Tag Futebol

While it remains unsure who will be West Ham manager at the start of next season, it is still business as usual as they look towards their final campaign at the Boleyn Ground.

The east London side have been linked with Guingamp striker Claudio Beauvue, who has scored 25 goals so far this term. The 27-year-old is interested in testing himself in England and a move to West Ham could be a perfect fit.

When a player first comes to the Premier League it takes a long time to adjust. The English style of football is slightly more brutal and hasn’t got all the tricks and skills that other teams in Europe enjoy. By joining a team which have been steadily improving – enough to get them up to 10th in the Premier League – it is hoped he could bring the sparkle the Hammers need to push for a place in Europe,  without having to rely on the Fair Play League.

Guingamp President Betrand Desplat has confirmed that his star player is looking to move in the summer.

He said: “It seems that the will of Claudio is to go to England.”

[ffc-gal cat=”west-ham” no=”5″]

It seems that an agreement has been met between the player and the club, which means he could grace the Premier League as early as this summer. The Frenchman plays as a wide right and a central striker and this season West Ham have struggled with injuries to their attacking quota. While the team have scored 43 goals so far this term, Andy Carroll, Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho have all missed large parts of the campaign due to injury.

It has been reported that the Hammers are willing to bid around £6million for the striker but there is a possibility that although he’s a very good player, Beauvue may not be too different to the strike force they currently have.

One of the Frenchman’s main strengths is his ability to score goals with his head, which both Valencia and Carroll are already very talented in. He has scored more than all three strikers put together, but coming from a team currently sit in 11th in the French Ligue 1 it may prove more difficult than he thinks to carry on his goal scoring run.

Beauvue may want to test himself in the Premier League but before he jumps he needs to make sure he ends up at a club that will give him the game time he needs to improve and adjust. Unless West Ham are planning to sell any of their strikers it seems unlikely that Beauvue will make the impact the club is hoping for.

The club are hoping that they can get European football at Upton Park and for that they need to bring in somebody who has a different style to what they already have on their books.

Thirty five per cent of the team’s goals this season have been from headers, so they are certainly not lacking in Beauvue’s best skill.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

It is always exciting to see players desperate to join the Premier League, but this is not the right move for either party involved. No-one wants to see another wasted talent.

[ad_pod id=’ffc-video’ align=’center’]

[n5lbanner type=”london”]

The writing is on the wall…

Chairman John Berylson was at ‘Walls 2-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers  and how this game summed up the season, and will carry on next season unless big changes are made.

Leading 1-0 at half time, so what do we do? Go to 4-5-1 and try and hold on to a single goal lead. Not for the first time this season, mid-game changes have resulted in Millwall losing points.

I love KJ, don’t get me wrong, the bloke has done wonders for my club, but this season is likely to have been the worst league season under KJ for the Lions, lets take the FA Cup semi final out of the equation and just focus on the league.

This season was looking to turn into a good one, with Chris Wood banging in the goals and pushed us as high as 4th. He was never going to sign for us, he used us to get a big move elsewhere and eventually went to Leicester. Then we let Darius Henderson, the bloke who kept us up last season, go to Forest on a free. I can see why though, on 16K a week, pick and chose when he turned up to training and wasn’t “in the right state’ when he did.

It was all about replacing them, KJ called this a “regeneration” of our strikeforce.

Well, one striker brought in was Nathan Tyson from Derby on loan. A bloke who doesn’t score and is injury prone, but KJ thought he could make a decent player there, he has not started one game. No wonder his nickname is “Tampax Tyson” one week in, three weeks out.

Next one was Rob Hulse coming in on loan from QPR. Hulse had a decent record playing at Charlton earlier in the season, so worth a go. How wrong was I. He has scored one goal (against Luton). He’s a target man who cannot head the ball or jump up and frankly he looks like he just doesn’t care and his happy to just get his money, and to storm down the tunnel after coming off against Blackburn.

