All posts by n8rngtd.top

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Ahead of the new season, Darren Bent has singled out Matt Doherty for praise as he spoke to Football Insider about the defender’s qualities.

What’s he said?

Wolves have been superb in pre-season, defeating Newcastle 4-0 in the Premier League Asia Trophy before beating Manchester City on penalties too.

That was followed up by a return to European action as they beat Crusaders 2-0 at Molineux last week.

One of the players who wasn’t involved due to injury was Doherty, who was replaced by Adama Traore. However, rather than focus on the goal-scoring heroics of Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez last season, Bent raved about the Irishman instead to Football Insider. He said:

“I’m going to pick someone who’s under-the-radar a little bit, because everyone is talking about Jimenez, everyone talks about Jota and Ruben Neves, but I like Matt Doherty.

“For a full-back, he is brilliant.

“He’s key to the way they play and for me he’s been brilliant for the last couple of seasons.”

Watch Wolverhampton Wanderers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Challenges to overcome

There’s certainly no denying how key he is to Wolves’ style. Nuno Santo has preferred a three-man defence with Doherty and Jonny at wing-back since arriving in the Premier League and the former was certainly pivotal last term.

He was brilliant in defensive and attacking phases of play, helping himself to nine goal contributions whilst also winning 1.8 tackles per game and 3.8 aerial duels per outing.

However, there might well be the challenge of fatigue for the 27-year-old to overcome in 2019/20.

Last season he played in all 38 matches in the top-flight, rarely being dislodged in the side. However, with just Traore behind him in the pecking order it’s likely that he’ll have to play the majority of the matches once again.

This is a player who featured six times in the FA Cup last season as well and with the possibility of a run in the Europa League on the horizon, fitness could become an issue.

He is the only natural right-wing back in the squad and once he’s back from injury it’s likely that he’ll be thrust straight back into the action.

Check out the reaction to Wolves’ first European game since the ’80s in the video below…

Playing in both the Premier League and Europa League on a regular basis will be a huge challenge for Doherty who will be coming off the back of a campaign where he played 46 matches across 2018/19 for club and country.

Considering Wolves haven’t signed anyone in his position, the task will be even more demanding for the full-back.

Whether he can cope with the workload only time will tell.

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Lots of Manchester City fans have taken to Twitter to react after it was revealed that the Citizens are close to completing the signing of Scott Carson from Derby.

The back-to-back Premier League champions have decided to swoop for the 33-year-old stopper to provide cover for Ederson and Claudio Bravo.

You may be wondering why the Citizens have dipped into the Championship to sign an ageing stopper to provide cover, but it is assumed that the former England international is being signed to boost the homegrown quota – similar to Rob Green’s situation at Chelsea last season, in which he didn’t play a single minute.

Carson had been linked with Nottingham Forest, but now looks set for a remarkable move to Pep Guardiola’s Champions League hopefuls and quadruple winners – it looks set to be one of the most bizarre transfers of the window.

Let’s take a look at how the Manchester City fans reacted to the news on Twitter…

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So, the start of the new season is upon us.

Premier League football returned to our lives on Friday when Liverpool took on Norwich at Anfield, whilst the other 18 sides in the league go head to head this weekend.

The same goes for Everton, who travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace this afternoon.

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In contrast to the Eagles, who have signed Gary Cahill, Victor Camarasa, James McCarthy and Jordan Ayew for the first team, the Toffees have been much busier.

Marcel Brands has worked hard to bring Andre Gomes, Djibril Sidibe, Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Fabian Delph, Jonas Lossl, Alex Iwobi and Moise Kean to Goodison Park, whilst a number of other names have also been strongly linked.

Let’s take a look at how the Merseysiders could line up against the south Londoners…

As you can see, the Toffees’ attack is pretty much unchanged from last season in our predicted XI, but there is another figure in place of where Idrissa Gueye once stood.

Djibril Sidibe, the France international right-back, signed on a season-long loan deal from Monaco but we do not expect him to immediately dislodge Seamus Coleman at right-back – he does, however, represent an upgrade the Irishman.

Ahead of him, Gbamin – who was signed directly as Gueye’s replacement for £25m – may come in alongside Gomes, who shone for the Toffees on loan last term.

