All posts by z3u9t.icu

Since Victor Orta joined Leeds United he has got the vast majority of his recruitment spot on.

Under Marcelo Bielsa, you need a very particular type of player, someone who’s willing to work hard and press from the front. They have to withstand his meticulous training ideas and his intense murder ball sessions.

Fail that, and you’ll be out the door quicker than you can say Thorp Arch. Jean-Kevin Augustin found that out the hard way.

Signed on loan from RB Leipzig in January 2020, he played just 48 minutes before departing Yorkshire with not even much of a farewell.

However, as Orta will tell you himself, there are plenty in this Leeds squad that appear to be tailor-made in a lab for Bielsa. One of them has been Patrick Bamford.

The striker has attracted his fair share of criticism during his time at Elland Road but this term he’s been a revelation, scoring 13 Premier League goals. To emphasise that achievement, Bamford had netted just once at this level before promotion last year.

One of the players who helped him get to such a promising level at Leeds was Kemar Roofe. The duo played in tandem during the 2018/19 campaign and brought the best out of each other.

Bamford was the player to make things stick up top, acting as a support act for other players. Roofe, meanwhile, was the striker who’d get in behind and stretch the defence.

Indeed, since he departed for Anderlecht in the summer of 2019, Leeds haven’t really had a player capable of doing the same. They tried to replace him with Eddie Nketiah but he never got a chance to prove himself, being recalled to Arsenal after half a season.

Leeds have been a breath of fresh air to the top-flight this term but you can’t help but think they need just a little more pizzazz in the final third. One man who could give them that is Ivan Toney.

The Brentford sensation was linked with a move to the Whites last week and if he arrives, he could replicate what Roofe gave so willingly to Bielsa’s side.

Speaking about the former Leeds man in February 2019, Eddie Gray typified the Rangers’ striker’s qualities expertly. This came after the forward suffered a cruel injury: “It’s a blow for a number of reasons (the injury), goalscoring obviously. He’s lead the line well, but he’s got that little bit of pace. It is something we [Leeds] have not got in abundance. Real pace. I’m talking about, like Norwich pace.”

Indeed, Leeds still lack a bit of speed. Raphinha has added to that but despite their free-flowing capabilities, few in the squad can blow a defender away.

Toney could do that, however. He has had a breathtaking season in the Championship, scoring a haul of 26 goals in 34 outings.

He has pace, and pivotally for Bielsa, can defend from the front. Peterborough owner Barry Fry said before he left for the Bees: “He’s turned into a tremendous all-round footballer. It’s important to remember Ivan is not just an exceptional goal-scoring forward, he’s also an outstanding defender.”

Indeed, those sentiments have also been delivered by Brentford boss Thomas Frank: “Ivan is a special, special player,” he began.

“He showed top positioning in the box, which is what we work with him on, but also he read cleverly (where to go) off the shoulder of the second central defender and showed perfect timing to get in front of him – and then a one-touch, perfect finish, just fantastic,” Frank added.

Playing off the shoulder and picking up little pockets of space is incredibly similar to Roofe. Put Toney’s clinical goal-scoring ability into the equation and you have a far more fearsome proposition.

Frank concluded: “But it is also his work ethic which is so important. Defending from the number nine backwards is key for me and there is so much more about him that he brings to the squad.”

With that in mind, the 24-year-old feels like the perfect man for Bielsa. If they can steal a march on other suitors for Toney’s signature, he would be a first-class signing.

AND in other news, Leeds have their perfect Pablo heir in rarely-seen 19 y/o, he’s a “great talent”…

Celtic haven’t spent long feeling down in the dumps about their missed signing of Ben Davies. The Hoops burst back into action with an emphatic win over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership last night.

After going four goals to the good, Neil Lennon and his side relished in what is a rare victory these days for Celtic. Their win on the road is only their second win in their last seven fixtures – the reigning champions of Scotland have been hugely out of sorts this season.

Missing out on major January target Davies could still spell worries for the Bhoys moving forwards, but youngster Stephen Welsh looks to be stepping up to the plate.

