Arsenal fans all want the same man to replace Unai Emery

Arsenal fans want Ajax boss Erik ten Hag to replace Unai Emery at The Emirates.

The Gunners are currently fifth in the Premier League following their 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United on Monday.

A number of supporters have already grown tired of Emery’s management, having seen their side finish fifth last season too.

Indeed, #EmeryOut trended on Twitter following the loss at Bramall Lane and fans have already begun speculating as to who could take over from the ex-PSG boss – prompted by a tweet from a fan – with ten Hag a popular choice.

The 49-year-old has been in charge at Ajax since 2017 and oversaw their run to the Champions League semi-finals last season, where Tottenham Hotspur dramatically beat them.

He also won the Eredivisie in 2018/19, guiding the likes of Matthijs De Ligt, Frenkie De Jong and Dusan Tadic to glory; De Ligt and De Jong now play for Juventus and Barcelona respectively.

And fans think he should be the man to take the reins if Emery is ever given the boot.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

Wolves’ Adama Traore remains focused after their dramatic win

Things seem to finally be picking up a bit for Wolves.

The Midlands side won their first league game last weekend as they beat Watford 2-0, and they quickly followed that up with their first win in the Europa League group stage as they overcame Besiktas 1-0 in Istanbul.

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Their victory came in the most dramatic of fashions too, as Willy Boly put Nuno Espirito Santo’s side ahead with just a minute left in second half stoppage time.

Of course, this sparked wild celebrations amongst the fans, but one man who was unwilling to get carried away was Adama Traore.

“We have to keep working,” Traore said.

The winger could be forgiven for having a moment of celebration or allowing himself to get carried away after such a huge win. However, he seemingly knows that Wolves aren’t quite where they want to be yet, and he believes that hard work is the only way they’re going to get there.

Jonny Williams continues Charlton transformation under Lee Bowyer

Charlton Athletic have impressed since arriving in the Championship following their promotion-winning season from League One, and the Addicks’ battling performances are best epitomised by a player who is steadily rebuilding their career under the management of Lee Bowyer.

Jonny Williams, 26, rose through the ranks with Crystal Palace but, despite becoming a full Wales international at the age of 20, his career has arguably stagnated owing to continuous loan spells at varying levels of English football.

The midfielder’s CV includes the likes of Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forrest, MK Dons and Sunderland – all of whom the Welshman was on loan with. But in 2019 Charlton took a chance on an unquestionably promising player who was yet to kick on despite clearly have an abundance of ability to do so.

After making 18 appearances in the club’s League One campaign that culminated in promotion, Williams was initially released but returned to the club after Bowyer confirmed he had substantially dropped his wage demands.

After re-signing, the 26-year-old has started eight Championship games so far in the 2019/20 campaign, registering four assists. It is this type of form that has seen Williams accrue 21 caps for Wales, and Bowyer will be hoping that the midfielder’s time at The Valley can provide a platform to reignite his international career and impress Wales coach Ryan Giggs – who recently recalled Williams to the squad after his impressive start to the current campaign. 

If Williams is able to continue this form alongside his team maintaining their early-season momentum, then there is no reason Charlton cannot feature in the promotion picture for a place in the Premier League.

Enormous credit is due to Williams for the way he has turned his career back around in impressive style in both League One and the Championship.

Sheffield Wednesday fans rave about Kadeem Harris after start to the season

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Sheffield Wednesday have been through the motions already this season – and it is only the middle of September.

On the eve of pre-season, Steve Bruce ditched the club to replace Rafa Benitez at Newcastle then under caretaker boss Lee Bullen they started the campaign with back-to-back wins before slipping to three defeats in four games.

That led to the appointment of Garry Monk, and his first match in charge was a victory in a Yorkshire derby over Huddersfield.

One player that has started all seven of their league encounters is Kadeem Harris, a permanent arrival from Cardiff City this summer.

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He’s scored two goals and picked up his first assist of the 2019/20 campaign on Sunday when he found Steven Fletcher with a cross for the opener.