In attack is where reinforcements have been made, although we do not expect them to start so soon into their Everton careers.

Check out some amazing tekkers in the video below…

Juventus starlet Kean, regarded as one of the brightest young prospects in Europe, has signed for an initial sum of £29m and is in line to appear at Selhurst Park, although we feel Marco Silva will continue to trust Dominic Calvert-Lewin until the 19-year-old fully acclimatises.

Alex Iwobi was signed on deadline day from Arsenal for a fee potentially rising to £34m, although given the fact that he was announced almost four hours after the deadline, we feel as if it may be too soon for the Nigerian to make his first start.

Despite the influx of new arrivals, there is a good chance of this being Silva’s preferred line-up against Palace.

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Croatia have had their fair share of footballing superstars in the past. Of course, many are familiar with the likes of Davor Šuker, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinečki and more recently, Luka Modrić, Ivan Rakitić and Mario Mandžukić.

These are just some of the talents that sprung out of a little country with a total population that barely exceeds four million inhabitants.

And it’s not just footballing individuals that shine but the country’s national team as a unit as well. We don’t have to look further than the World Cup in Russia where “Vatreni” or in a loose translation “the fiery ones”, ended up clinching the silver medal, only falling to the eventual winners France. Going back in the past, they did a similar thing in 1998 when they finished third.

But as much as Šuker or Prosinečki had their heirs in the form of these modern superstars we mentioned, who exactly is in line to take the torch from Modrić, Rakitić and co.? Well, a couple of names spring to mind and among them is certainly Dinamo Zagreb’s Nikola Moro.

Moro currently plays his football for the country’s most successful football club, Dinamo Zagreb. And ever since his emergence to the scene just a couple of years back, he has been a player of incredible talent. Some of his best traits include – but are not limited to – versatility, creativity, ball control, technical prowess and passing play. Let’s try and dissect them further.

What stands above anything else is Moro’s passing. For a 21-year-old midfielder, he is already well-developed in this area. Just a quick glance at Wyscout’s database shows us that overall, in all competitions and seasons, he achieved 83% passing accuracy while playing 4.74 long balls per game, 60.7% of which hit their mark.

What is particularly telling is how forward-thinking his passing tends to be.

He sends an incredible 10.82 passes into the final third, 2.96 into the box and plays 1.33 through balls per game. And this is exactly where his quality really comes to light. Let’s take a look at how that usually goes down on the pitch.

Moro usually likes to be the creative spark of the team, often playing as a number ten or as a more advanced, playmaking number eight. Still, he has this tendency to create space for himself but also make use of it even when he’s closed down by markers.

In the example below, we can see him control the ball in the final third and send through an incisive pass through the defence before his marker can react and stop him. The ball arrives at its destination perfectly and Dinamo soon get into a really promising situation.

But this is not nearly the only thing Moro does on the pitch. Often, as was seen in the stats above, he participates in the team’s defensive phases. The numbers clearly support this as the youngster averages 4.56 interceptions per game, makes 9.39 recoveries and also wins 52.4% of all of his defensive duels.

These are some impressive figures for an advanced playmaker and both of the aforementioned skillsets complement each other rather well. In other words, Moro can quickly dispossess the opposition and turn defence into attack effectively.

Notice in the example below how he rushes to tackle the opponen, retains possession and then starts Dinamo’s transition with a cheeky backheel right into the path of his teammate.

According to Wyscout’s numbers, this is a regular occurrence in his arsenal, rather than an anomaly.

Moro truly is a true gem that any manager would like to have in his squad. Yes, that is mostly because he is technically gifted and has a high work-rate but it’s also because he can be deployed anywhere across the middle of the pitch. Wyscout notes a total of seven major positions Moro has been used in so far.

That and a quick look at his heatmap tell us how effective he is all across the pitch regardless of his predetermined position on the teamsheet.

Despite being only 21, he already has some national team exposure, having gone through the youth ranks of Croatia’s national team. He recently featured in their U21 European Championship run as well and managed to tally one assist in three games.

