Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood has hailed praise on new summer signing Rudy Gestede’s heading ability, according to reports from the Daily Star.
Gestede joined Villa from Blackburn Rovers after the two clubs agreed on a £6million fee last week as a direct replacement for Christian Benteke, who left for Liverpool.
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And Sherwood insists that the Benin international striker is able to fill in for the £32.5million Belgian, praising his heading as the best he has seen in the English game.
He said: “Rudy has a lot of qualities but one outstanding one and that’s his aerial presence, which is immense.
“It’s better than anything I have seen around in English football. He terrorises defenders in the air.
“With respect to the central defenders in the Championship, they are there because there’s a great aerial presence in that division.
“So if he can do that to them, I am sure he can do it to the guys in the Premier League. His goalscoring record is terrific too.”
The former Tottenham Hotspur interim manager went on to add that the £6million the Midlands club paid for the 26-year-old is a snip when compared to Blackburn’s £11million asking price for his strike-partner Jordan Rhodes.
“Everyone talks about Jordan Rhodes and absolutely right because he scores goals, but Rudy outscored him last season,” he continued.
“They’re talking about £11m upwards for Jordan. We think we have a bargain with Rudy. Also, he’s a great guy and wants to develop and learn.”
Villa have been extremely active in the transfer market, bringing in the likes of Jordan Ayew from Lorient, Jordan Amavi from Nice, and Micah Richards from Fiorentina this summer.
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Gestede made 44 appearances for Blackburn in all competitions last season, scoring 22 goals.
According to the Guardian, Manchester United are preparing a £25million bid for Fulham’s teenage sensation, Ryan Sessegnon.
The 17-year-old has earned the plaudits following a series of sensational performances for Fulham, and his impressive displays are beginning to attract the interest of some of Europe’s most reputable clubs.
What’s the story?
The Red Devils are readying a £25m bid for Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon, and it is believed that Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho, is willing to sell Luke Shaw to fund their move for the starlet.
However, Fulham have suggested that they would require a bid of more than £30m to contemplate selling one of their star players.
Is he worth the money?
At the age of 17, the Englishman’s achievements in his professional career is astounding. Despite being very young, Sessegnon has amassed 53 first-team appearances for the Whites, and he has scored a terrific total of 11 goals.
One of the defender’s primary assets is his versatility. Despite typically operating as a left-back, Sessegnon can function as a winger too, and he’s highly regarded for his attacking qualities such as his capacity to dribble.
Do they need him?
Manchester United flaunt a proud and treasured history of youth development, and Fulham’s rising star has the potential to rival the talents of any United academy product. However, a move to United could prove to be premature at this stage of his career.
As Wilfried Zaha’s transfer to United testified, a young player requires consistent first-team involvement to continue their progression, and the Ivorian was deprived of that during his time at Old Trafford.
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If United are sincere about signing Sessegnon, they should ensure that he has an active role in their first-team, or they sign him now and loan him back to Fulham until he’s ready to assume a starting position in their team.
In many ways Nathan Redmond has always been up against it since he signed for Southampton for a fee in the region of £10m from Norwich City in the summer of 2016.
During that transfer window, the south coast outfit had seen previous manager Ronald Koeman replaced by Claude Puel, while Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle and Victor Wanyama were among the key first-team players that moved on to pastures new.
Replacing Mane, who scored 25 goals in 75 appearances in total for Saints and 15 in 43 in his final season at St Mary’s, was always going to be a tough task, and it was Sofiane Boufal that was probably brought into the club do this, rather than Redmond.
However, injury problems meant the talented Moroccan missed out on pre-season and wasn’t fit in the early stages of the campaign, which gave the former Canaries winger – who wasn’t even a regular for them as they were relegated in the 2015/16 campaign – a starting berth at the beginning of the season, and naturally the fans wanted him to try and have the same impact as Mane.
While Southampton’s success and three successive top-eight finishes had been built on a 4-2-3-1 formation, Puel decided that he wanted to play with a 4-4-2 diamond system at the start of the campaign, and Redmond was handed a striker’s spot by the Frenchman.
