All posts by n8rngtd.top

A number of Liverpool fans have been lauding the performance of youngster Joe Hardy ahead of Saturday’s clash with Aston Villa, following an impressive showing for the Under-23s.

While the senior side are plotting to seek revenge for the 7-2 embarrassment at Villa Park, the Reds’ youth team were facing Man City on Friday evening, with the two sides meeting in a Premier League 2 clash.

Unfortunately, Liverpool’s young players were beaten 3-2 by their opponents, allowing them to pull further clear at the top of the table, while the Merseysiders sit fifth.

There was plenty to admire about the performance, however, not least from Hardy, who continues to catch the eyes at the club’s academy.

The 22-year-old scored both of Liverpool’s goals on the night, meaning he has now bagged a total of nine in 13 games for the U23s, having joined from Brentford in January 2020.

Liverpool fans laud Hardy’s performance

It was a display that again outlined the potential that Hardy has in his boots, as he looks to kick on and further make the grade at Anfield.

These Liverpool supporters took to Twitter to provide their thoughts on the striker, with one even suggesting he be given minutes by Jurgen Klopp between now and the end of the season.

“JOE HARDY THE GOAT”

Credit: @ThePortugoat

“Hardy been great. His first goal was so well taken”

Credit: @CaroleAnne1487

“A really solid goalscorer Liverpool U23 has in Joe Hardy. Great anticipation, good composure, clinical finisher. 6 goals in 9 games this season, 9 in 13 for the U23s since signing. Probably won’t make the first team, but could generate a nice fee to reinvest into the academy”

Credit: @MaaxiAngelo

“He needs a few cameos in our final games, then they’ll come scrambling for him”

Credit: @pite12c

“Football League teams should be all over him. Verge of 23 and yet to taste any senior minutes aside from 8 minutes in the cup tie against Shrewsbury. Agree with the points you make and aside from the points you make, he’s a ridiculously hard worker. I like him”

Credit: @LewisBower2021

“Joe hardy for Liverpool number 9 I say”

Credit: @_18Robbo92_

In other news, some Liverpool fans have been sticking up for an under-fire Reds player – find out who it is here.

In an exclusive interview with Transfer Tavern, Rob Lee, who made 280 Premier League appearances, has claimed that Declan Rice is the best holding midfielder in the league and West Ham could put a £100 million price tag on his head.

Rice has been a standout player for both West Ham and England this season as the Hammers have made a push for the Champions League, and the holding midfielder earned two out of three Man of the Match awards in the recent international fixtures.

Having been released by Chelsea when a youngster, Rice was linked with a move back to Stamford Bridge under Frank Lampard, however, it now appears Manchester United could look to sign him as part of a deal to keep Jesse Lingard at the London Stadium.

Speaking on how much Rice is worth to West Ham and why he is so important to what the Hammers do each game, Lee told Transfer Tavern:

“You’re looking at £100 million, maybe £80 million. It sounds ridiculous for a holding midfielder, but he’s the best at it.

“I always say that Kante was the best at it from both his Leicester and Chelsea days, so for someone so young to do that is unusual, but he’s a good player. West Ham have got to command a huge fee because if they lost him it would be a major blow.”

The £62,000 per week midfielder has been West Ham’s regular on-field captain this season with Mark Noble seeing his minutes significantly limited given the partnership Rice and Tomas Soucek have struck up.

David Moyes has admitted, however, that the Hammers will have to listen to offers for their star midfield duo this summer.

Manchester City are in the League Cup Final, still in the FA Cup, still in the Champions League and have the small issue of a three-way title race. It all sounds perfect, but the source of their excitement could also be their Achilles’ heel.

If City had a fully-fit squad for every game of the season, in almost a FIFA-like scenario, it’s fair to assume they’d probably win all three domestic competitions and go far in the Champions League. Their squad is far superior to any other in England and so why not try and win everything?

Well, the issue there is real life isn’t like FIFA and players having to perform every three days will inevitably wear them down. City being in all four competitions means more tired legs and a higher likelihood of injury, and it also means greed can cause themselves to be spread too thin.

The strength of City’s squad means they’re more likely to be able to deal with this than the likes of Liverpool, but even this squad isn’t deep enough to play every three or four days until the end of the season. In important games, City rely too heavily on 33-year-old Fernandinho and have only one left-back at the club, and that’s the injury-prone Benjamin Mendy.