Hope he drove straight back to QPR…

Another striker brought in Jermaine Easter from Palace on loan. Most couldn’t see why he was brought in, but he has done the best out the lot, the best of an abysmal lot. He seems to bring calmness into play and is a good passer of the ball, but KJ seems to insist on him playing on the wing or on his own, he wins a few share of headers but is not a target man, he needs support.

The striker signings have been a failure and will be the main reason for us going down if we finish in the bottom three.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Berylson must see that money will need to be spent. I’m hoping to see somehow the money from the cup exploits being spent, but I won’t be holding my breath.

Lets just hope whatever division we are in next seaman, their are big changes within the squad in the summer…

[ad_pod id=’writer-1′ align=’right’]

As reported by The Daily Mail, former Celtic midfielder Stiliyan Petrov has predicted the Hoops treble winning dominance could continue for years and have a negative impact on Scottish football.

What’s the story?

Petrov made over 300 appearances for the Hoops in a successful seven-year spell at the club so knows a thing or two about the footballing landscape in Scotland, but are his latest comments wide of the mark?

The former Bulgarian international has been speaking ahead of Celtic’s massive clash with Rangers this weekend, with Brendan Rodgers side on the brink of securing a seventh successive league title at the expense of their rivals.

Also just a Scottish Cup Final away from winning another domestic treble, the Hoops have never been more dominant in Scottish football.

Petrov believes it’s a situation that could continue for years, but doesn’t believe that’s necessarily to the benefit of the game in Scotland.

As quoted by The Daily Mail, the former Celtic favourite said:

I think Celtic have got a chance to win the Treble again next season as well. If Rangers keeps going the same way, they have a chance to do it over the next three years.

We predicted it a year ago and they are going to do it strongly. I would say that it is sad in one way because, if we see that happen, Scottish football will lose its identity.

The advertising in Scottish football is Celtic v Rangers. I come from a different country and every time the game came up, I’d watch it. The build-up, the excitement, the electricity – everything. If that is lost, it would be very sad for Scottish football. I’m saying that as an outsider.

While lack of competition is never necessarily healthy, Celtic have to continue with their foot to the floor in their search for trophies and it’s on the other teams to try and close the gap.

Is it harming Scottish football?

Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic are currently setting a standard that the chasing pack must aspire to, rather than feel a victim of.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

That Rangers are in such a mess recently is not connected to the performance of their city rivals, they have simply mismanaged their managerial appointments and until January their player recruitment too.

That Celtic are so dominant is likely a motivating factor to teams like Aberdeen, Hibernian and the Light Blues, increasing their ambition and therefore standards at each club.

One day a challenge will come for the Hoops, but for the moment everyone connected with the club should savour their current success and enjoy it worry-free from the potential that it is destroying Scottish football.

The Tyne-Wear derby is typically one of the most close fought rivalries in English football.

Sunderland won their fifth derby in a row in this weekend’s clash thanks to a wonder strike from Jermain Defoe on the stroke of the half time whistle. As the players went into the tunnel at half-time Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul appeared congratulate Defoe on his goal. Fans and former players showed their anger and annoyance about the situation and have criticised the Magpies stopper for not taking the derby seriously enough.

Former footballers-turned-pundits Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher both criticised Krul’s actions, saying it was unprofessional and he shouldn’t have done it. Speaking at the time, Carragher said: “I wouldn’t do it or want to see one of my own team doing it. Someone who doesn’t care about football might say it is good sportsmanship, but when I played in Everton v Liverpool games, I would certainly not be shaking an Everton’s player hand if he scored a goal.”

In March, Barcelona ace Lionel Messi was seen clapping Joe Hart’s string of superb saves in their Champions League match whilst he was still on the pitch. Nothing was said about Messi then, apart from discussing what a good sportsman he was. Granted, Barcelona were beating Manchester City but it was still possible for Man City to come back into the game, and they almost did. If Barcelona had lost, maybe the opinions on Messi acknowledging good goalkeeping would have been seen differently.

Football has developed very quickly over the last decade. Sportsmanship used to be a very important ingrediaent of the game, but now it is often seen as a sign of weakness. It’s almost as if players have to ‘stay in character’ throughout a match and not show any emotion, which could change the game against them.

