Tag Futebol

An update has emerged on Newcastle United’s pursuit of Liverpool defender Nathaniel Phillips…

What’s the talk?

According to i News, the Magpies are considering a deal for the Anfield destroyer as they plot a number of defensive additions to improve their squad.

The report claims that he is high on their list of centre-back targets and the Reds are demanding £15m for his services.

Howey 2.0

Eddie Howe could find his own Steve Howey for Newcastle in a deal to sign Phillips from the Premier League giants this month.

Howey was a homegrown defender who played 160 times for the Magpies during his time at the club and 193 games in the Premier League overall in his career. Phillips could follow a similar career path, albeit without starting at Newcastle, as he is an English centre-back who has the quality to play regularly at the top level for a number of years.

The Liverpool man may even end up coming up short on the international front, just like Howey during his playing days. Despite playing week in, week out for the Toon, the 50-year-old ended his career with just four caps for England’s senior side.

Phillips has played 24 times for Liverpool’s first team but has not been called up to represent England at any age level. This suggests that, like Howey, he may be a player who is overlooked by his country despite his performances at club level.

Last season, the 24-year-old averaged a superb WhoScored rating of 7.29 in the Premier League, his match average of 5.6 successful aerial duels the joint-fifth highest in the entire division. This led to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp showering the centre-back with praise for his performances.

The German told Goal.com: “Nat Phillips is just an exceptional career so far, with all the things he did in the past and what he thought about and where he was and all these things. Now playing for Liverpool in the Champions League, Premier League, winning games, winning challenges.

“[He will have] probably the best heading statistics in the history of the Premier League I could imagine at least, it is unbelievable what the boy is doing there, and on top of that playing good football.”

This suggests that Phillips is capable of putting in top-class displays at the highest level, and that is why he could be Howe’s own Steve Howey, as the 24-year-old English destroyer could come in and be Newcastle’s go-to centre-back for the next decade if he remains consistent.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano drops exciting Newcastle United transfer update, fans will be buzzing…

Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, has clarified that Ramnaresh Sarwan’s exclusion from the side was to give him more time to recover fully from his injury, in time for tougher assignments

Cricinfo staff09-Mar-2010Ottis Gibson, the West Indies coach, has said that Ramnaresh Sarwan’s exclusion from the squad for the home series against Zimbabwe was to give him more time to recover fully from his injury, so that he could be ready for tougher assignments.”Ramnaresh Sarwan is very important to the team. He was with us in Guyana and seeing him around was very good. He had a serious injury with his back,” Gibson said.Sarwan was overlooked for the last three ODIs against Zimbabwe despite returning to first-class cricket and featuring in the Regional four-day competition. His omission raised several eyebrows especially after he made a century for Guyana last week, a knock that signaled a return to some level of fitness.”At the moment he could benefit from some more time to get fully ready. I don’t want to rush him back too soon. The last thing we want would be to rush him back and lose him for the long-term. It is a precaution to allow him to get 100% ready for the major international assignments we have later this year,” Gibson said.West Indies’s upcoming schedule includes the ICC World Twenty20 and a three-Test, five-ODI home series against South Africa later this year.The last three ODIs against Zimbabwe will be played at the Arnos Vale Stadium in St. Vincent, starting from Wednesday.

Official Rangers media partner Heart & Hand have revealed some the details involved in the proposed sale of Nathan Patterson to Everton.

It emerged on Sunday evening that the English Premier League club were closing in on a deal for the Gers’ right back.

Everton had made two unsuccessful attempts to land Patterson in the 2021 summer transfer window, but Rangers’ insistence on a sell-on clause had apparently been a ‘stumbling block’ in negotiations.

However, according to a new claim from Heart & Hand, the Toffees have now agreed to that provision.

The Merseyside club will pay £12m for the Scotland international, most of it up front, and the fee could rise to £16m if add-ons are triggered.