City have been lucky so far this season to have been handed favourable draws in the Champions League, League Cup and FA Cup, playing the likes of Rotherham, Burton and Newport. Had they been handed tougher ties, Guardiola may have needed to pick which competitions he was prioritising, but luckily the second string, if City even have a second string, has been good enough to get through in the domestic cups so far.

Liverpool have a weaker squad and don’t feel capable of winning all four competitions, so they decided to prioritise the Premier League and Champions League, fielding teams in domestic cups that were more beatable than City’s. This could be the masterstroke that hands Liverpool the Premier League title.

As City progress through the competitions, the draws will get harder and the big players will be called on to play three times in seven days, so it’s impossible to think they’ll be as prepared for the Premier League title race as they would be with a full week between games.

The Sky Blues could well go on to win everything, but then again, they could also go on to win absolutely nothing because they were greedy and on the quest for what Guardiola achieved at Barcelona in 2009, a clean sweep of trophies. It’s a risky game the Catalonian is playing, and he thinks he can win, although Liverpool may just have the advantage when it comes to the Premier League.

Do you think City should’ve taken Liverpool’s approach and disregarded the League Cup and FA Cup to focus on the league title?

After falling to a timid 2-0 defeat to Brighton last time out in the Premier League, Leeds will be hoping to bounce back to winning ways when they take on Tottenham at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side came into the game against the Seagulls off the back of three very impressive results against Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United, picking up five points and remaining undefeated in the process.

Therefore, falling short against a side languishing in the bottom half of the table last week would no doubt have been frustrating for Bielsa, and he could well react to that by making some key changes for the visit of Spurs.

With that in mind, below is a look at how Leeds might line up when Spurs come to town.

In goal, Illan Meslier will be hoping to keep his 11th clean sheet of the Premier League season and move into fourth in the rankings among all the division’s top goalkeepers.

The backline could see one key change, with the underperforming Gjanni Alioski dropping out and Stuart Dallas coming back in to fill the gap at left-back, while a returning Liam Cooper – back from his three-game suspension – will have to settle for a place on the bench.

The middle of the park could see a different combination as well, with Rodrigo having returned from injury last week to play a solid half-hour against the Seagulls, so Bielsa may be tempted to start him from the off just to freshen the home side’s attack.

With news being confirmed that Helder Costa is set to miss the rest of the campaign with the back injury he sustained against Manchester United last time out, Bielsa may finally hand 21-year-old Ian Poveda his first Premier League start after a number of cameos in recent weeks.

With Raphinha’s status for the game still uncertain, Poveda could well line up on the right-hand side with Jack Harrison on the opposite flank.

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Up front, Patrick Bamford will be hoping to break his goalscoring duck of five Premier League games by netting against Ryan Mason’s side.

Predicted XI: Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Struijk, Dallas; Koch, Poveda, Klich, Rodrigo, Harrison; Bamford.

Meanwhile, Leeds eyeing move for this history-making starlet…

Former Manchester United man Keith Gillespie has told The Transfer Tavern that the club need to sign a striker who can score 25 goals a season if they want to challenge at the top end of the Premier League.

The club are currently second in the table but they sit eight points behind leaders Manchester City.

Both Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford have scored 20 or more goals this season but Gillespie believes that the club need an out-and-out striker who can play alongside them and forge a fearsome trio at the top of the pitch.

Indeed, he refers back to Ruud van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 goals for United, and Andy Cole, who netted 121, as players who could consistently put the ball in the back of the net.

Indeed, United are likely to lose Edinson Cavani this summer, per reports, with the Uruguay international likely to move back to South America, per reports, leaving a void that will need to be filled.

Speaking exclusively to TT, Gillespie said: “I think that’s what Man United have needed for a few years.

“You think about United’s strikers of the past, you think about Van Nistelrooy and Andy Cole, players like that, real instinctive goalscorers, who just come alive in the box.

“United have got a lot of players who contribute goals, you think of Rashford, Fernandes especially, if you add in a striker who’s going to get you 20 or 25 goals a season, then you really can challenge.”

Naby Keita’s Liverpool career hit what could be perceived as new low on Tuesday evening.

The Guinian midfielder, signed from RB Leipzig in 2018 to great excitement, was granted a start against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League but lasted just 42 minutes before being hauled off for Thiago Alcantara.

Linked to Leicester City over the past few days by Football Insider, it now might be time for Michael Edwards and Liverpool to take a hit on the midfielder and get him sold.

