All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

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Loads of Leeds fans have been looking ahead towards this weekend’s clash against Bolton, and they’ve got nothing but praise for former player Luke Murphy.

Leeds have a very good chance of ending Saturday in the automatic promotion places, as they welcome Bolton to Elland Road on Saturday afternoon before Sheffield United travel to West Brom in the late kick-off.

The Whites have made a relatively poor start to 2019, winning three times in all competitions since the turn of the year, losing four games and drawing one.

They will fancy their chances against Bolton though, who are three points adrift of safety despite picking a shock 1-0 win at Birmingham in their last away match.

Murphy has been speaking ahead of the showdown with his former side, and the 29 year-old has nothing but respect for the team he made 107 league appearances for.

“I was really happy to sign (for Leeds) and have nothing but respect for them,” he said.

“It is very clichéd, but very up and down. I have some great memories there, met some amazing people and enjoyed playing my football there.”

Murphy scored seven times in all competitions for Leeds, and has yet to find the net in Bolton colours – Leeds fans will certainly be hoping he doesn’t re-discover a scoring touch on Saturday.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

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Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to react after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s comeback from injury didn’t go as planned.

The England international has been out since the first leg of the Champions League semi-final tie against Roma last season after damaging multiple knee ligaments against the Serie A side.

Is Jurgen Klopp a “serial bottler”? The fan in the video below certainly thinks so…

Ahead of schedule, the former Arsenal man was pencilled in to make his return in the Reds’ Under-23 match against Derby on Friday afternoon, although things didn’t go as planned.

Whilst nothing horrendous happened, the 25-year-old had to be withdrawn on 41 minutes for ‘precautionary reasons’ after feeling some tightness in his hamstring.

Fearing that their No.21 had suffered a setback in his rehabilitation, Liverpool fans on Twitter began to fret as they feared the man who their hopes are relying on in the second half of the season was injured yet again.

The fact that it is a fresh injury scare rather than a flare-up in his knee is probably actually a good thing, but let’s see what the Merseysiders are saying on Twitter about Oxlade-Chamberlain’s early withdrawal…

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Liverpool have fallen into a remarkably bad habit of relying too heavily on Mohamed Salah.

This is perhaps understandable. Salah has grown into a world-class player on Merseyside and his performances last season alone attest to his genuinely superb ability. In 2017-18, the Egypt international scored 44 goals in 52 games in all competitions. Thirty-two of those goals came in 36 Premier League appearances.

That is an almost unattainable level of success and it is nigh-on impossible to replicate, particularly in England. This season, he has scored 20 goals in 38 games, 17 of which came in 29 Premier League appearances.

This drop-off was inevitable and it is not evidence that he is a one-season wonder. However, there has been a noticeable dip in his form in recent weeks, particularly in big games. This, too, is not evidence that he is anything resembling a ‘bottler’, but his performance against Everton was such that he actively hindered his team.

Salah has failed to score in five of his last six games. He did not score against Manchester United or against the Toffees and he also drew a blank when Liverpool lost to title rivals Manchester City. Indeed, the only top-six side he has scored against this season is Arsenal.

That Jurgen Klopp continues to expect moments of magic from him, then, is naive at best.

Against Everton, Liverpool headed into the game knowing that only a win would see them top of the league at the end of the weekend. Their 0-0 draw has them a point behind City with nine games of the season remaining.

Klopp chose a front three of Divock Origi, Salah and Sadio Mane. Mane played through the middle.

But with a midfield of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum, there was no thrust from the centre of the pitch, no tempo-setting player who could push Liverpool forward. It fell to Salah, yet again, and he did not deliver.

He had two shots on goal, one of which was one-on-one with Jordan Pickford. Given time to pick his spot, having wriggled clear of his marker, Salah sent a side-footed effort into the England goalkeeper’s midriff. He appeared so terrified of missing the target that he forgot to put any real power into his effort.

The former Chelsea winger was also dispossessed three times throughout the game, per WhoScored, while his pass success rate of 70% ensured that Everton were routinely able to mop up possession in defence. In fact, Origi’s rate was 63% and Mane’s was 65%. For top-level Premier League footballers, that is, quite simply, appalling.

Everton then, faced very little of the ‘heavy metal’ football that Klopp so regularly demands of his players.

With Salah seemingly burnt out – he has played 90 games for the club since joining in 2017 and also featured for Egypt, despite injury concerns, at the 2018 World Cup in Russia in the summer –  and Roberto Firmino injured, the German must find a way to bring the best out of the 26-year-old once again.

Packing the midfield with water-carriers will not do it, however; there needs to be dynamism in Liverpool’s attacking play.

As it is, they are simply sitting back and hoping Salah pulls something out of his bag of tricks.

It worked last season, but this season it appears that he is simply too tired to conjure the wonders the Reds desire. This is a glaring problem which is threatening to define the club’s season.

Will burnout ensure a continuation of Salah’s lacklustre form or will growing pressure to respond to shifting title-race dynamics galvanise him into a timely and scintillating goal scoring run?