Tim Krul was just acknowledging a great goal and he wanted to congratulate Defoe. Maybe he should have waited until the full time whistle, or even away from the cameras, but it was something he did in the heat of the moment – the goal was practically the last kick of the half, so naturally it was what all the players were thinking about as they headed for the tunnel.

Whilst he was showing good sportsmanship, he forgot the importance of the Derby. Derbies are a club’s biggest game of the season and not one any player, member of staff or fan wants to lose. Krul had a moment where he forgot how important the game was. Newcastle were only one down and still had 45 minutes to play.

In hindsight he should probably have left it until the match had finished to say something to Defoe. At that time Krul needed to show his strength and instead he let his guard down.

Newcastle fans – don’t be too hard on Krul, he is a fantastic goalkeeper and all he did was show he is human.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

[ad_pod id=’ffc-video’ align=’center’]

[ad_pod id=’ricco’ align=’center’]

goalkeeper Ben Foster can push Joe Hart all the way for the England number one jersey, according to Liam Ridgewell.

The Albion defender has spoken out on the battle for the Three Lions’ goalkeeper spot after Foster agreed to end his self-imposed retirement from international football to return to former Baggies boss Roy Hodgson’s squad.

Manchester City’s Hart maintained his place between the sticks for the 8-0 thrashing of San Marino in Friday’s World Cup qualifier, while he looks favourite to stay there for Tuesday’s tougher test against Group H leaders Montenegro in Podgorica.

However Ridgewell feels Foster deserves to be playing for England and he does not envy Hodgson having to select between the two.

He told the Daily Mirror: “I know them both very well and they’re both very good keepers.

“The two of them are brilliant shot-stoppers, good at kicking, good at talking and when you need them most they make that vital save.

“I’d hate to be Roy in having to try to pick one of them! I am sure it will be a very good competition between them. It is phenomenal to think there is someone ahead of Ben, we have two such good goalkeepers who both deserve to play in every game.”

On whether Foster should be described as a ‘world class’ custodian, Ridgewell added: “I don’t see why Ben shouldn’t belong in that bracket, he has been playing so well for a long period of time. He is easily an international class goalkeeper and I think he would get in most international teams in Europe.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“It’s brilliant for England to have someone like that. It’s just been unfortunate for him that England has two goalies at top-drawer level in Joe and him.”

[cat_link cat=”west-brom” type=”grid”]

Not many would have predicted that Liverpool would be fighting for a place in the Champions League final, least of all their own fans.

Jurgen Klopp’s side overcame Porto and Manchester City after coming through the group phase without a single defeat to their name.

The Reds put themselves in the hat for the semi-final draw thanks to a 5-1 aggregate triumph over Premier League champions elect Man City.

Mohamed Salah, who is in a race for the Premier League Golden Boot against Harry Kane, proved to be pivotal in the outcome of the contest as he opened the scoring in Liverpool’s 3-0 triumph in the first leg at Anfield.

At the Etihad Stadium, the Egyptian international was the difference again as he netted an audacious chip to give the Merseyside outfit a crucial away goal.

Klopp’s men had to endure plenty of pressure from City in the first half, but they weathered the storm and got the result that they needed to progress.

The club were handed a slice of luck in the semi-final draw as they managed to avoid Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

Instead, the English club will take on Italian outfit Roma, who stunned everyone by coming from 4-1 down to knock out Barcelona in the quarter-finals.

The first leg will be held at Anfield on April 24, with the return fixture at the Stadio Olimpico on May 2.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Liverpool fans have been tweeting their reactions to the draw.

[ad_pod ]

Tottenham recorded a valuable three Premier League points against London rivals Queens Park Rangers yesterday, with main man Harry Kane netting both goals in a 2-1 victory.

The brace takes the England under-21 striker to 16 goals for the campaign in the league and bolsters Spurs’ chances of finishing in the top four.

Mauricio Pochettino was full of praise for the homegrown hero in the aftermath of the game, stating that an England call-up could be on the cards and that the centre forward could get even better.