The best part of Harris’ arrival was the fact that he didn’t cost a penny, which one supporter picked up on by questioning “how on earth did we get this guy for free?”

Another fan claimed the 26-year-old was in contention for the Player of the Year award already while one more labelled him a “quality player.”

Harris played 13 times in the Premier League last season for the Bluebirds, and he will surely be hoping that his contribution at Hillsborough can help fire Wednesday back to the big time.

Here’s the best of the reaction:

Liverpool will have to help Joe Gomez against giant Erling Haaland

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Injury News series, which considers the impact of the latest updates on players’ fitness.

Joel Matip will miss Liverpool’s clash with Red Bull Salzburg, and the likely switch to Joe Gomez will place more pressure on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive abilities.

What’s the word?

Matip will not make Wednesday’s battle with the Austrian outfit after picking up a knock against Sheffield United, Paul Joyce has confirmed.

Given how well the Cameroonian has played in 2019 it makes sense not to take any risks, and so Gomez is expected to fill in against Salzburg and possibly against Leicester, depending on the extent of the injury.

Gomez though has one weakness in his game, and it will force Alexander-Arnold to focus slightly more on his defensive duties, thus affecting the side’s ability to create chances.

Alexander-Arnold has to help

So what is that weakness? Well, for all Gomez’s qualities, which include excellent recovery speed and fantastic ball-playing ability, the England international does tend to lose his man at the far post sometimes. Quite simply, he just switches off.

It happened at the Emirates in that crazy 3-3 draw back in 2017 when he allowed Alexis Sanchez to run straight past him and score, and again a few months later when he lost Johann Berg Gudmundsson. Even some fans have noticed it over the years.

Given that Salzburg wonderkid Erling Haaland stands at 6 foot 4, it would be ne surprise to see the Austrians look to expose Gomez by standing balls up to Haaland at the back post. The Englishman averaged just 1.5 aerial wins in the league last term, while Matip is winning a whopping 6 per game this season.

So, it will be up Alexander-Arnold to just provide that little bit of extra support for his compatriot, and perhaps not push forward quite as much as Liverpool’s full-backs usually do.

This will of course harm the Reds’ creativity, which comes mostly from the flanks, as well as the fact that they will lose Matip’s marauding runs and incisive passes, something Ian Wright heaped praise upon after the clash at Bramall Lane.

The injury to Matip may seem a simple straight swap to Gomez, but it could actually effect the Reds more than you would think, especially down that right flank.

Mohamed Salah puts in a performance to forget versus United

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Liverpool failed to find the result they were missing again Bayern Munich earlier on in the week as they, once again, failed to find a way past a deep-lying defence – the Reds were held to a draw by bitter rivals Manchester United.

It could have been a whole lot worse for the league leaders, though, had it not been for goalkeeper Alisson, who was one of only a few Reds to put in a performance to be truly proud of – others were shells of the players that put United to the sword in December, Mohamed Salah included.

The Egyptian’s incredible first season on Merseyside has set equally high standards for this campaign but he has, thus far, failed to replicate them, with his poor showing on Sunday the latest in a string of sub-par performances.

It has been made clear this year that the electric winger requires a hatful of chances to find the net and therefore it is of little surprise that he was unable to strike at the weekend – the former Roma man had just one shot, which failed to hit the target.

United left-back Luke Shaw kept the speedster silent throughout, although a crazy first half saw Liverpool catalyst Roberto Firmino make way due to injury – the Brazilian’s absences previously have often left Salah extremely isolated.

With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s battlers hot on his every touch, Salah was dispossessed a match-high 6 times in an uncharacteristically sloppy showing – the number 11 is usually reliable with the ball at his feet but this clash was an exception.

If his disappointing afternoon surely couldn’t get any worse, the 26-year-old took just 40 touches – the second-lowest of the Liverpool outfield players who played over 60 minutes.