Patterson has only made two starts in the Premiership this season, but his sale could become the most lucrative in Rangers’ history, surpassing the £12.15m they fetched from current Ibrox manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s move to Arsenal in 2001.

Here’s what these Rangers fans made of the information from Heart & Hand regarding the 20-year-old’s proposed exit.

These Rangers fans applaud Patterson business

“Will be sad to see Paterson go, but this is money that can kickstart Gio’s era and our player trading model without upset the first 11. Paterson will also be set for life, no brainer for all parties.”

Credit: @tagsbo

“good deal for both parties, would have liked to see him develop here but too much to knock back for a substitute”

Credit: @parkovanbasten

“As most are saying, great business for a player who has only started a handful of games. Perhaps he could have played a bigger part in years to come, but wasn’t fair on him being stuck on the bench. Hope some money gets put back into the team, right wing and centre half please.”

Credit: @Lawrence0Hunter

“Good move for everyone. Great money for us for a benchwarmer, and he’ll find it far easier to get a game at Everton instead of trying to dislodge Tav. The very best of luck to him. Once a Ranger etc”

Credit: @R1130_

“Some bit of business for us btw”

Credit: @RyanLawless93

“That’s unreal business for a guy who has barely played any first team football”

Credit: @Fahdy824

In other news, lots of Gers fans erupted over this transfer news

أشاد مدرب بلجيكا، الإسباني روبرتو مارتينيز، بحالة حارس مرماه وريال مدريد الإسباني، تيبو كورتوا خلال هذا الموسم.

تيبو كورتوا قاد ريال مدريد للفوز على أتلتيكو مدريد يوم الأحد الماضي، وتعزيز صدارة الدوري الإسباني بعد تصديه لأكثر من فرصة حقيقية للروخي بلانكوس.

طالع أيضًا.. إريك جارسيا يتحدث عن احتمالية انضمام أسينسيو لـ برشلونة ويؤكد: فيران توريس سيء الحظ

وقال مدرب الشياطين الحمر في تصريحات بمؤتمر صحفي قبل مواجهة ويلز في دوري الأمم الأوروبية: “تيبو كورتوا الآن في القمة، هو أفضل حارس في العالم، وفي لحظة النضج الأمثل في مسيرته”.

وأضاف: “تمكنت مؤخرًا من البحث في الإحصائيات، وتأكدت من أن كورتوا أوقف 24 من آخر 25 تسديدة تلقاها في دوري أبطال أوروبا، وهي المسابقة التي توج فيها بطلًا مع ريال مدريد”.

واختتم: “في 2018، تم اختياره أفضل حارس في كأس العالم، ومنذ ذلك الحين، نما كثيرًا من الجانب العقلي، الجزء البشري لم يتغيّر، لكنه لاعب رائع، هو الأفضل في مركزه، ويتواجد على قمة كرة القدم الآن”.

Kumar Sangakkara stood alone between India and the No. 1 Test ranking, scoring his first hundred in six Tests in India