Moro certainly is a true prospect and has already been attracting some serious attention from big clubs in Europe. With such talent, a move away from Dinamo Zagreb becomes a triviality and simply a matter of time.

The man already dubbed the “new Modrić” is destined to go abroad and really make a name for himself.

But at the end of the day, that part is really up to him and the way he develops in the future.

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Well, they’ve finally done it – Middlesbrough have their first win of the season at the fourth time of asking.

The optimism surrounding the return of Boro favourite Jonathan Woodgate, who was appointed as manager in June on a three-year deal, was put on hold as his side stumbled through three uninspiring performances.

They looked remarkably less effective than they were under a certain Welshman by the name of Tony Pulis, who gathered seven points in the same period of time at the beginning of the campaign he was disposed of (albeit employing a particular brand of football).

Watch Middlesbrough Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Despite this worrying statistic, however, with Boro finally picking up their first three points, things could finally be starting to look up.

Fortunately with the aid of social media, we no longer need to immerse ourselves in smoky local pubs to get the lowdown from fans.

So, with the help of Twitter, we can today bring you the reactions to Daniel Ayala’s performance in Boro’s 1-0 victory over Wigan Athletic on Tuesday night…

We think it’s fair to say that Ayala has divided opinion.

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

All summer, the talk was about how Wilfried Zaha was going to make his Crystal Palace escape for a second time, and finally show the world he can perform on the biggest stage. Instead, the transfer window has come and gone, and the Ivory Coast international is left twiddling his thumbs at Selhurst Park after failing to secure a move away.

The 26-year-old came off the bench for Palace’s first Premier League game of the season, before featuring from the start in their 1-0 loss to newly-promoted Sheffield United. So it’s fair to say things haven’t quite gone to plan for Zaha this summer. But on Saturday, the Ivorian comes up against his former club Manchester United, and with it, comes a real source of motivation to bring his best.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Reports had suggested that one of the reasons why the forward didn’t get the move he wanted was because of United’s sell-on clause from the time the Red Devils sold him back to Palace. It meant Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side would take a significant cut of the earnings, and understandably led to the Eagles demanding an extortionate amount of money that Arsenal could not afford.

So, Zaha could well have a feeling of resentment to his former employers over the role they played in his future this summer.

Indeed, the 5 foot 11 star’s very desire to prove himself again comes from his failings at Old Trafford. Zaha has admitted he felt like he never got a legitimate chance at the club, and it has fuelled him to test himself out at the highest level once more.

On Saturday afternoon, the Ivorian has all the pent-up anger in the world to unleash on United, and it is imperative Solskjaer’s side are aware of that.

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

The Manchester outfit would do well in stopping the talismanic forward from wreaking havoc, and it will be up to the likes of summer signings Harry Maguire and Zaha’s former teammate, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, to stop him from doing so.

The £80m figure that was being quoted prompted much debate, but that will only serve to sting the 26-year-old into action even more. A home fixture against Palace may look easy on paper for United, but the story surrounding Zaha should be something for the Red Devils to be aware of.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Real Madrid most likely wished for a much better start to the new 2019/20 La Liga season. But as it turns out, Los Blancos have been experimenting far too much and that just might be at the core of their problems.

On the chalkboard

A lot has been said about Real Madrid facing the same old problems they were facing when Zinedine Zidane was in charge of the team for the first time.

Back then, the Frenchman managed to lead his squad to glory but that same squad seems to be struggling right now. Their ventures into the transfer market haven’t been that helpful either as many questions remain unanswered.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

But one rather peculiar statistic might suggest that there’s a different cause to Zidane’s mishaps so far in the new campaign. Marca outlined that Zidane still hasn’t repeated a starting lineup just yet, and that he deployed 17 different players from the start in the three matches the Galacticos played so far.

Another thing to notice here are the formations that were used. Their standard 4-3-3 was only used in the opening game of the campaign against Celta Vigo and then, after that, Zidane opted for 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 against Real Valladolid and Villarreal respectively. And what was the only win out of the three? The first one.

There just might be a moral in that story for Los Blancos.

Back to basics

The 4-3-3 system is very much Real Madrid’s bread and butter. It was their most-used formation last season and is also Zidane’s favourite as well. Even though this is a rather small sample, it does suggest that the Frenchman is very much still experimenting with his team and is searching for the right formula.