A goal on his full debut in the 1-1 draw against Watford certainly got his career with the south coast outfit off to a positive start, but comparisons to Thierry Henry by Puel the day before the season got underway certainly weren’t helpful for lowering expectations and instead put the pressure on him.
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The attacker failed to score in his next six Premier League appearances despite playing the full 90 minutes in each, and throughout the campaign Puel gradually reverted back to the 4-2-3-1 system when he realised that his preferred style wasn’t working.
Redmond seemed to alternate between starts on the left and the right, before settling on a regular spot on the left in the second-half of the campaign as Saints recorded an eighth-place finish.
The 23-year-old scored one goal and didn’t pick up a single assist in his final nine top flight appearances last season however, but it wasn’t all bad as he ended the season with seven top flight goals as well as netting in the 1-0 win against Liverpool in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final tie.
However, his disappointing form from last season has carried into the current campaign under new manager Mauricio Pochettino, where he has no goals and three assists in 21 matches.
Even though he often seems to make more of an impact on the right-hand side because of his pace, the one-capped England international usually starts on the left, and the fact that he is often forced to cut in on to his stronger right foot hardly helps his personal impact and slows the team’s attacking play down in general.
There has obviously been a huge dip in form and loss of confidence in the player – who needs to work on his decision-making – with the fans’ frustrations with him and Pellegrino beginning to boil over as he has continued to start games in recent weeks and months despite making little impact.
Southampton fans have been quick to get on his back when he has been named in the starting XI and has made a mistake – with some ironically cheering when he has been taken off.
Pellegrino has actually taken him out of the limelight and put him on the bench more often than not in recent times, but he has still been booed by some when he has been introduced.
Considering his poor form and the fact that he isn’t delivering on the pitch it isn’t a surprise, but it isn’t the only reason that Redmond isn’t popular among the St Mary’s faithful.
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One of the main problems with him is that he is quick to moan at his teammates when they don’t do something right, and he points at and blames others for his own mistakes.
It shows a real lack of maturity from the 23-year-old, and while it is clear that he simply wants to win, there are better ways to go about it on the pitch then often being seen visibly whingeing at the people on your team.
All of the factors mentioned in this piece combine tell the story of how Redmond’s Southampton career has never been a walk in the park, but the Saints fans would certainly have a lot more respect and empathy with him if he went about things the right way on the pitch too.
Save the moaning for in the dressing room at half-time or full-time, because fans who are seeing a lack of goals and poor results won’t take kindly to seeing a player constantly having a go at his teammates on the pitch – especially when the individual is making just as many mistakes himself.
Rangers’ fine start to 2018 continued on Sunday as they battled to a 2-1 victory away to Ross County in the Scottish Premiership.
Not only have the Light Blues won both of their matches since returning from the mid-season break, they’ve added a number of first team stars to Graeme Murty’s squad that are already making an impact.
Jason Cummings got his first goal for the club during the win in Dingwall, which proved to be a vital winner, while the likes of Sean Goss continue to impress in the heart of midfield.
The Queens Park Rangers loanee is fast becoming a hero with supporters after a couple of industrious ball-playing performances and they can’t wait to see how much more he can offer between now and the end of the season, with some even suggesting they want to make it permanent already.
The former Manchester United man appears to be enjoying the initial stages of his spell in Glasgow and if he can continue to impress then there’s little prospect of him not finding regular first team football.
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Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his Sunday showing…
On-loan Newcastle United striker Adam Armstrong scored a brace for League One high-flyers Blackburn Rovers in their 2-1 win against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Tuesday night, and Magpies fans were quick to have their say on his display.
The 21-year-old joined Championship outfit Bolton Wanderers on loan until January back in the summer, but he was recalled by the Magpies last month despite making 23 appearances in all competitions for the Trotters, with many of those coming from out wide rather than as a centre-forward.
Armstrong joined Wanderers’ Lancashire rivals on a similar temporary deal just days after he returned from the Macron Stadium, and he has now netted three goals in seven matches.
