All posts by z3u9t.icu

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Celtic fans were left gutted by news of Tom Rogic’s knee injury.

Australia’s exit at the quarter final stage of the Asian Cup should have meant an early return to club action for the midfielder but now it looks unlikely that he’ll be back in action until mid-March.

Before the turn of the year Rogic was at the centre of a tug-of-war with Australia insisting that he joined their Asian Cup squad on December 27th. Celtic had hoped to delay that journey by three days but Aussie boss Graham Arnold dug in, resulting in Rogic missing the Glasgow derby at Ibrox.

Australia weren’t in action until January 6th when they lost to Jordan in the opening group match, before seeing off Uzbekistan on penalties in the last 16 and then losing out to the UAE in the last eight.

Celtic have a number of attacking options to deputise for Rogic but the 26-year-old has a great track record for coming up with goals on the big occasion, with a string of important strikes at Hampden Park and in the Glasgow derby.

Rogic joins a growing list of absentees for Celtic’s Europa League ties against Valencia that already includes Leigh Griffiths, Filip Benkovic and Dedryck Boyata.

Here’s a look at how Celtic fans have reacted to the news on Twitter…

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Newcastle United supporters have been delighted with the quality of Sean Longstaff’s performances since he broke into the side against Chelsea, and a recent report suggests that his growing reputation extends beyond the North East.

What’s the word?

According to a recent report published by The Chronicle, Longstaff is being monitored by England after impressing in recent weeks, with his success in nullifying the threat of Christian Eriksen cited as an indicator to illuminate the standard of his performance on Saturday.

England’s U21 team are set to face Poland and Germany during the next international break, and Aidy Boothroyd could be inclined to call him up for the very first time.

The same report claims that Ireland and Scotland have looked into his family history in the past to assess his eligibility, but he is only available to represent England at international level.

Mature and game-changing performance against Man City could be the key

Longstaff has been impressive in a handful of outings so far this season, but it was his ability to restrict a typically fluid Man City side from building any momentum which particularly impressed.

The 21-year-old academy product was a relentless worker alongside Isaac Hayden in midfield, depriving City of expressing their flair and creativity in condensed central areas.

His moment of genius, though, arrived with the score tied at 1-1 as he showcased a maturity beyond his years to sniff out the opportunity to dispossess Fernandinho and ultimately win the penalty which enabled Newcastle to claim all three points.

The manner in which Longstaff outsmarted the Brazilian lynchpin – comfortably the best midfield anchor in the Premier League right now – was indicative of his enormous potential to grow in the game; the awareness and anticipation of the interception was outstanding for a player of his limited experience.

The faith Rafa Benitez has placed in Longstaff’s ability has clearly provided him with the confidence to express himself at the top level, and an international call-up would represent just reward for his fine start to life in Newcastle’s senior squad.

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Leeds United returned to winning ways on Wednesday evening with a priceless 2-1 victory over Swansea City at Elland Road courtesy of goals from Pontus Jansson and Jack Harrison.

It was a timely return to form on an evening when Norwich City were thumped 3-1 away at Preston, a result which allowed the Whites to return to the top of the Championship table.

Leeds’ opener was well placed by Jansson following a scrappy pinball moment in the penalty area, but there was plenty of craft and guile about the crucial second.

Luke Ayling, who was making his 100th appearance for the club, sprayed a cross-field ball into Ezgjan Alioski’s path, and the Macedonia international’s perfectly placed cross was guided into the net off the head of Jack Harrison.

A fine return to form for Ayling was slightly marred by a clumsy challenge which allowed Oli McBurnie to half the deficit from the penalty spot, but that did not prevent the supporters from heaping praise on the 27-year-old in the aftermath of proceedings.

Indeed, Ayling posted an emotional message on his Twitter page to express his delight at playing 100 games for Leeds, and the response to the post was overwhelmingly positive.

Ayling has taken his fair share of criticism in recent weeks during Leeds’ dip in form, but his critics were nowhere to be seen as the Whites faithful poured their hearts out in response to the post.

On his day there is no question that the full-back is one of Leeds’ most influential players, so Marcelo Bielsa will need both his leadership and his all-action quality to shine through to give the promotion hopefuls the best possible chance of ending their top-flight exile.

Here’s what the Leeds fans had to say in response to Ayling’s tweet:

Jack Ross has recently admitted that keeper Jon McLaughlin has been in incredibly good form for his team but hints that Sunderland’s defensive frailties could be the end of their automatic promotion dream.

The Blackcats drop from the Premier League, to the Championship and then League One is one of the most tragic stories in football.