“It was a fantastic performance, he scored two goals. He is young, can improve more and now it is Roy’s decision,” The Daily Mail quote the Argentine manager as saying.

“I don’t know if (he deserves a call-up). Roy needs to decide whether this it time to pick him or not.”

Pochettino went on to praise the performance of his team and admitted that it was tough going at Loftus Road.

“I think that today was a great game, a great performance. We showed character, I am very pleased for our players,” Pochettino continued.

“I think it was a fantastic performance in a very, very difficult game because QPR are a team who are very brave and the way they play is difficult to stop.

“It was difficult to play our game and that doesn’t help, but I think we showed character and played much better than QPR and fully deserved three points.”

The victory takes Spurs above Southampton and into sixth in the table, with the White Hart Lane outfit trailing Liverpool by one point and Manchester United by three.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

The race to qualify for the Champions League looks set to go right down to the wire, with Spurs right in the mix to finish in the top four.

Win a pair of Puma football boots as worn by Cesc Fabregas and Super Mario by filling in this quick survey!

Create your own user feedback survey

[interaction ]

Manchester City and Chelsea target Neymar is set to decide on his own future according to Santos vice-president Odilio Rodrigues.

Sky Sports have reported that Rodrigues will allow his star man to decide when he wants to leave the Brazilian club and where he will go next.

Barcelona are the front runners for the 21 year old’s signature and some reports have suggested that a deal has already been negotiated for 12 months’ time.

Manchester City and Chelsea have both been long term admirers of the talented Brazilian international but many feel his style will be more suited to La Liga rather than the Premier League with inevitable comparisons to Lionel Messi being bounded around.

If Barcelona are on the verge of signing the Santos forward it could be a club record fee for the Spanish giants after Pele branded Neymar as the best player in the world.

“Barcelona are a great club with excellent players and they would be good for Neymar,” Rodrigues told La Xarxa Radio

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“We are aware of the interest in the player. But there are other clubs interested. It will be Neymar’s decision.”

[cat_link cat=”premiership” type=”grid”]

Superchargers will progress to Sunday’s final to face Brave if rain scuppers Saturday’s showdown

ECB Media26-Aug-2025Northern Superchargers 96 for 2 (Sutherland 30*, Davidson-Richards 30) beat Manchester Originals 94 (Monaghan 26, Sutherland 3-15) by eight wicketsIn the battle to reach The Hundred Eliminator this Saturday – with Southern Brave having already secured their spot in The Hundred Final – it was the Northern Superchargers who came out on top at Headingley as Manchester Originals, targeting the huge score that would have significantly bumped up their run rate, ended up being bowled out for just 94, a score that the Superchargers knocked off with ease to win by eight wickets and ensure second place.With the runners-up in the table going through to the final in the event of an Eliminator wash-out, the Superchargers will be pleased with their afternoon’s work, their win guaranteeing them that second spot and ensuring London Spirit would join them in the Eliminator.Electing to field first, Hollie Armitage’s side saw Beth Mooney get off to a flyer but once she had gone for 20 off 13, the rest of the innings was something of a procession.Kate Cross put the disappointment of her non-selection for England’s World Cup squad behind her, showcasing the enduring qualities of line and length in conceding just six runs from her 15 deliveries.Annabel Sutherland also starred with 3 for 15, while Nicola Carey took 2 for 13, both off their full allocation. Only Alice Monaghan sparkled, her 26 in 17 balls containing the innings’ only two sixes.Faced with the nigh-on impossible task of restricting the Superchargers to 38 in order to finish in third place or 35 to claim second, the Originals tried hard but the task was simply too great.Those two targets came and went as Alice Davidson-Richards went on the charge, hitting 30 off 18 with six boundaries, before she hit the competition’s quickest bowler Lauren Filer to Deandra Dottin on the edge.Sutherland (30* off 17) carried on attacking, hitting Dottin down the ground exquisitely for four then six, Phoebe Litchfield (26* off 20) at the other end working the gaps and unfurling the occasional well-timed sweep and pull shot.The result was beyond doubt well before the end as the Australian pair eased to victory by eight wickets with 35 balls to spare.The Meerkat Match Hero Annabel Sutherland said: “It feels great. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into the next two games. We love it at Headingley and I guess it shows in the results we’ve got here.”Everyone’s really keen for Saturday, and hopefully we will put our best foot forward. We honestly just have a blast out there. We really enjoy each other’s company. It’s a great tournament, lots of fun.”