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

The Anfield outfit begin a hectic week of football by hosting Watford on Wednesday before a visit to bitter rivals Everton at the weekend, both games of which Salah will see as an opportunity to nip his bad run in the bud.

Real Madrid should consider benching Thibaut Courtois for Alphonse Areola

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

Alphonse Areola ended up being Real Madrid’s last piece of business in the 2019 summer transfer window. And while that deal might not have thrilled all of the fans, maybe a change in personnel between the sticks is something Los Blancos should seriously consider going forward.

On the chalkboard

A lot has been said already about Real Madrid and their defensive shortcomings. If we learned anything from Zinedine Zidane’s summer pre-season then it’s that this squad is prone to conceding a lot of goals.

In the span of five games played, Los Blancos conceded 16 goals and then continued the trend into the 2019/20 La Liga season, conceding a further four in the first three games.

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Keeping a clean sheet should first and foremost start with a solid and trustworthy defence, which Real Madrid are currently lacking, but it also requires a confident man in front of the goal. Areola might have been loaned in as a substitute goalie, but something has got to give, and maybe a change between the sticks is worth the risk.

Nothing to lose

Thibaut Courtois replaced Keylor Navas for Real Madrid but he is yet to make any significant contributions to the team. In fact, the great Belgian hasn’t been able to keep a clean sheet at his new club since February this year. Real Madrid can dance around the fact that their defence are culpable for that but if they continue turning a blind eye to this problem, it’s definitely not going to go away on its own.

Of course, Areola had a rather mixed role back in Paris last season as well, spending 13 games on the bench, so there’s no proof out there that would state he will definitely be an improvement on Courtois.

That said, there’s also nothing much to support the opposing argument either. Courtois has been far from perfect so far and in the worst possible scenario, Areola just proves to be equally as bad.

So, Real Madrid should put some faith into the 26-year-old goalkeeper solely on the off-chance he surprises everyone and actually performs better than the player he came in to play second fiddle to.

Aforementioned, he could hardly do worse, so there’s nothing much to lose for the Galacticos in this exchange, but there’s a lot to win.

At this point in time, they just have to try something, and you know what they say, fortune favours the bold.

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Spiers makes key Wolves loan claim

A new loan ruling that is set to be implemented next season could have a big impact on Wolves, according to reliable journalist Tim Spiers.

The Lowdown: New loan ruling

According to The Athletic, clubs will be limited on the number of international players they can have out on loan in the future.

From next season, teams will only be allowed to have eight players on temporary moves elsewhere and that number will drop to six by 2024.

Wolves currently have ten players out on loan, highlighting how clubs will be affected by the new venture moving forward.

The Latest: Spiers reacts to claim

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Spiers gave his thoughts on the news, discussing how it will impact on Wanderers’ business:

“New loan rules coming in next season which will impact Wolves, who had 10 players on loan overseas in the first half of the season (max of 8 next year then max 6 from 2024) and four at Grasshoppers (max 3 at one club).”

The Verdict: Good decision

In truth, it is healthy to see this ruling introduced, with the report correctly stating that it is a good way of preventing clubs from ‘stockpiling talent’.

It is good to see that players aged 21 and under won’t be affected, however, as loan moves can be healthy for their development, such as Wolves forward Theo Corbeanu, who is currently at MK Dons.

It will make teams think more about recruitment in general and potentially ensure they get the most out the players already in their ranks, rather than stockpiling players for purely financial reasons.

In other news, some Wolves fans have reacted to an exit rumour regarding one player. Find out who it is here.

Tottenham Hotspur: Pundit drops Tanguy Ndombele verdict

Lyon will try and negotiate a cut-price deal with Tottenham for Tanguy Ndombele in the summer, according to former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor (via Football Insider).

The Lowdown: Ndombele’s move to Lyon

The Frenchman re-joined his former Ligue 1 club on transfer deadline day after a tiring transfer saga throughout the January window.

Although only on loan until the end of the season, Lyon have the option of making the deal permanent. Sky Sports have reported that it would cost £54million to enact the permanent transfer, and that the French club have already paid a £1.2 million loan fee.