However, having hit rock bottom, it seems they’ve finally rediscovered their identity and are heading their way back into the second tier of English football. Providing they pull themselves out of a fairly poor patch of form, that is.

Talking to the Sunderland Echo, following their draw against Oxford United, he claimed, “I get slightly irritated with this fascination with my goalkeeper making saves”.

Adding, “I grew up watching Manchester United, who were the best team when I grew up.

“People don’t remember Peter Schmeichel because he had nothing to do. He made big saves.

“Jon made some big saves, he’s a good goalkeeper and that’s why I brought him to the club.

“Away from home, you need your goalkeeper to make saves, he made a couple of good saves.

“We have to be careful we don’t get caught up in this whirl around this club. “He made some good saves today, I don’t think we were brilliant, but we got ourselves in a good position to go and win the game and Jon helped us to do that.

“There’s a responsibility on me to keep that positivity but also to be realistic with the players”.

Ross isn’t wrong either.

Title challenges are built on strong defences which render the need for a constant stream of keeper interventions unnecessary. Indeed, Sunderland fans would surely rather be playing their football in the Championship than a Jon McLaughlin 18/19 highlight reel on Youtube.

Indeed, such reliance on one man isn’t a realistic way of getting promoted during a campaign with so many games. Yes, McLaughlin should be praised for his heroic performances between the sticks, though the rest of the Black Cats need to step up. If they don’t, it could be another season in the third tier next time around, only adding to the years of misery felt by those on Wearside.

Ross, though, has the right idea at least.

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The Liverpool Echo’s Liverpool correspondent James Pearce has given his thoughts on a number of the Reds’ talented youth prospects, including Harry Wilson.

What he said

In a Q&A piece, Pearce was asked whether any of Liverpool’s talented youngsters are being considered by Jurgen Klopp as potential first team players for next season.

Pearce responded: “I really hope Wilson gets a chance to shine as I’ve been so impressed by him at Derby this season.”

Watch the video below to see the most insane overhead kick you will see this week…

Wilson is currently on loan from Anfield at Pride Park, where he is a regular feature in Frank Lampard’s starting XI.

A chance on the horizon?

Wilson has been in fine form so far this season. As per Transfermarkt’s stats, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder has racked up twelve goals and four assists in thirty appearances in all competitions.

His confidence and creativity have particularly caught the eye, whilst his ability to deliver set pieces has made him a key asset in the Rams’ armoury.

As impressive as the 8-cap Wales international has been so far this season, the step up from Championship level to thriving at Anfield is a huge one. However, a lack of quality attacking depth in Klopp’s squad could give Wilson an opportunity to prove his worth next season.

If Wilson does get an opportunity at Anfield, he will have to be at his best to take it. Though, Klopp’s record for bringing through exciting young players at the club, such as Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold, bodes well for Wilson.

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Crystal Palace visit Leicester City this weekend and will be hoping they can make it a fourth consecutive win over the Foxes, although they will have to do it without Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Martin Kelly, who have been ruled out through injury.

The former has been the Eagles’ outstanding performer on the right hand side of defence and has garnered interest from a number of top clubs, including Premier League champions Manchester City.

Meanwhile, the latter has stepped in capably when required and has earned himself a new deal which will keep him at Selhurst Park until 2021.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Wan-Bissaka’s absence, in particular, will please Claude Puel and Leicester – the right-back has become one of the best in the league in his position and even outshone talisman Wilfried Zaha this season.

The Eagles have proved they can best the Foxes without their key men, though – the Ivory Coast international was suspended for the last meeting and the SE25 outfit still came out on top, keeping a third consecutive clean sheet against the 2015/16 champions.

Here’s how the Palace fans reacted on Twitter, with many surprised that 21-year-old Wan-Bissaka could even get injured – indeed, he has looked “immortal” since his breakthrough to the starting XI…

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Daniel Levy is one of the most stubborn men in the business. Tottenham Hotspur have signed just one player in the last three transfer windows and, with the lack of strength in depth clearly tarnishing the club’s title chances, the supporters are growing increasingly frustrated with his tight-fisted approach.

The move into the new stadium is on the horizon, and the crippling financial implications of the move are surely influencing Levy’s transfer strategy. But, with the implementation of a coherent summer plan, Tottenham’s chief executive could free up a large chunk of cash from the wage bill.

Using figures obtained from Spotrac, we’ve taken a look at a collection of players who should be offloaded in the summer in order to make way for two elite-level footballers.

