Saints have conceded a league-worst 31 goals. A first clean sheet against Newcastle proved a turning point and aside from keeping errors the defence has tightened up considerably with only three goals conceded in Southampton’s past four games.
Nigel Adkins could regain left-back Danny Fox (knee) for the clash and will be relying on trio Rickie Lambert, Gaston Ramirez and captain Adam Lallana (nine league goals between them) to do the damage up front.
With a threadbare squad, Liverpool rely on Suarez (10 league goals) more than any team relies on a single player in the league and will need more goals from the Uruguayan.
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Both sides love to maintain possession and interchange players in the final third but the last time Southampton came up against a side with a similar philosophy in Arsenal, they were thrashed 6-1.
It was as if Manchester City felt they had the night off against FC Basel, or could at least be excused from maintaining their usual standards after scoring five away goals in the first leg of their Champions League encounter with the Swiss side.
While City dominated possession with 78% of the ball, they only really made it count in the early stages as Gabriel Jesus netted in the eighth minute. After that, Basel staged an impressive comeback inspired by clinical breakaways.
While the biggest problem for City’s fringe players was mindset, and perhaps lesser match sharpness than their midweek opponents too, the heart of defence was arguably the most disappointing department on Wednesday night as two young centre-backs struggled to truly impose themselves on a Basel attack that knew they had nothing to lose at the Eithad Stadium.
And there was a key duality in personnel with the last match City lost: the 1-0 defeat to third-tier Wigan in the FA Cup when poorly defending counter-attacks was also at the route of the result. John Stones and January signing Aymeric Laporte were paired by Pep Guardiola for the very first time at the DW Stadium and after another underwhelming performance from the 23-year-old duo against Basel, it appears they’re a somewhat flawed partnership.
Perhaps the most obvious point is their lack of experience, something that always becomes more apparent in the Champions League than any other cup competition. But there is also a clashing similarity in styles; while Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi are both powerful, domineering defenders who look to win the ball high up the pitch rather than engage in foot races, Stones and Laporte are more covering centre-halves – looking to protect the space behind a more assertive partner.
And thus, when FC Basel scored their first goal on Wednesday, the manner in which both centre-backs retreated a few yards too far to allow Basel’s most dangerous player, Mohamed Elyounoussi, enough space to blast the ball beyond Claudio Bravo was incredibly telling. Neither took responsibility, and neither truly confronted the situation.
Of course, some will argue Stones’ clear downturn in form is the more pertinent issue than whether Laporte is the right defender to play alongside him, and it must be said that for all their misgivings defensively, both young centre-halves have consistently demonstrated their quality on the ball during their two outings together, making over 500 passes combined.
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Likewise, after relying on Kompany and Otamendi consistently during a hugely tough week that saw City face Arsenal twice and host Chelsea, it’s understandable that Guardiola rotated for a dead rubber tie.
But the early signs suggest Stones and Laporte just aren’t quite the right fit for each other. While that’s not so much an issue as long as Kompany and Otamendi are around to partner them, providing that extra leadership and difference in style, it’s an issue that could crop up more regularly in the future.
The international break (or the UEFA-endorsed ‘Week of Football’ as it is now known) is over, and the domestic game has returned to these shores.
The simplified qualification process has virtually guaranteed England a straightforward passage to the European Championship finals in 2016 already following their away victory against toughest group opponents Switzerland, which means that most followers of the Premier League will be looking forward to enjoying football which bears some relevance this weekend, especially as it is the first round of fixtures following the closing of the summer transfer window.
Even in these early stages of the season, there is much to digest from an attractive set of fixtures which should easily restore our ample appetite for Premier League football, including a top-of-the-table clash, a bottom-of-the-table double header and an encounter between two Champions League heavyweights. With matches scheduled for Saturday lunchtime through to Monday night, here are six things you may want to look out for in the Premier League this weekend.
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New-look United
Manchester United stole the show on transfer deadline day with their sensational loan signing of Radamel Falcao from Monaco. As well as the Colombian hitman, Louis van Gaal is likely to field a further three debutants in Sunday’s clash against QPR, with Daley Blind, Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo all in line to make their first competitive starts.
Though the trio can all play as left-sided defenders, van Gaal is expected to persist with his preferred 3-5-2 formation, which may see Rojo lining up as the left component of a central defensive trio, Shaw in the left wing-back berth and the flexible Blind partnering Ander Herrera in central midfield. The briefing for United will be simple – win at all cost.
Following an unimpressive start to the campaign, the pressure will be on for the Red Devils to record a first win of the season, and a home fixture against newly promoted QPR presents a great opportunity to do just that. There will be an air of expectation and excitement around Old Trafford, and with a strikeforce of Falcao, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney, not to mention the attacking midfield options of Angel di Maria, Juan Mata and Adnan Januzaj, there should only be one winner.
Fail to gain the three points, however, and things may begin to look strangely similar to last season’s memorable campaign.