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga05-Dec-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outKumar Sangakkara carried Sri Lanka on the fourth day with his maiden hundred in India•AFPKumar Sangakkara stood alone between India and the No. 1 Test ranking, scoring his first hundred in six Tests in India, a fighting effort on a pitch that helped both spinners and fast bowlers. Although India were made to work hard for six wickets on the fourth day, they were still in control of the Brabourne Test. Their position was strengthened after a Sri Lankan middle-order collapse, kicked off by Sreesanth, continued by Zaheer Khan and finished by Pragyan Ojha, resulting in four wickets for 25 runs.The day began with another umpiring howler against Tillakaratne Dilshan, followed by a stodgy 90-run stand between Tharanga Paranavitana and Sangakkara, before the middle-order wobbled against inspired bowling. By then, though, Sangakkara had overcome an edgy start against Harbhajan Singh, who extracted alarming turn and bounce even with the new ball, and went on to ensure India would have to bowl on the fifth day, and perhaps bat again too.In the morning, Dilshan looked to play a game that didn’t come naturally to him, padding away the big offbreaks from Harbhajan. Arguments will abound if that was the right approach but Dilshan was not allowed to make his own mistakes. In the sixth over, he was given lbw while padding up to a sharp offbreak that was easily missing leg stump.Although he was lucky with Dilshan’s wicket, Harbhajan then gave both the left-hand batsmen a tough time. He bowled smartly, but Sangakkara and Paranavitana batted smartly too. Harbhajan mixed pace, trajectory, line, and angle and beat the batsmen with his variations. But Sangakkara and Paranavitana didn’t let him have a prolonged spell at either of them by taking quick singles. Three of Harbhajan’s subsequent overs in that spell featured plays and misses, all four had singles.Initially Paranavitana was more at ease than Sangakkara, who looked for the getaway sweep shot against Harbhajan and nearly got out twice. Even at 98kph, Harbhajan got sharp turn and, although he didn’t bowl the doosra much, he kept the batsmen guessing with topsinners from round the stumps.Paranavitana was solid in defence and rarely played away from his body but he still played aggressive shots for release every now and then, especially against Pragyan Ojha, whom he lofted for three on-side boundaries. After lunch Paranavitana reached a well-deserved half-century, his second in the match, but was soon done in by a superb outswinger from Sreesanth. The bowler had to wait his turn on the fourth morning, with MS Dhoni choosing to begin with spin from one end, but made his presence felt with sharp swing.By then Sangakkara had settled in and Sri Lanka’s challenge was to bat through scoreless periods without letting it affect them. Sangakkara managed that, defending stoutly, using his feet against the spinners, spending 17 balls on 46, and then bringing up his fifty off 145 balls.The other two middle-order mainstays, though, couldn’t match Sangakkara. Zaheer followed Sreesanth’s impressive spell with his best of the series. A 22-ball run-less period followed a ball that moved slightly away from Mahela Jayawardene and took the edge. Four overs later, from round the stumps, Zaheer tucked up Thilan Samaraweera, who edged low to first slip where VVS Laxman took a sharp catch. Just before tea, Ojha spun one sharply across Angelo Mathews, giving Dhoni his 100th catch, and not a straightforward one at that.Sri Lanka went into the break 189 runs behind. They returned having learnt the lesson, and made a conscious effort to not get bogged down. Sangakkara started stepping out to Ojha and cleared the aggressive field placements with ease. Prasanna Jayawardene pulled and drove Zaheer for fours, slog-swept Virender Sehwag for a six, and in no time the deficit started approaching double figures. Ojha ended that partnership when Prasanna played down the wrong line and was caught lbw.The two had added 64 runs in 14.4 overs and Sangakkara had moved to 81 off 198 deliveries. Two balls later Nuwan Kulasekara survived a plumb lbw, and that was the closest India came to getting a wicket for the rest of the day. Sangakkara farmed the strike initially but soon realised Kulasekara was not having much trouble negating the spinners. Keeping with the trend on the first three days, the pitch seemed to have eased out in the final session.Sangakkara spent 24 balls in the 90s, refusing singles and picking boundaries when the fields came up for the last two balls of the overs. By the time he reached his century, India had taken the new ball, and he unleashed a flurry of attractive drives. By stumps the two had added an unbeaten 66 in 17.3 overs, and Sangakkara had scored 83 runs in 107 balls since tea. That despite refusing many a single.