“Making runs consistently in T20 cricket isn’t difficult, but playing impactful innings is difficult,” Shadab says

Danyal Rasool22-Apr-2024New Zealand’s win over Pakistan in the third T20I has raised familiar questions around Pakistan’s approach to T20 cricket, with Babar Azam defending Pakistan’s batting performance and rejecting suggestion that a middle-overs slowdown played a part in his side’s defeat. This, even as Shadab Khan stressed that T20s needed “impactful innings” – something Pakistan lacked on the day.Pakistan posted 178 on what Babar acknowledged at the toss was an excellent pitch for batting, but New Zealand demonstrated what was possible on such a surface, cantering to a seven-wicket win with ten balls to spare thanks to an unbeaten 87 off 42 balls from Mark Chapman.”We did well with the bat,” Babar said at the post-match presentation. “I don’t think it [the slowdown] made much of a difference because we had caught up in the end. You can say we were ten runs short. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a setback with [Mohammad] Rizwan’s injury because it wasn’t easy for new batters. But Shadab recovered well and had an outstanding partnership with Irfan [Khan]. In Pindi, 180-190 is a par score.”The passage of play in question came immediately after the powerplay, not for the first time.While Saim Ayub got Pakistan off to a fast start with a 22-ball 32, he was dismissed just after the powerplay, which ended with Pakistan scoring 54. That brought Babar and Rizwan together, a pair whose consistency in accumulating runs has never been in question, even if the intent has.Pakistan managed just 51 runs in the next seven overs as New Zealand applied the brakes. Collectively, Babar and Rizwan scored 59 runs in 50 balls. Babar was dismissed in the 11th over. Rizwan retired hurt with a hamstring injury in the 13th.Shadab and Irfan’s fireworks helped Pakistan score 75 in the last seven as they got close to the score Babar said Pakistan were originally targeting.However, when the Rawalpindi pitch has been at its best of late, 180-190 hasn’t truly been a par score. The six completed T20Is at the venue over the years (all since 2020) have all been won by the chasing side, including last year when Pakistan posted 193, only for Chapman, last night’s hero too, to thwart them with an unbeaten 57-ball 104. And in the PSL, of the ten times the side batting first has won in Rawalpindi, only twice did they post a lower score than Pakistan’s 178 last night.Pakistan head coach Azhar Mahmood appeared to acknowledge this in a more direct way than his captain. “We were 15 to 20 runs short,” he said. “We started very well, our score in the first six overs was 54, which is very good. In the end, Shadab’s innings was excellent. In the middle period, we were slow. Between overs seven to ten, and then 11 to 15, the ball was gripping and we slowed down.Shadab Khan scored a quick 20-ball 41 to lift Pakistan in the last seven overs•Associated Press

“These are the things we have to learn to improve. But you have to pay credit to the way Chapman played. In T20 cricket, if one man stands up, he can take the game away from you.”It was Shadab’s 41 off 20 that took Pakistan to their eventual total after he came in to bat at six. He has made the upper-middle order his own with Islamabad United, but said he was happy to be moved around as and when required. Most significantly, though, the vice-captain looked to draw a distinction between a big innings and a consequential one.”I have played one-down and two-down in the PSL and that’s where I think I am most comfortable. But I’m also fine with being used as a floater,” he said. “If I get a chance, the planning will be the same – I’m the sort of player who will look to make quick runs.”Sometimes, you need impactful innings, especially in T20 cricket nowadays. Making runs consistently in T20 cricket isn’t difficult, but playing impactful innings is difficult.”