Leeds United look to continue applying the pressure on Norwich City in the Sky Bet Championship and every fan reading this will know it’s getting to the point that even the most cynical White can’t dream of a Premier League return. Yes, the sleeping Yorkshire giants have had false dawns before, but life is good right now for Marcelo Bielsa’s men.

However, as the season hots up there could be two vital games that could alone ruin the club’s hopes of being Championship title winners. Indeed, even winning promotion altogether.

As impressive as Leeds have been at times this season, the Whites have shown that they have it in them to produce poor performances out of nowhere. That just seems to be the way under their enigmatic Argentine coach. Sometimes, his demanding brand of football just doesn’t work.

With that in mind, here’s a look at two big games that could still ruin the club’s season.

Sheffield United (Home, 16th March) 

As shown earlier in the season against title chasers Norwich, Leeds are susceptible to struggling against teams that are around them in the table. With that in mind and, given Sheffield United’s incredible run of form lately, they are showing that they could provide their Yorkshire rivals something to think about.

They may already have one over on the Blades this season but Leeds will also have to watch for out for danger of United’s talisman Billy Sharp, who will without a doubt provide nerves within the defence against his former club.

Promises to be a cracker.

Brentford (Away, 22nd April) 

Brentford have already proven to be a thorn in Leeds’ side this season, after having dropped 2 points in a 1-1 draw at Elland Road, With that in mind, the Bees will have the confidence that they can rain on Bielsa’s parade once again. On their day, the West London side can beat anyone, especially at Griffin Park.

Similar to Sheffield United’s strengths, Brentford have an attacking force they may just be too much for the Leeds defence to handle, with an attack of Neal Maupay, Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma, there is no surprise that the home fans on the day will be rocking and hoping to take all three points.

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The agent of Paraguayan midfielder Julio Cesar Torres has claimed that his client is heading for Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.

Indeed, speaking on Bolivian TV show La Revista El Dia – via Sports Witness – Gonzalo Acier said that the Club Blooming Santa Cruz ace is heading for England.

There does seem to be more than just a little bit of confusion about the deal, with Sports Witness claiming that the agent described the deal as a ‘mixed pre-agreement with a loan and a release clause’.

Quite how that works out remains to be seen, but the Spurs supporters have caught wind of the transfer claim on social media and have been offering their views.

Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld could both be heading away from the club this summer and it would be fair to say that not too many of the fans are excited about the largely-unknown Torres arriving ahead of the 2019-2020 campaign.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

[ad_pod ]Is there actually a way back for Marko Arnautovic at West Ham United?Yes, Arnautovic is currently back in the team.However, there is no getting away from the fact that his relationship with the West Ham supporters has suffered after he tried to leave the club in January.Arnautovic flirted with a switch to the Chinese Super League during the winter transfer window, before ultimately signing a new contract at the London Stadium.The 29-year-old, who has seven Premier League goals this season, was named in the starting XI against Huddersfield Town last weekend, but struggled to make his mark against the Terriers and was criticised by the club’s fans for his display.

The Austrian has now been speaking about his new-found maturity, but the West Ham fans are just not buying it.

And it seems that the attacker could leave the club at the end of the campaign.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Arsenal have spent the past week on a warm weather training camp in Dubai and they capped it off with a friendly match against Al Nasr on Tuesday.

The game was notable for a number of reasons – defender Shkodran Mustafi had a day to forget, falling over before the hosts scored the first goal in a 3-2 defeat – but Tyreece John-Jules’ performance will rank highly.

The forward, just 18, scored his side’s third goal, netting in the 72nd minute.

Fresh from winning the ball outside the area, John-Jules skinned two defenders and finished coolly.

Arsenal, of course, have a long history of promoting youth team players. If they are good enough at the Emirates, they are old enough.

And John-Jules may be the latest to benefit.

The teenager has been in prolific form in the club’s youth teams, scoring 17 times in 23 games for the Under-18 side while also finding the net eight times in 25 outings for the Under-23s.

He has been capped at various England youth levels, for the Under-16s, Under-17s and Under-18s. He has scored for all of them while hitting the back of the net seven times in seven games for the latter.

John-Jules is versatile, too, with the ability to play on either flank or through the middle but he plays predominantly as a central striker.

He can strike the ball well with both feet and explained his strengths to Arsenal’s official website in July.

“I score goals with both feet as I’m comfortable shooting with left or right,” he said.

“That’s an advantage as defenders don’t know which way to show me. Being two-footed is important. From a very young age, I worked hard – and still do – on developing my left foot as I’m naturally right-footed.”

Already a goalscorer, he has yet to play for the senior side in a competitive game.

But the fact he was handed a senior outing in Dubai suggests he is almost ready to break through the glass ceiling and make his first-team debut.

Fans had best keep an eye out for John-Jules.

Ed Woodward has seemingly finally realised Jose Mourinho was right and United do need to sign a centre-back after all! Harry Maguire’s name’s been bandied about but Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar would really get Old Trafford back on its feet.