The France international made his return to action in the Ligue 1 outfit’s 2-0 loss to AS Monaco at the weekend after coming on at half-time. He impressed with a 91% passing success rate, along with completing all of his long ball and dribble attempts.

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The Latest: Agbonlahor makes Ndombele claim

According to talkSPORT’s Agbonlahor (via Football Insider), Lyon will try and negotiate a cut-price deal in talks with Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici.

When asked whether he thought the midfielder’s Tottenham career was over, Agbonlahor told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley: “It could be.

“But I don’t see Lyon paying that sort of money, to be honest.

“There will be a negotiation on that price. I can’t see Lyon paying that sort of money for someone like Ndombele.”

The Verdict: Lyon won’t make it permanent

Due to the global pandemic, the TV rights debacle in the French league and failing to qualify for the Champions League, L’Equipe reported (via Get French Football News) that Lyon are in a financial crisis, with an estimated deficit of €185m (£156.16m).

As a result, it seems highly unlikely that the club will be able to make Ndombele’s loan permanent in the summer window, with the staggering £54m fee required to do so. Even if that fee were halved, it would make him their most expensive signing ever.

If the Ligue 1 outfit are able to negotiate a much cheaper deal, then this move becomes much more feasible. However, if Spurs are willing to let go of the midfield ‘maverick’ – as Tim Sherwood called him – on the super cheap, there may be a long list of clubs lining up to secure his signature.

In other news: Pete O’Rourke claims Spurs will be interested in signing Paulo Dybala in the summer

Spurs "confident" of landing Serie A star

Tottenham Hotspur will be “confident” of signing Stefan de Vrij this month…

What’s the word?

That’s according to journalist Paul Brown, who delivered a claim about Spurs’ interest in the Inter Milan defender to GIVEMESPORT recently.

Back in November, Football Insider revealed that the Dutch centre-back had told friends that he would be interested in a switch to north London to work under his former boss Antonio Conte. It’s thought that the Italian rates De Vrij a lot higher than Milan Skriniar, who was close to joining the Lilywhites during the 2020 summer transfer window.

Brown claimed: “I think they’d be fairly confident (of signing De Vrij). It just depends if Inter have a realistic price for him considering he doesn’t have long left on his contract.”

Conte loves him

It’s believed that the addition of a new central defender is among the priorities for Spurs during the January transfer window, and Conte’s former star could fit the bill greatly.

That’s hardly a surprise given that it is arguably one of the weakest areas of the pitch right now. Summer signing Cristian Romero is out injured and left-back Ben Davies is playing in the middle, whilst the remaining options of Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Joe Rodon and Japhet Tangnaga have gone through inconsistencies and often cause mistakes.

Conte has tons of familiarity with De Vrij as the 6 foot 2 colossus played an integral role towards Inter securing their first Serie A title in over a decade, in which the Nerazzurri also recorded the best defensive record in the league.

In 2020/21, the 55-cap defender averaged an impressive 93.8% passing accuracy across 32 appearances, excelling with the ball at his feet, on top of two aerial duels won and 1.3 interceptions per league outing, proving to be a physical beast too (via WhoScored).

De Vrij was once lauded as a “monster” by his former Lazio teammate Mauricio, who told ESPN: (via Football Italia) “Stefan is a great defender and deserves to be at a big club. He’s very tall, he’s strong and fast, he runs a lot – he’s a monster!”. Mauricio later added: “He’s a calm defender who never gets agitated.”

It remains to be seen how much the Serie A giants would command for their leading defender, though Transfermarkt’s £40.5m valuation suggests that he wouldn’t come cheap.

However, on the above evidence, De Vrij would be a much-needed and welcome addition, especially considering how much Conte loves him. Spurs must look to seal his signature before the end of the month.

AND in other news, Spurs plotting move for “phenomenal” £16.2m-rated speed demon, he’s perfect for Conte…

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