Stephen Welsh vs Kilmarnock

Because of his disappointing loan spell and performances, Shane Duffy was dropped to the bench last night. Instead, the 6 foot 3 Welsh partnered Kristoffer Ajer at centre-back and put in an impressive performance to keep Kilmarnock out.

According to Sofascore, the £180,000-valued youngster completed 93% accurate passes which was the joint-highest of any player on the pitch along with teammate Callum McGregor – a real step-up in quality from Duffy, whose average of 82.8% this season is the lowest of any Hoops centre-back.

Welsh also showed his defensive reading of the game by making four clearances, one tackle and two interceptions. His clearances were the joint-highest among his teammates, while only new signing Jonjoe Kenny and Scott Brown made more than his pair of interceptions.

The up-and-coming defender also lost the ball the least amount of times out of the entire Celtic backline. He gave up possession on just six occasions compared to Ajer’s 12, Greg Taylor’s 21 and new signing Jonjoe Kenny’s hefty 26, an indication of how composed he is and really showcasing why The Athletic’s Kieran Devlin hailed him as the “modern defender”.

In fact, his total of 97 touches on the night were the third-most of any Hoops player, and that bit of confidence he has on the ball shone through in his passing choices and ability to bring the ball out of defence better.

Whilst a 4-0 win over Kilmarnock isn’t the solution to all of Celtic’s recent problems, Lennon will have been very impressed knowing that the 21-year-old Welsh has a strong performance in his locker. His eagerness to be noticed and force his way into the senior side permanently is showing and if he continues these impressive shifts and constantly improves, he could be the saviour Celtic never knew they had.

If the Hoops are intent on building on a new era, then Welsh could well be the leading man. They may have missed out on Davies, but in their own young starlet, they could have the future of their defence.

In other news, Duffy handed huge lifeline as Celtic miss out on Ben Davies…

Everton face competition from their rivals in the Premier League to sign Silas Wamangituka, according to Eurosport.

As per the news outlet, the Stuttgart star has caught the eye of clubs in the top flight as well as bigger clubs in Germany, with scouts from both the Goodison Park faithful and Fulham showing their firm interest.

Wamangituka’s style of play and impact is compared to that of Nicolas Pepe when he popped onto the radar of some elite clubs after impressing at Lille a couple of years ago, before Arsenal eventually managed to sign him for £72m.

With Pepe starting to show some decent form for the Emirates Stadium faithful, with three goals in his last six games in the PL (Transfermarkt), Wamangituka could well make a similar kind of impact in the division.

Everton should sign Wamangituka

The Merseyside club should look to sign Wamangituka at all costs, having broken onto the scene in the 2020/21 term quite emphatically with no fewer than 13 goals and a further three assists in 24 matches in all competitions so far (Transfermarkt).

Stuttgart head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo described the wide player as an ‘incredible talent’ in October of last year, and at just 21 years of age, he certainly has all of the potential to become a top player in the future.

Nonetheless, Carlo Ancelotti’s team must try and beat the impending competition to sign Wamangituka when the summer transfer window comes along.

In other news, find out what latest transfer update Toffees are happy with here!

Steve Bruce has been dealt a huge blow at Newcastle United after Ryan Fraser suffered yet another injury amid a torrid start to life at St. James’ Park for the Scotland winger.

The ex-AFC Bournemouth maestro missed the Magpies’ 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Boxing Day after sustaining a groin issue in the midweek Carabao Cup defeat to Championship side Brentford.

Fraser had only returned to fitness a week prior following a lengthy layoff with a hamstring injury that prevented the 26-year-old from tasting any game time for club or country since November 1st.

Bruce would have hoped to see Fraser finally establish himself in the Newcastle first-team following his return against Leeds United earlier this month, having only been able to call on the £11m-rated playmaker to start two of seven Premier League appearances following his summer arrival.

Instead, Fraser is now facing even more games on the sidelines with Bruce unsure how long the 26-year-old will be unavailable for ahead of facing champions Liverpool on Wednesday night.