Newcastle supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the Toon starlet, and while one said he’s “not good enough for the Prem”, another said “patience needed with the lad”.
Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…
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For Arsenal to take all three points from Saturday’s North London Derby, they’ll have to do something they’ve managed just three times in the Premier League this season – win an away game.
It’s incredible to think the Premier League’s sixth-placed side with ambitions of returning to Europe’s pinnacle tournament have claimed less points on the road than Leicester, Burnley and Watford this season, and just one more than 16th-placed Newcastle United, but at this stage in the campaign it can’t be a mere coincidence or statistical anomaly.
Rather, Arsenal’s modest away form has been perhaps the only real constant of their turbulent season – one that Arsene Wenger has shown no real willingness to address and only given token explanations for in the media.
After losing three of their first four away games of the campaign, Wenger told reporters that his side simply didn’t score enough goals on the road; but after a scoreless draw with West Ham, he blamed a hectic fixture list instead. Back in September, meanwhile, when quizzed on Arsenal’s equally disturbing away record against the Big Six across several seasons, he said he couldn’t ‘accept or understand’ why playing away from home should make any difference to his players.
“The pitch is 105 metres long and 68 metres wide, everywhere, and never in my life I could accept or understand that it’s different away from home. It’s just a question of how much you want it, it’s about football, it’s a good opportunity to show that and that we have that quality.”
That’s a mind-boggling declaration for a modern manager to make, and one that simply doesn’t stack up against the statistics. Even Manchester United, the most dominant club in Premier League history, have averaged ten less away than home points per season over the last 25 years, while that gap expands to eleven for Arsenal. In fact, from the six clubs to feature in all 26 Premier League seasons to date, none have won more points on the road than at home.
Not that anyone would be surprised by that – after all, home advantage is a common, constantly justified adage in practically every sport, whether it’s Rafa Nadal on clay courts or Team GB excelling at the London Olympics.
But Wenger’s bizarre take on the fallacy of home advantage also explains why Arsenal haven’t made any obvious changes to their game-plan for away games this season in the face of damning returns on the road. From 13 away games in the Premier League, the Gunners have won just 23%, kept only three clean sheets, conceded 21 times, scored just 16, fallen behind eight times and thrown away eleven points from winning positions.
It’s not been a problem exclusive to the Premier League either – Arsenal’s most humiliating performance of the season was a 4-2 defeat to Championship side Nottingham Forest at the City Ground – and even their away victories in the top flight have come with caveats.
The 5-2 win over Everton was tellingly followed by Ronald Koeman’s dismissal, the 1-0 victory at Turf Moor owed to a last-second Alexis Sanchez penalty of huge controversy and a win at Selhurst Park was almost thrown away when Crystal Palace staged a late onslaught. In a nutshell, their only comfortable away win of the season came against a side that had previously picked up just eight points from their first eight games and immediately sacked their manager afterwards.
When contrasted with claiming the second-most home points and second-most home goals of any Premier League side this season though, Wenger’s dismissal of the differences between home and away suddenly have real relevance. After all, during this season more than any other, we’ve seen the rest of the league grind out results against the Big Six by any pragmatic means possible, regardless of the venue.
Although playing defensively at home would traditionally irk supporters, it has become something for them to champion in an increasingly polarised Premier League. And while Arsenal averaging 61% possession at the Emirates Stadium would inevitably feel like something of a besiegement for visiting opposition, the Gunners averaging almost exactly the same away – 58.4% – without actually breaking through the defence feels more like an active defiance for fans to rally behind.
Clearances and blocks are celebrated with similar jubilance as goals, and players inevitably feel more confident of picking off Arsenal on the counter-attack when backed by their own partisan crowd. Once upon a time, perhaps Arsenal could play in exactly the same manner home and away, but as the dynamics of the Premier League have steadily changed in recent seasons, the counter-attack becoming an increasingly potent weapon, retaining possession only plays to the hosts’ advantage.
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But that doesn’t tell the full story, and the fact is Arsenal’s players have picked up some disturbing habits – the most detrimental being conceding early goals. Arsenal have conceded six first half goals in away games this season, while only scoring four, and conceded the first goal on five of eleven occasions – the remaining two being scoreless draws.