West Indies may be weakened without their big stars but their captain Floyd Reifer has said his side could spring a surprise as most of their opponents haven’t had a chance to analyse his new-look squad.The leading players of the Caribbean – including Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo – are missing because of a long-running contract dispute with the West Indies board.West Indies open their campaign against Pakistan on Wednesday. “We have watched Pakistan a lot on the television,” Reifer said. “We have been able to come up with some tactics but they have never watched us play, so that’s good for us. There is a nervous energy in the camp but we are not scared of anyone.”West Indies’ chances have also improved because Pakistan’s captain Younis Khan was ruled out of the match due to a hairline fracture on the little finger of his right hand. “Losing the leader of the team, the leader of the ship, is never a good thing,” Reifer said. “He is a good captain and a good batsman so that’s a big blow for Pakistan.”The other two sides in West Indies’ group are India and Australia, two of the favourites for the tournament. “Whether it’s a tough group or not, it will be a challenge for us. Thereare no big-name players.”He urged his inexperienced side to seek inspiration from the West Indies’ performances in the two previous Champions Trophies. “This is a major tournament and we want to do well. In 2004, we were the champions. We were underdogs then as well. In 2006, we finished runner-up.”The signs haven’t been encouraging for West Indies in the lead-up to the tournament. They were thrashed by 188 runs by South Africa and lost to Sri Lanka by five wickets on Sunday.

Kurt Zouma, Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio all struggled in West Ham’s 2-1 defeat away to Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

The Hammers lost their second Premier League match in a row, with the champions proving to be too strong in the end. Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho found the net for City, while Manuel Lanzini scored a last-gasp consolation for David Moyes’ men.

We have looked at the figures from statistical experts Sofascore to delve into the performances of the three lowest-rated West Ham players among those who featured for at least 45 minutes.

Kurt Zouma – 6.5

Zouma started at the heart of the Hammers’ defence but he didn’t impress in the absence of injured centre-back partner Angelo Ogbonna.

The Frenchman didn’t make a single tackle against City, allowing the hosts’ attackers to get the better of him too often.

Not only that, he also failed to play any key passes out from the back and lost possession three times, which was arguably a factor in West Ham struggling to build attacks.

Said Benrahma – 6.5

Benrahma was another Irons player who failed to stamp his authority on proceedings, eventually being substituted in the second half.

He lost possession 10 times overall as City dominated the ball, and he won just one of his five duels at the Etihad Stadium.

Like Zouma, the Algerian also didn’t make a key pass, which is far from ideal for a player with his attacking quality.

Michail Antonio – 6.3

The hope was that Antonio would regain his excellent form from earlier in the season and bully City’s defence, but that didn’t prove to be the case.

An ineffective showing saw the 31-year-old fail to have a single shot in the game, also completing just seven of his 12 passes (58%) and no key passes.

Possession was lost 16 times when Antonio had the ball, too, on a poor afternoon for the striker, who has netted just once in his last seven Premier League games.

In other news, a journalist has made a claim regarding a potential West Ham signing. Read more here.

After humiliating Manchester United 5-0 in their latest Premier League match, Liverpool now have a different challenge on their hands in their next game with a clash against Championship club Preston North End at Deepdale in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening.

On the chalkboard

One player that wasn’t involved in the victory at Old Trafford that we think should be in the starting XI in midweek is 26-year-old winger Takumi Minamino.

Minamino has only made two appearances for Liverpool across all competitions so far this season, one of which came during the Merseyside club’s previous Carabao Cup match which saw them beat fellow Premier League side Norwich City 3-0, with Minamino scoring two of them.

Taking this into account, we feel that Minamino would be a good option to start against Preston given the fact he hasn’t played that much but has shown he is capable of putting in a decent shift when given the chance as he did against Norwich.

In that match against the Canaries, in addition to scoring two goals, Minamino managed to earn himself an overall match rating of 8/10 from the Liverpool Echo who said that he was “always a danger” in the match, showing how useful he can be when called upon even though he hasn’t played regularly so far this season and how he could destroy Preston with his attacking talent on the pitch.

Liverpool signed Minamino, who has been described as “outstanding” by Jurgen Klopp in the past, back in December 2019 from Austrian club RB Salzburg after they triggered his £7.25m release clause.

Since joining the Merseyside club, the 26-year-old, who is currently valued at £10.8m according to Transfermarkt, has made just 33 appearances for the Reds across all competitions, scoring six goals and providing two assists in the process.