“Unfortunately, he hurt his groin against Brentford,” Bruce said, via quotes by the Chronicle.

Bruce was also without Jonjo Shelvey, Paul Dummett and Jeff Hendrick against Pep Guardiola’s Man City, and is hoping to see signs of progress in his players over the coming days with Jamaal Lascelles and Allan Saint-Maximin still missing after testing positive for coronavirus.

“Shelvey had a groin injury and he is not right, he has played too many games,” Bruce added. “We will see if we can get a few back, once we do, I’m sure we will be OK.”

Bruce faces a mammoth task to take a result against Liverpool with yet more players set for spells on the sidelines, with Saturday’s defeat to Manchester City a third loss in the Toon’s last four fixtures across all competitions.

Fraser provided his second assist in black and white during his return to action at Elland Road this month, while Shelvey had captained the side in three of United’s previous four top-flight games.

Any severity in the knock sustained by Callum Wilson that prevented the £20m striker from featuring against Manchester City will only worsen Newcastle’s injury crisis, too, with the former Cherries ace accounting for 47% of the Magpies’ 17 Premier League goals – no player has contributed a higher percentage for their side.

AND in other news, an £18m-rated Newcastle ace badly betrayed Steve Bruce with a horror show performance at Man City.

For Olivier Ntcham, his Celtic stay is very quickly running out of gas.

The former Manchester City man was signed under Brendan Rodgers and initially, that looked like good business. He has scored 24 times for the Hoops throughout the years and once established himself as one of the most promising box to box midfielders in Scotland.

However, in double-quick time, it has all unravelled for the Frenchman. No longer does he display the lung-busting energy we associate with Ntcham and his lack of regular minutes this season suggest that he could soon be out the exit door.

The 24-year-old hasn’t started since the end of November and has been touted with a switch to West Brom.

That could be a welcome relief for Neil Lennon, someone who may be troubled by the player’s poor attitude this season.

Speaking earlier in the campaign about Ntcham, talkSPORT presenter Alan Brazil stated: “Ntcham, he looks as if he’s tools down and not bothered.”

Funnily enough, a player who could all but end his stay in Glasgow is in a similar situation in England.

The man in question is Preston’s Ben Pearson, another player being left out of the team because of a contract dispute. Celtic are eyeing a move for him and if they get a deal over the line, it would surely push Ntcham further down the pecking order and likely out of the Parkhead door.

After all, Pearson is a midfielder himself, and a powerful one at that.

Discussing his future over the weekend, Preston boss Alex Neil commented: “Listen, Ben would’ve been fit to be in the squad today, but we’ve signed some new lads that need to get minutes now. Ben has made it clear to us that his future doesn’t lie here come the end of the season.”

It was a damning indictment of the 26-year-old who perhaps like Ntcham, has displeased his manager.

Pearson is one of the most aggressive players around and in picking up 52 yellow cards in the last four and a half years, he is no stranger to throwing in a tackle.

By replacing their French titan with the Preston brute, they’d lose a degree of attacking urgency but importantly, they wouldn’t lose his battling and tough-tackling characteristics.

It seems like for all parties it would be best if Pearson and Ntcham left their respective clubs. Celtic, however, are likely to benefit most.

The former’s current £8.5k-per-week deal expires in the summer and consequently, Nick Hammond can agree a pre-contract with Pearson if he deems Celtic’s offer to be appropriate.

This signing would certainly be shrewd business from the Hoops hierarchy.

AND in other news, Lennon could finally axe Celtic veteran by unleashing “sensational” rarely-seen gem – opinion…

On Thursday evening in the San Siro, there were minimal expectations for Celtic.

This was a team taking on one of Europe’s elite sides while on a run of just two wins in their last ten outings.

It was a shock, therefore, when the Hoops took a remarkable 2-0 lead against AC Milan.

Tom Rogic continued his resurgence before Odsonne Edouard caught the eye to double things for Neil Lennon’s side.