Cut the deadwood – plus Aurier

There are a handful of players residing within Pochettino’s squad who simply aren’t up to the standard required. Fernando Llorente is currently earning £3.9m per year and Spurs would be foolish to extend his deal when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Although it’s verging on the harsh side to place him in the deadwood category, Serge Aurier is far too inconsistent, so his £3.64m per year salary should be slashed and Kyle Walker-Peters should be given a more prominent role in the senior squad.

Michel Vorm, who earns £2.08m per year, should be released when his deal expires in the summer, while Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, Vincent Janssen, Josh Onomah and Cameron Carter-Vickers, who earn £1.82m, £1.76, £1.54m and £1.04m respectively, are all disposable talents with no future in north London.

Result of Tottenham’s clear-out

If Levy managed to successfully find new clubs for all of the aforementioned players, he would slash a healthy £15.78 million from the yearly wage budget.

To place that into context, that’s enough to pay the yearly salary of Son Heung-min – which is currently £7.28m per year – twice over with some cash left to spare.

The South Korea international is the club’s second-highest earner after Harry Kane, and it’s the kind of salary which Levy will surely need to offer to lure two game-changing players to the club.

Two more Son Heung-min’s?

Son’s weekly salary breaks down to £140k per week and, on current form, that wage has been thoroughly justified. But how long can Spurs continue to expect to compete at the top level if they have just two players earning more than £100k per week?

Naturally, there is not always a direct correlation between wages and positive contribution to the squad, as Llorente’s wage aptly reflects, but there is no question that, generally speaking, it pays dividends to employ a handful of mega-money earners.

Manchester City, for example, have ten players earning in excess of £100k per week; Liverpool have nine; Manchester United top the lot with twelve; Chelsea and Arsenal both have eight.

It’s about time Levy delivered the goods in the transfer market, and a mini exodus could be all he needs to make room on the wage bill for two marquee signings earning figures in the region of £140k per week.

If Spurs want to keep pace with their top-six rivals, they better start acting like them too.

Looking at Newcastle United’s attack, not many supporters were convinced with Salomon Rondon at the start of the season, while Ayoze Perez has not always been able to get everyone at St. James’ Park onside.

With Rondon and Perez showing good form of late, though, the above is probably no longer the case, especially after the duo’s heroics in Newcastle’s 3-2 victory over Everton, something which the former has recently been speaking about.

The Breakdown

Rondon and Perez were both on the scoresheet in the recent Premier League win, inspiring the Magpies to a comeback win after being 2-0 down, and the Venezuela international has praised his team-mate for his role in the triumph.

“If Messi, the best player in the world, had done that everybody would be talking about it,” Rondon was quoted as saying by The Northern Echo when discussing Perez’s involvement in Newcastle’s first goal.

“What he did was fantastic for the team, he linked up with me so well. That’s the important thing for us. We have to play like a team.”

It is not just the Everton victory, though, where Rondon and Perez linked up well. Over the last few weeks in general, the pair have combined efficiently in their side’s fixtures, scoring some vital goals to push Newcastle up the table.

Earlier in the season, it looked like the team’s defence — so well organised by Rafael Benitez — would be the thing that kept the Magpies up.

Yet considering the goal-scoring form Rondon and Perez find themselves in and the partnership they have struck, Newcastle now have an added weapon in their relegation fight.

Newcastle fans, how impressed have you been with Rondon and Perez’s performances of late? Join the discussion by commenting below?

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Southampton’s performance in their defeat to Manchester United was by far their best since Ralph Hasenhuttl took the wheel and they can feel aggrieved that they didn’t take more away from Old Trafford. One man, though, should feel particularly disappointed that he was unable to muster the kind of display that he has consistently produced in recent weeks.

On the chalkboard

Two pieces of individual brilliance had meant the Saints were level with their hosts with less than 10 minutes of regulation time to go, however Romelu Lukaku saved the day for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, thus breaking Southampton hearts.

For all their hard work in defence in the first half, the Saints sat off in the second and allowed United to dictate the tempo of the clash a little more after they were caught with their holding midfielders far too high up the pitch – Andreas Pereira drove into space and found the top corner superbly.

While the defence could not really do a whole lot about the three goals they conceded, the stats behind Jan Bednarek’s display are concerning and should surprise Hasenhuttl, who has rejuvenated the young Pole.

Bad day for Bednarek

The former Lech Poznan defender, having hardly had a look in under Mark Hughes, has been a revelation since Hasenhuttl took over and has surely become their best centre-back.

While others put in some of their best showings of the campaign to date, Bednarek’s was statistically his worst – the 22-year-old completed just 46% of his passes, 2 tackles and 1 interception.