Arsenal’s title credentials put to the test
Arsenal’s record against last season’s top five teams was nothing short of atrocious. Their solitary victory came against Liverpool at home in November, and their heavy losses to Chelsea and Liverpool in the return fixture at Anfield made for half of the 22 goals conceded against their top-of-the-table rivals. To put this into context, Chelsea conceded just 27 goals during the course of the whole season.
If the Gunners are to mount a serious challenge this season, they must drastically improve their performances against their fellow title contenders, and Manchester City’s visit to the Emirates on Saturday will provide Arsene Wenger with a fitting test of his side’s credentials. The champions scored six against Arsenal at the Etihad last season, and after a shock home defeat to Stoke City at home a fortnight ago will be determined to get back to winning ways.
If the Gunners have learnt anything from last season’s batterings, we should see a closer game this time around. The added intrigue of Danny Welbeck making his Arsenal debut following his deadline day switch from Manchester United makes this the game of the weekend.
Top of the table clash at Stamford Bridge
Whilst the fourth and seventh-placed sides will be battling it out in North London, over in the western side of the capital the top two go head-to-head. Chelsea are expected to remain at the top end of the table for the duration of the season, while visitors Swansea are not; nevertheless, the South Wales side have enjoyed a perfect winning start to the campaign, and will be tough opponents for Jose Mourinho’s men.
The Blues were unconvincing in their first home fixture of the season against Leicester City, so an improved performance will be demanded by Mourinho. Meanwhile, morale in the Swansea camp is high; manager Garry Monk has recently been awarded the Premier League Manager of the Month for August, and his new signings, especially the returning Gylfi Sigurdsson, have made a solid early impact. A point would be much welcomed by the Swans, as well as a return to goalscoring ways for Wilfried Bony.
Last year’s standout player has yet to find the net this season; getting his first against Chelsea would certainly be great way to open his account.
Life without Sturridge
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers could barely contain his frustration during Thursday’s press conference when asked about the injury Reds striker Daniel Sturridge sustained whilst on international duty with England. Though his grievances are legitimate, Sturridge’s reported three-week absence will at least give Rodgers an idea of how his side copes without two men whose goals were so integral to Liverpool’s title challenge last season.
With Luis Suarez gone and Sturridge now unavailable, the goalscoring responsibility falls on none other than Mario Balotelli; though the Italian forward impressed on his debut against Tottenham, he was also wasteful, spurning two golden opportunities to bag his first Liverpool goal.
Aston Villa are the visitors to Anfield on Saturday evening, and Paul Lambert’s men represent something of a bogey team at home for Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool; last season’s 2-2 draw, a game where the Reds were 2-0 down at one point, was preceded by a shock 3-1 defeat in Rodgers’ inaugural campaign. Daniel Sturridge was on the scoresheet in both encounters between these sides last season, and with Villa in buoyant mood after an unbeaten start, Rodgers will be hoping that Balotelli will render Sturridge’s absence irrelevant.
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All to play for at the Hawthorns
West Bromwich Albion versus Everton is not a game that would normally attract much attention in the Premier League, likely to be shown on the back end of the Match of the Day running order rather than as the headline act. However following both sides’ poor starts to the season, there is much at stake at the Hawthorns this weekend.
Everton occupy 17th position in the league table, with the Baggies directly below them; they are both also winless, having drawn two matches and lost one. For Everton, a win is required to kickstart a campaign in which much was expected of them amongst their fans following last season’s impressive fifth-placed finish.
New West Brom boss Alan Irvine, meanwhile, has yet to win over West Brom supporters; his previous position as the head of Everton’s academy gives this game extra significance.
Flair at the KC Stadium
The final game of this week’s round of fixtures sees Sam Allardyce’s West Ham take on Steve Bruce’s Hull City at the KC Stadium. Known for being sides full of grit, industry and physicality, but not much flair, the two teams underwent a radical transformation during the summer, and now boast a number of players who should bring a certain pizzazz and panache to their respective campaigns.
The prospect of Alex Song, Mauro Zaraté, Hatem Ben Arfa and Gaston Ramirez wowing the crowd on Humberside was previously unimaginable in an encounter between these two sides. Messrs Allardyce and Bruce’s newfound penchant for aesthetically pleasing football should see an entertaining game on Monday night.
Newcastle and Fulham are both level on 17 points going into this one and looking to add impetus to their seasons respectively.
For the Magpies they have struggled to adapt to Premier League fixtures after Thursday nights and now this is out of the way for the near future, they can focus on domestic issues.
Fulham will be looking to bounce back from their 3-0 defeat to Tottenham last time out and get back to winning ways.
Alan Pardew, made nine changes for Thursday night’s 2-0 Europa League defeat in Bordeaux, was expecting defender David Santon (groin), midfielders Cheick Tiote, Hatem Ben Arfa ( hamstring) Gabriel Obertan (toe) and striker Demba Ba (hamstring) to train on Friday, while Jonas Gutierrez (knee) is in line to resume on Sunday. Steven Taylor and Yohan Cabaye are long term absentees
The Newcastle boss will hoping to have all at his disposable as they look to their season back on track after their stopped the rot last Monday with a 3-0 win over Wigan. This was their first win in 5 Premier League outings.