While that only further plays into the hands of sides counter-attacking at home as Arsenal look to level the scores, it also suggests a lack of focus amongst the players; it’s not as if the opposition are pushing them to the final few minutes and scoring when they’re physically and psychologically exhausted – they’re getting the better of Arsenal in the early stages. In some senses, the right motivation – especially for games like the 3-1 defeat to Swansea – harks back to Wenger, however it’s also a question of effort and professionalism.
Whether the manager or the players are to blame though, it’s Wenger who has ultimately failed to address a problem that traces back further than this season – at the end of last term, Arsenal lost four of their final eight away games in the Premier League. More pertinently, it’s Wenger who must find a solution if Arsenal are to beat Tottenham this weekend and gain some much-needed ground in the race for a top four finish.
Tottenham Hotspur will look to boost their chances of securing a third successive top-four finish in the Premier League when they face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday.
Spurs beat arch-rivals Arsenal 1-0 in the latest episode of the north London derby at Wembley in their previous top flight encounter to move up to third, but it was only on a temporary basis as wins for Liverpool and Chelsea on the Sunday and Monday respectively dropped them back down to fifth.
However, the race to qualify for the Champions League is still wide open, and defeat for second-place Manchester United against Newcastle United at St James’ Park last time out means they are now just four points ahead of Mauricio Pochettino’s men in the standings, and they host Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.
It will certainly be no easy task to pick up three points against the Eagles in south London though, even if they were beaten 3-1 by Everton last time out and are currently plagued by a number of injury issues, including the absence of reported Spurs target Wilfried Zaha.
Pochettino has seen his side record two 2-2 draws against Juventus in the Champions League and Rochdale in the FA Cup since he made some big decisions when he named his starting XI for the visit of the Gunners – leaving out Toby Alderweireld and Victor Wanyama – and he could make some more against Roy Hodgson’s team.
Here is how Tottenham must line up when they face Crystal Palace on Sunday, ahead of Hugo Lloris in goal…
Defence
Kieran Trippier, Davinson Sanchez, Jan Vertonghen and Ben Davies have established themselves as the club’s first-choice back four in recent weeks when Toby Alderweireld was ruled out through injury, and the quartet must continue at Selhurst Park having started the previous Premier League clash against Arsenal.
While Davies did struggle at the start of the match against Juventus, he improved as the game went on and did assist Harry Kane for the winnget against the Gunners, while Serge Aurier is unlikely to come into consideration to replace Trippier after showing that he can be a liability by giving away a clumsy penalty against the Serie A leaders, which Gonzalo Higuain fortunately failed to convert.
Toby Alderweireld missed out on a place in the squad against Arsenal and Juve but did start against Rochdale, but the Belgian still looked a little rusty and he shouldn’t be thrown in just yet against Palace, especially as he could face a difficult afternoon against Belgian compatriot Christian Benteke.
Midfield
Mousa Dembele is arguably the best in his position in the Premier League on current form, and the Belgian has to be one of the first names on the team-sheet right now, even if it means Victor Wanyama is left on the substitutes’ bench.
Dembele started alongside Eric Dier in the middle of the park against Arsenal and seeing as they help the team keep a clean sheet, those two have to start against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, too.
Attack
Son Heung-Min, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen had little competition for their places when Mauricio Pochettino lined up with a 4-2-3-1 system earlier in the season, but has changed in the last couple of months.
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Erik Lamela has returned from a long-term hip injury and the north London outfit signed Lucas Moura from Paris Saint-Germain during the January transfer window, and both are pushing to start having found themselves on the bench against Arsenal, but with the former impressing against Juventus and the latter against Rochdale.
Lucas showed his quality with a fine run and finish – albeit against League One opposition on Sunday – and a trip to Crystal Palace could be the ideal opportunity to start the speedy winger to punish Palace on the break.
While it would perhaps be harsh on Son, the Brazilian looks as though he is ready to make an impact in the Premier League and he deserves his chance to make an impact against the Eagles.