Against one of the most form teams in the league, you have to be able to rely on your players to string a pass together and not lose possession in dangerous areas – Bednarek only hit the target with seven of his attempted balls.

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

Despite the huge improvements the defender has shown under new management, Hasenhuttl needs to have a word with Bednarek ahead of the Spurs clash this weekend; once again, this will be a game where mistakes are likely to be punished and the hosts are running out of time to secure Premier League survival.

A point or all three against Mauricio Pochettino’s men would be huge but every man in red and white will have to be near faultless.

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Last Sunday’s second-city derby provided a tale of poetic justice which will leave an infamous stain on the reputation of Birmingham City Football Club. The Midlands club’s chequered history with hooliganism awoke from hibernation and was thrust into the national spotlight when a supporter, appropriately donning a peaky blinders-esque flat cap, channelled his inner Tommy Shelby and made a beeline for Jack Grealish.

After taking an unexpected punch to the face and being routinely booed by the home supporters for the duration of the match, Grealish decided the fixture with one telling swipe of his left boot. The derby-winning goal sent the 23-year-old into a state of delirium in which the sweet taste of revenge left him unable to decide whether to lord the decisive goal over the home fans or to embrace the thousands of travelling supporters. He opted for the latter.

The post-match narrative naturally surrounded the now-jailed supporters’ inexplicable actions on a day which belonged to Grealish. The local-rivalry between Birmingham City and Aston Villa was the fundamental driver behind the infamous attack, but it was no coincidence that Dean Smith’s poster boy was on the receiving end of a flailing fist.

A quick rewind into Grealish’s past can explain how his identity has been constructed to match a stereotype which is often applied to young English players. In 2015, shortly before his 20th birthday, Villa’s prodigy was pictured passed out in the streets of Tenerife, with a Cigarette packets not so subtly placed beside him to boost the opportunist photographers’ chances of going viral on social media. It sure did the trick.

In the space of just a few hours the footballing world were aware of the next big star’s holiday exploits, cementing his reputation as another prodigy who lacked the professionalism to reach the top level. His subsequent inconsistency on the field enforced what came to be a widely-held belief that he was destined to fall below the level he threatened to reach shortly after bursting onto the scene.

Within the space of a few short months Grealish plummeted from nailed-on future England international to underwhelming prima donna. The unforgiving space that is the media tore a genuine talent to shreds in the blinking of an eye. If only he had spent more time training and less time in the mirror perfecting his slicked hairstyle, so the theory went.

While it’s absolutely paramount to acknowledge that Raheem Sterling’s media reputation has been shaped by an agenda which is riddled with despicable racist undertones, there are similarities to be drawn in the way both players have overcome a media agenda to become stars for their respective clubs.

Like Grealish, Sterling was once a teenager who was forced to embrace footballing stardom and all the extravagance which naturally arrives with it. And, like Grealish, he ended up entrenched in controversy after pictures emerged detailing his own set of controversial off-the-field actions.

Almost four years later, Sterling is now an integral player within a side who have genuine ambitions of clinching an unprecedented quadruple. His return of 18 goals in all-competitions this season is indicative of his importance to the club, but his rise to the top has been shaped by a propaganda war against a false identity which has been created to undermine him on both a footballing and personal level. At long, long last, though, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The narrative against Manchester City’s talisman culminated when Chelsea fans could be seen hurling racist abuse in his direction in December; finally the media opened their eyes to the culture of hatred they were culpable for generating.

Attitudes towards Sterling are rapidly changing – perhaps out of pure shame from the agenda which preceded his new-found sense of widespread popularity – and a similar transformation could beckon for Grealish.

A freak kidney injury did not derail his career; instead, it galvanised him and the playmaker returned a notably more bulky talent, with relentless hours in the gym clearly invested to prepare him for the physicality of the English game.

Make no mistake about it, Sterling has overcome more than most to reach the dizzy heights he has propelled himself to at the Etihad Stadium, but similar off-the-field mistakes early on in the formative stages of Grealish’s career handed him a separate and less sinister battle to fight away from the field.

The encounter at St Andrews was emblematic of a larger theme at play in Grealish’s career: he has matured and developed into a more professional athlete than the one who wilted shortly after the seeds of his reputation were planted in 2015 – the same seeds which have made him one of the most ridiculed and at times hated players in the Championship.

Through flying punches, whether physical or metaphorical, Grealish has the exemplary strength of character to overcome the hurdles in-front of him.

His match-winning performance at Birmingham attested to that.