Back in February, Minamino joined fellow Premier League side Southampton on a loan deal where he managed to net two goals in ten matches before returning to Merseyside.

Looking ahead to the Preston clash, we feel that this game could be another good opportunity for the £72k-per-week earner to show what he is capable of and why he deserves to be in the Liverpool squad rather than away on another loan deal.

In other news: Never mind Salah: “Intense” £90k-p/w LFC gem who made 2 key passes was vital yesterday – opinion

Spurs are planning for life with Harry Kane despite an intense summer of speculation, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano this week…

What’s the word?

The Italian journalist delivered a fresh update on the England international’s current situation and the general feeling behind-the-scenes at Hotspur Way, with the January transfer window soon on the horizon.

Speaking on his ‘Here We Go’ podcast, Romano revealed:

“Tottenham are really planning with Harry Kane now.

“The atmosphere around Harry Kane is relaxed now. It’s not a fight like it was earlier in the summer.

“Let’s see what is going to happen next summer, but as of right now, the situation is really relaxed around Harry Kane, and for Manchester City, there is nothing going on with Kane now.”

Fans surely buzzing

For club and country in 2021/22, the 28-year-old talisman has been horribly out of sorts, having yet scored in the Premier League this term. The reasons for his poor form are somewhat explainable but they are not 100% fact.

Perhaps the failed move to defending champions Manchester City has played its part, or the fact that he barely had a pre-season following Euro 2020, or it could even boil down to Nuno Santo and his tactical system.

But he’s certainly not kicking up a fuss publicly and he did commit to the club in an announcement on social media after returning on the pitch earlier in the season.

However, this latest update should provide a major source of encouragement that the situation in the summer will not boil over into January, meaning Nuno and Spurs can continue business as usual heading into 2022.

It also means that Kane will, at least, see out the current campaign, in which he will undoubtedly turn his form around and that should please much of the Lilywhites faithful who will love the fact that their star man is here to stay.

The long-serving youth product has found the net at least 24 times in every season since 2014/15, so there is nothing to fear just yet.

It has also only been five league starts for Kane so far this term, whilst he has bagged six goals across European and domestic cup competitions.

If everything is good behind-the-scenes as Romano claims, then it’s surely a matter of time before the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd see their leading man firing on all cylinders once again.

AND in other news, Spurs handed quadruple squad boost ahead of Newcastle clash…

The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has dropped an Aston Villa transfer update on Anwar El Ghazi’s future at the club.

What’s the story?

Speaking on The Athletic’s 1874 podcast, he said: “El Ghazi’s an interesting one because I think, in an ideal world, Villa would probably have tried to move him on – if they’d have got a taker for him.

“And maybe this is Villa not being proactive enough and finding somebody who could have taken him earlier on in the window.

“Yeah, he came in and served a purpose early in the season, but he’s a player that’s going to be struggling to feature, I think, now. I don’t think he’s going to get many Premier League minutes. He’ll only get minutes if there are injuries elsewhere. I don’t think he’s going to be a happy bunny because he’s not gonna be playing enough.”

Should’ve sold him

Amid all the success Villa enjoyed in bringing players into the club, not cashing in on El Ghazi may be one of the only blotches in their book in terms of their summer transfer window.

Reports had indicated that the Midlands club were hoping to receive around £17m for him, with Serie A side AS Roma very interested in taking him to Italy.

In the end, Villa chose not to let El Ghazi go, and having also signed the likes of Leon Bailey and Emi Buendia who predominantly play out wide, the Dutchman now faces far more competition for places at Villa Park.

If they had recouped some of that outlay from selling El Ghazi, Villa could potentially have reinvested the money into a more pressing need, like central midfield.

Villa fans might be fuming at Evans’ update on the 26-year-old Dutch international.

Meanwhile, Villa may already have their next Ezri Konsa…