Arsenal were heavily defeated by Manchester City for the second time in five days on Thursday night, succumbing to another 3-0 scoreline, this time in front of their own supporters at the Emirates.
It’s the seventh time the Gunners have been defeated in 2018 and a result that has piled the pressure on Arsene Wenger again, with many fans questioning the short-term and long-term direction of the club under his management.
The players haven’t escaped criticism either, with many first team stars slammed for failing to offer Man City much of a battle at all for the second successive match.
Much of that criticism was aimed at Shkodran Mustafi, who fared badly up against the attacking talents that City have to offer.
Having made 24 appearances this season, he’s clearly trusted by Wenger but gans are rapidly losing patience with the German international, with some calling for him to be dropped and others wanting him out of the club completely this summer.
Leeds United’s season went from bad to worse on Saturday after they suffered a last-minute 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at Elland Road in the English Championship.
Going behind in the 71st minute, Paul Heckingbottom’s side looked like they may rescue a point with an equaliser five minutes from time, however, Atdhe Nuhiu broke Leeds hearts with an injury time winner.
It means that Leeds have still won just one match since Heckingbottom took charge and fans are questioning the direction the team is heading in, already looking forward to the season ending.
They were particularly unhappy with the performance of midfielder Eunan O’Kane, whose continued selection is perplexing supporters.
He’s under-performed in the Leeds engine room for a couple of months now and there’s pressure on the manager to drop him for the remaining league games.
Is it time to give some youth players a chance?
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Mark Hughes is preparing for his first Premier League game in charge of Southampton, one of the clubs he represented in his playing days, and it is their biggest game of the season so far.
He will take the Saints to face West Ham, who themselves are still reeling from the unsavoury scenes that marred their last match, the 3-0 home defeat to Burnley in a match that will go a long way to determining who will survive and spend another season in the top flight next time around.
It is 17th v 18th, with the Hammers two points and a place above their visitors, who enjoyed the “new manager bounce” already by qualifying for the FA Cup semi-finals last weekend with a hard-fought victory over League One side Wigan.
Hughes would love to go to the London Stadium with a full complement of players at his disposal but he might not have that luxury.
Steven Davis and Ryan Bertrand are doubtful for the match, having pulled out of their respective international squads but Charlie Austin could be fit to make a return.
Read on for the latest on the trio, who could make a huge difference to Hughes’ survival bid, as per Premier Injuries…
When was Davis injured?: The Northern Irishman pulled out of the national squad this week with a hamstring injury, which has also kept him out of the Saints’ past five games.
Potential return date: 31/03/18
What the manager said: On 22 March, Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said: “It’s been a wee bit tricky. Davo (Davis) is out. We have to be careful with the players given the time of year it is and the nature of the game.”
Has he been missed?: Davis is a player who does not always catch the eye but his reliable work rate and technique is something that has been missing in a dour Saints side who were sinking without a trace before Mauricio Pellegrino was sacked. Hughes will want him back in contention as soon as possible and will be grateful that O’Neill has been sensible with him.
When was Bertrand injured?: Bertrand was called up to the England squad for the final friendlies before the World Cup final 23 is announced but had to withdraw due to a lower back injury.
Potential return date: 31/03/18
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Has he been missed?: Bertrand has fallen slightly short of his usual levels this season, but he is still one of Southampton’s key men. He is one of three players in a fight for the two left-back spots in the Three Lions squad for Russia – alongside Ashley Young and Danny Rose – and will be giving his all between now and the end of the season to make the cut. That can only benefit the Saints.
When was Austin injured?: He picked up a hamstring injury during December’s 1-1 draw with Hudderfield.
What the manager said: On 16 March, Hughes said: “We’ve got a chance of integrating him for short periods next week. With a bit of luck, if we can get him ready for West Ham.”
Has he been missed?: In a word, yes. Southampton have struggled badly for goals – if they are relegated this season, their shotshy attack is will be the reason and Austin tends to bang them in when he’s fit. He can count himself as a proven Premier League goalscorer now and his injury came just as he was starting to show signs of his best form.