Yet, in rather typical circumstances, they let their lead slip and thanks to some truly horrendous defending, they eventually lost 4-2.

It was a defeat, despite the attacking performance, that will have heaped even more pressure upon their frustrated manager.

Whatever he does at the moment, it doesn’t seem to pay off. Just a week on from when Scott Bain let his team down against Sparta Prague, stand-in ‘keeper Vasilis Barkas was also having a shocker.

That being said, the defence in front of him didn’t offer much help – particularly Diego Laxalt.

The Uruguayan has been impressive since signing, so much so that the Bhoys could make his temporary switch permanent. Though, against his parent club on Thursday, he was absolutely shocking at left-back.

He was brutally dominated by Samu Castillejo and Hakan Calhanoglu, being dribbled past on no fewer than three occasions.

Laxalt had a habit of mistiming his passes and on the way to completing just 69%, he lost possession a mighty 20 times.

It was an abysmal performance from a player with plenty of experience at the top level. In a game like this, you’d think the 27-year-old would have something to prove.

That seemed far from the case as he lost 58% of his duels – winning just six of his 17 battles on the ground.

It was an alarming performance from Laxalt who until now has been a relative shoo-in for Lennon on the left-hand side of defence.

This display, however, will surely have raised questions. Of course, it is better to judge his outings in the league but if Celtic want to dig themselves out of their current hole, he will have to improve.

To put it bluntly, this was not good enough.

In other news, check out how Celtic can solve their Scott Brown problem quickly…

When it comes to playing the top six in the Premier League, there are few better than Wolves.

Time and time again, they upset the apple cart, rocking the division’s best teams with some scintillating counter-attacking football.

Against Arsenal a few weeks ago they made the most of the Gunners’ torrid defence to win 2-1, but they were then battered 4-0 without Raul Jimenez against Liverpool.

However, they bounced back from a loss against Aston Villa to see off the challenge of high-flyers Chelsea.

Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence, as they did at the Emirates, put the Blues to the sword with a clinical attacking display that eventually saw the Midlanders prevail 2-1.

However, for all their wonderful attacking play, it was a defender that stole the show against one of the most powerful strikers in the league – Olivier Giroud.

Wolves went back to their tried and tested three-man defence on Tuesday and Romain Saiss was the stand-out player for Nuno Santo’s men.

The Moroccan was an absolute rock at the back, completing all of his tasks to near perfection.

Saiss impressively won 100% of his duels throughout the contest, winning four aerial duels and two tackles. Furthermore, he also didn’t concede a single foul which is particularly eye-catching when you consider he was up against the likes of Christian Pulisic and Timo Werner.

The centre-back also played out well, completing 86% of his passes and proving accurate with four of his seven long balls forward.

If that isn’t enough, Saiss also made five clearances in a battling display which ensured Chelsea could never really get going.

He wasn’t even in the side when Wolves conceded four to Liverpool, so he is now proving his worth to Nuno and demonstrating that he’s a key component of this side.

To outshine both Conor Coady and Willy Boly from a defensive point of view isn’t easy, but that’s exactly what he did at Molineux this week. Let’s hope we see more of it.

In other news, Wolves can land their dream Adama replacement with 8-goal behemoth…

Blackburn Rovers have leapfrogged Watford in the race to sign Leeds United defender Barry Douglas and are confident of a deal before Friday’s deadline.

With the domestic transfer window set to close at 5pm on Friday (16/10), we can expect plenty of movement in the Championship.

Leeds have been extremely active in terms of bringing players in over the summer but one player who now looks set to depart in Douglas, with plenty of interest from the second tier.

A whole host of clubs have eyes on the Scottish left-back, though Blackburn and Watford appear the most keen.

Blackburn take over Watford for Douglas move

With speculation mounting ahead of Friday’s deadline, it had been reported that Watford were front runners in the race to sign the defender.

However, that claim seems to have now been countered with Football Insider claiming officials from Ewood Park have held fresh talks with Leeds on Thursday morning over a deal.