But if there’s anything that he could take away from the first three fixtures, it’s that the original blueprint just might be the one to go with until everyone settles and he gets the team ticking the way he wants them to.

They showed some signs of life in that opening victory against Celta Vigo, and then an abrupt change in formation and personnel suddenly threw them off the tracks again and they ended up drawing the next two games.

It would, however, be too big of a stretch to say that a simple switch back to 4-3-3 would magically solve everything but, for the time being, going with what’s familiar and proven is not such a bad idea for the Galacticos.

It will be interesting to see what kind of a formation he uses once the team gets back from the international break.

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Liverpool Under-18 captain Paul Glatzel has signed a long-term contract with the club and many fans are thrilled to see him commit his future at the club.

It is a positive development for the 18-year-old, who received a tough setback earlier this summer when he suffered damage to his knee ligament in a pre-season match against Tranmere.

The striker was in fine form last season for Liverpool U18s, finding the net 28 times and also helping his side win the FA Youth Cup.

A reward of a new contract suggests there will be no repeat of the Bobby Duncan situation, after another talented youngster took measures to force a move to Italian club Fiorentina.

Liverpool fans are pleased to see that a talented young player will be retained by the club and hope that he will get his chance in the first-team when he recovers from his injury.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Here are some of the reactions from excited fans to the contract news.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Former Wolves midfielder Kenny Hibbitt has made an audacious claim about the club’s Europa League chances this season in an interview with Express & Star.

What’s he said?

Hibbitt was part of the famous Wolves side that reached the 1972 UEFA Cup final where Tottenham Hotspur narrowly came out on top. He also helped the club towards two promotions which saw them rise back into the top-flight.

The Midlands oufit are now embarking on another historic campaign having reached the group stages of this season’s Europa League for the first time under the competition’s current format.

Have you heard the strangest chant in the Premier League yet? Hear it in the video below…

They won all six of their ties, including a tough-looking encounter against Serie A outfit Torino to progress.

The next stage begins in just seven days as they host Braga at Molineux. Besiktas and Slovan Bratislava the two other sides in their group.

Club legend Hibbitt made 574 appearances over 16 years and believes Nuno Santo’s side can achieve the unthinkable by winning the whole competition, he said:

“They’ve entered the competition thinking they can win it, I’m sure. I think they can win it.

“It’s a great achievement getting there, and I think we can win it, definitely.

“We have got players who’ve tasted it before, and they’ll pass on their experience to those who are still finding their feet.

“Of course, you have still got to go out and do it, but they are opposition we can get past.”

Watch Wolverhampton Wanderers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Don’t try to run before you can walk

This is all a very new feeling for the entire club – ownership, management, players and fans.

It is the first time in nearly 40 years that they are even competing in Europe, something they achieved in their first season back in the top-flight since 2012.

Previous trends have suggested that competing on the continent severely hinders progression in the Premier League and the season to date has undoubtedly taken measures in proving that with Wolves sitting 17th in the table without a single victory.

Even though some sort of success would be nice, it can’t be prioritised over maintaining their presence in the top-flight, where they have the potential to mount many more charges on the top seven from here on out.

Wolves have potential in Europe but to suggest they can win it may be a stretch too far.

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Some Charlton fans have taken to Twitter to mock the incident that saw Lee Bowyer sent from the touchline against Birmingham.

The 42-year-old was shown a red card late on as the Addicks lost 1-0 to Birmingham at The Valley, courtesy of a goal from 16-year-old Jude Bellingham.

Bowyer was sent off after appearing to leave his technical area to retrieve the ball, before throwing it in the direction of the Birmingham bench – the Charlton boss later accused the away side of wasting time by rolling the ball onto the pitch.

Given the harmless nature of the situation, a number of Charlton fans on Twitter have decided to mock the incident that saw their side’s manager sent off.

One sarcastically said that they were surprised the army wasn’t called in to calm Bowyer down, while another jibed that the former Birmingham midfielder “could’ve killed someone” – all in jest, of course.

Let’s take a look at some more of the Twitter reaction…

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