Their drought of six years without a Premier League title has partly been down the fact they never replaced Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic. A hard task – as any United fan will tell you – but one that needs to be undertaken by those behind the scenes ASAP.

Indeed, they need to correct that by signing a powerful defensive leader and Skriniar is just that.

 TEAMtalk claim United, along with the rest of the top six, are interested in the £30m-rated Slovakian. They claimed all the clubs would have scouts present to watch him play for his country against Wales this past weekend and the Inter star certainly looks to be one of the hottest properties in European football.

Wales won 1-0, but surely one result won’t put United off. Even they’re not THAT stupid, right? The 24-year-old played 25 times for Milan this season where he and his colleagues have only conceded 24 goals. Indeed, only first placed Juventus and second-placed Napoli have conceded less.

Harry Maguire was linked by the Daily Star and he’s a well-rounded centre-back himself but that signing wouldn’t excite the crowd as much as bringing in an Eastern European would. They have the reputation of taking no nonsense and United fans know that best.

He’s got the aura of Nemanja Vidic about him and that’d excite the Old Trafford faithful no end. They need to bring in a strong leader whose crunching tackles would prove United aren’t going to be the pushovers they’ve been since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

United fans, who would you like your club to sign to play at centre-back next season? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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Over the course of the last few seasons, Declan Rice has emerged as one of English football’s most exciting young talents, his rise resulting in a place in Gareth Southgate’s most recent England squad.

There is no doubting the West Ham youngster’s potential, although there still remains a debate over whether his qualities are best served in defence or midfield. So, what does Rice need to do to silence the doubters and emerge as a world-class presence in the middle of the park? Football FanCast’s writers give their verdicts below…

James Beavis – Leadership

“At the moment, Rice is a player that is consistently producing 8/10 performances for West Ham United, sometimes almost under the radar. To become a world-class midfielder he needs to start being more of a leader on the pitch and impose himself on matches even more. He needs to be the star man every week instead of merely the reliable one doing his job at a high level. He can learn a lot from Mark Noble in that respect, and that can be the difference for the 20-year-old if he wants to make it to the very top.”

Ben Goodwin – Keep it up

“At just 20 with barely a full season of first team football under his belt, Rice has to do little more than what he is doing right now. The twice-capped ace is controlling matches for the Hammers, and the technical qualities of this young crop of English midfielders are a breath of fresh air. Stay fit, stay consistent, keep performing and keep learning and the world class tag will arrive in no time.”

Jack Saville – Distribution

“Rice has the well-rounded skill-set to rise into the world class bracket. He is remarkably excellent and consistent with his distribution considering he started his career in central defence, but if he can fine-tune that aspect of his game he could step further upfield into a box-to-box role. Modelling his game on a complete all-rounder like Fernandinho could transform him into one of the Premier League’s best.”

Christy Malyan – Goals

“Deep-lying midfielders are never going to be judged on goals but it’s becoming increasingly rare for those in the engine room to boast the height and aerial prowess of a centre-half, something Rice demonstrated with great effect during his previous stints in defence. As there will usually be at least two centre-backs on the pitch already when he plays, he should be the free man at set pieces or at the very least marked by someone who will struggle to match him in the air. That should result in plenty of goals and if he provides them while maintaining his usual standard of performance, he’ll be an exceptionally unique commodity.” 

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According to Fanatik, Besiktas are interested in signing Everton striker Oumar Niasse after the Turkish club’s former board member, Erdal Torunogullari, met with the forward at an event in London.

What’s the word, then?

Well, since arriving at Goodison Park from Lokomotiv Moscow in a £13.5m deal, Niasse has hardly set the world alight on Merseyside and the latest report suggests an imminent exit is on the cards.

The 28-year-old, currently on loan at Cardiff where he is yet to score, has only managed to find the back of the net nine times in 39 appearances for the Toffees.

In this era of ‘big 6’ dominance, has finishing 7th become as good as winning a trophy? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

He is expected to be moved on this summer having found chances hard to come by under Marco Silva this season, and Turkish giants Besiktas are keen to secure his signature.

His time with the Toffees has largely seem him labelled as a laughing stock and a player who isn’t good enough to make the grade in the blue of Everton.

Everton set to sign a striker?

With just Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Cenk Tosun as recognised strikers at the club, and out-on-loan forward Henry Onyekuru yet to secure a work permit, Everton should surely be in the market for another central attacker this summer – especially if Niasse leaves.

Calvert-Lewin, despite some good performances and all-round centre-forward play, has only scored six league goals, whilst Tosun has mustered up just a mere third of that tally.

In that respect, Marcel Brands and Marco Silva should be targeting someone of a much higher pedigree, and someone who can find the net much more regularly that the aforementioned pair have.

If, or when, that player comes in, Calvert-Lewin may well find himself in Niasse’s shoes as a back-up, which is only fair given his poor goal return this season.

As mentioned, most of us expect the Toffees to secure a first-choice striker this season, resigning Calvert-Lewin to the bench in doing so.

However, Brands must ensure that he gets to work in finding one, and the 22-year-old academy graduate should focus on learning from that individual during his time on the bench.