Martin Jol expects to be able to welcome back Brede Hangeland for the clash at Craven Cottage with the Norwegian international being suspended for the last three matches. Alex Kacaniklic is back too after suffering a hamstring injury. Bryan Ruiz and Sascha Riether are expected to be out for slightly longer, with the former expected to be out for at least a month.
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Fulham have won 5 of their last 6 Premier League home fixtures against Newcastle and will be looking to build on that, come Monday.
According to The Daily Mirror, Everton are interested in bringing Croatia World Cup star Ante Rebic to Goodison Park this summer. New Toffees manager Marco Silva will be seeking reinforcements in a bid to take the Merseysiders towards the top six places in the Premier League this term, and the arrival of the mightily impressive Rebic would go some way to thrusting them into European contention.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, the Toffees endured a desperately disappointing campaign last time round given the amount of money spent in the summer, with several players at Goodison Park underperforming for much of the season.
And one man in particular who received some criticism from Evertonians in the Tavern was winger Yannick Bolasie, who looked a shadow of his former self following his return from injury.
The DR Congo international spent the best part of a year out with injury prior to returning to first team action back in December, although the winger could then only muster one goal in 16 Premier League appearances between then and the end of the season.
And while his recovery from injury must be taken into account, having spent 12 months on the sidelines, Bolasie simply didn’t do enough as the season wore on to suggest that he can be the influential attacker Silva will surely need if he is to take Everton into top six contention.
Yet Croatia’s Rebic could be, what with the 24-year-old scoring nine goals and laying on three assists for Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt last season, before backing that up with a fine goal in his country’s 3-0 win over Argentina in the World Cup last weekend.
And at the relatively young age of 24, the winger is only likely to improve even further in the coming years, which can only be good news for an Everton side themselves seeking to improve ready for their new era in a new stadium in the not-too-distant future.
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Ultimately, Bolasie has proven to be too inconsistent and simply not good enough since his return from injury at the rear end of 2017, and while Theo Walcott on the other flank hasn’t exactly pulled down any trees, he has looked more threatening than the former Crystal Palace star.
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And upgrading the 28-year-old with £9 million-rated ace Rebic (as per Transfermarkt) would without doubt be a shrewd move by Silva and the club’s hierarchy, and one that could well thrust them into top six contention this season.
Aston Villa’s winning run in the English Championship finally came to an end of Saturday after they were defeated 2-0 away to Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Steve Bruce’s side had previously won every single league match in 2018 so far, a run of seven matches, boosting their hopes of automatic promotion to the English Premier League.
However, with key injuries to the likes of Albert Adomah and Jack Grealish, the Villans lacked a credible attacking threat against Fulham, who managed to pick up the three points thanks to goals from Ryan Sessegnon and Floyd Ayite.
With the duo also a doubt for Tuesday’s home clash against Preston, fans are worried the team’s performance will be below par again.
The loss of Grealish is a particular blow at this stage of the season. The midfielder was sparkling throughout Villa’s winning run, scoring once and creating three assists, with many tipping him to guide them to that second automatic promotion place.
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Fans took to Twitter to discuss what his absence means…
It was revealed this week that Angel Di Maria has an unusual add-on in his Manchester United contract.
The Argentine signed to the Red Devils from Real Madrid in the summer transfer window for a fee of £59.7 million, the fifth most expensive transfer of all time and the highest fee ever paid by a British club. This transfer fee could rise to £70m with the add-ons in his contract. One of the add-ons includes a bonus for Real Madrid if the 26-year-old wins the FIFA Ballon d’Or.
Considering only two players (Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo) have won the FIFA Ballon d’Or since its creation when the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award were merged together in 2010, this might be a big ask for Di Maria to achieve. No one has won the award whilst playing in the Premier League either since the combing of the two awards.
It’s understood that the extra clause in the contract was added during discussion between Real Madrid’s negotiators, and representatives of Di Maria during talks with the United hierarchy.
United were open to having this add-on in di Maria’s contract because winning the award would justify his £59.7m price tag and it will likely be accompanied by team success as well. If di Maria does win the FIFA Ballon d’Or, Real Madrid will receive another £4m.
This revelation comes after Di Maria claimed Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez sent a letter to him on the day of the World Cup final which asked him not to play against Germany because they thought he might get injured.
Di Maria said in a recent interview that he had his leg on ice whilst reading the letter in the morning preparing for the game in the afternoon, and he tore up the letter straight away.
He said: “I tore up the letter as soon as it was given to me and didn’t take any notice of it, I didn’t care what might happen, but it was (coach) Alejandro’s (Sabella) decision,”
“I didn’t want to make any demands of him but I also didn’t want to leave the team a man short five minutes from a very important match.”
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Can Angel Di Maria really win a FIFA Ballon d’Or with Man United, or is it an ambitious clause in his contract that may never be activated? Leave your comments below.