This advance from the former Premier League winners could tempt Watford to make a final push for the defender, who has made 44 appearances for the Whites thus far.

From ‘integral’ to out the door

Douglas is unlikely to gain sufficient playing time at Elland Road this season with Stuart Dallas producing consistently good form over the last 12 months at left-back.

Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa has often praised Douglas, calling the defender an ‘integral’ part of his squad just under one month ago, but that now seems to have changed with an exit on the cards.

Who Douglas would be better suited to join is up for debate but you have to feel Watford would be better equipped to mount a promotion challenge if the Scot wants to embark on a similar campaign to that which he experienced with Leeds last season.

Do you think Douglas should join Blackburn or Watford? Let us know in the comments section below…

Celtic missed out on signing £25million Tottenham Hotspur acquisition Ryan Sessegnon, who is currently on loan with Hoffenheim until the end of the season. His admirable versatility and strong presence in front of goal during his Fulham days attracted a lot of attention, but he has fallen down the pecking order at Spurs.

Whilst Jose Mourinho is a fan of his and has labelled him a “fantastic” player, the 20-year-old still has a lot to learn. This loan spell could be the making of him under the Portuguese icon, or it could attract interest from other clubs.

Celtic must revisit Sessegnon talks

The Hoops registered their desire to sign the England youth international just before the summer transfer deadline. Sky Sports reported that the Premiership outfit were very keen on Sessegnon, but finances proved to be a problem in getting a deal over the line.

Indeed, the current climate has hit many clubs hard and sacrifices have been made. But with plenty of clubs interested in Odsonne Edouard, Neil Lennon could be looking to cut his cloth there and use the funds to invest in a player like Sessegnon.

His final season with Fulham saw him take on a multitude of roles, including right-back, left-back, left-wing and centre-forward (via Transfermarkt). As it stands, this kind of versatility would be hugely beneficial to Celtic, who have seen an ongoing change in their starting lineup.

It’s been a tough 2020/21 season for the Hoops so far, who have fallen out of favour in the league and are having a torrid time in Europe. Lennon appears to be jamming square pegs into round holes as he juggles an injury-ridden squad. The recent controversy with Mohamed Elyounoussi could also see him lose the clinical striker, who has made a big impact on the club this term.

This is exactly where the manager would have benefited from Sessegnon, who has shown his confidence in slotting into almost any position on the pitch and performing to the highest standard.

In other news, Shane Duffy was biggest Celtic disappointment against Sparta Prague…

According to The Telegraph, Newcastle have asked about signing Manchester United centre-back Chris Smalling.

What’s the word?

The Magpies conceded 58 goals in the Premier League last season, with only six other teams having a worse record. It’s therefore no surprise that Steve Bruce appears to be on the hunt for a new defender, and The Telegraph claim that they have Smalling in their sights.

The report reveals that the Tyneside club have made an enquiry to United over potentially bringing in the England international, but with just a few days left until the transfer window closes, they face a race against time to get it done.

Another chance in the Premier League

When Smalling left United to join Serie A giants AS Roma last summer, some may have thought that the England international’s career in the Premier League was officially over.

Instead, the 6 foot 4 powerhouse’s impressive display for the Italian side, has surely made the £18m-rated ace worthy of a second chance in English football’s top-flight.

As per WhoScored, he averaged an impressive 1.9 interceptions and four clearances per game in Serie A, as well as boasting a 90.5% passing accuracy – in fact, his average match rating of 7.0, ranked him within the top three of central defenders in the competition.

Such were his performances, that Roma boss Paulo Fonseca raved: “He’s a defender that had never left England and he arrived in a league very demanding of tactics, where details make the difference. Chris adapted very quickly.

“He’s an extraordinary guy, very intelligent. He has characteristics that I really appreciate in the centre. He’s fast, nearly unbeatable in one-on-ones. He has a great ability to read the play and anticipate. He was very important for this club.”

With that season of education in Italian football under his belt, Newcastle could be the big beneficiaries with signing a player who looks completely revived.