Having cost the club an eye-watering £54m, the third-highest fee in the Reds’ history, Keita has not justified that considerable outlay at all.

Due to a combination of poor form, competition at Anfield and injury problems, the 26-year-old has played just 76 matches for the club in all competitions, with just 47 of those being starts.

Even when he has been on the pitch, he has barely contributed. Keita only has seven goals and four assists to his name at Anfield.

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For context, the midfielder managed the same amount of goal contributions in his final season at the Red Bull Arena.

Considering that sheer lack of involvement, Liverpool really seem to have wasted a considerable fee on Keita. However, it takes on a completely different complexion considering the wages that the midfielder has earned at Anfield so far.

Paid approximately £6.2m per year, this means that he has already scooped £18.7m in wages since his arrival at Anfield, producing a total cost of £62.7m.

Even worse, Keita’s value only continues to plummet. Since his signing, he is now rated at just £34.2m.

With just two years left on his contract, Liverpool must sell in order to avoid any more depreciation on the player.

Considering the new low he hit in Madrid, it would potentially be wise to take advantage of Leicester’s interest in the 37-cap midfielder.

AND in more news, take a closer look and Andrew Robertson’s awful performances against Real Madrid…

Daniel Levy edged closer to finding his next Tottenham manager this week.

After suffering quick blows in his pursuit of RB Leipzig head coach Julian Nagelsmann, who opted to join Bayern Munich in the summer instead, and Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers, who doesn’t want to leave the Champions League-bound Foxes, Spurs are set to hold talks with another mooted target.

Reporting in The Guardian, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealed that the north Londoners will speak to Ajax’s Erik ten Hag in the coming days and the 51-year-old is keen to hear what the Lilywhites hierarchy has to offer.

A fresh update emerged on Friday which saw the Dutch boss sign a one-year extension with the Eredivisie champions but according to Romano, he has not turned down Spurs, and it was always their intention to make that decision, presumably to increase his value if any team is to prise him away.

The Dutchman has earned an impressive reputation at the Eredivisie giants, where they are on the cusp of clinching the league title once again. Since his appointment in December 2017, he has accrued a phenomenal win rate of 73%.

Ten Hag learned the bulk of his trade under Pep Guardiola when the pair were at Bayern Munich, with the former Twente centre-back taking charge of the ‘B’ team.

“I learned a lot from Guardiola,” Ten Hag said in February 2019. “His philosophy is sensational, what he did in Barcelona, Bayern and now with Manchester City, that attacking and attractive style sees him win a lot. It’s this structure that I’ve tried to implement with Ajax.”

At Ajax, the “exciting” manager has tinkered between a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 system in a similar vein to Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs. “When it comes to Ten Hag’s favoured style of play, the Cruyffian influence is unavoidable,” claimed Will Magee for iNews. “There is a reason that his approach has been dubbed ‘Total Football 2.0’.”

This brand of football has allowed many a young talent to thrive, including the likes of Frenkie de Jong, who swapped Amsterdam for Barcelona in a £65m deal, and Donny van de Beek, who is now at Spurs’ top-flight rivals Manchester United.

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With an average squad age of just 24 at Ajax, it’s clear that Ten Hag is the perfect candidate if Levy is wanting to see the next crop of academy stars make it into the big time. This could be a game-changer for Oliver Skipp, perhaps more than any other Spurs prodigy.

The 20-year-old has enjoyed a successful loan spell at runaway Championship leaders Norwich City, where he has played in every single league game and earned serious praise.

Speaking to Sky Sports, his current Canaries teammate Kenny McLean said: “He makes my job a hell of a lot easier, I’ll tell you that. He’s been outstanding all season and we’re lucky to have him to be honest. For this level, he’s very outstanding and he’s got a huge career ahead of him.”

Norwich manager Daniel Farke has dubbed him everything ranging from “perfect” to being a “top player and also a top character.”

It’s widely thought that Skipp can become a real leader in Spurs’ midfield in the next few years. Jose Mourinho touted him for a huge role back in the summer, saying: “I see this kid being one day a future captain here by his character, by his personality.”

Therefore, appointing a coach like Ten Hag could be game-changing for his chances of achieving just that. He should be buzzing amid these latest developments, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Spurs should fear Jose Mourinho 2.0 amid worrying Jorge Mendes claims…

Plenty of Aston Villa fans have been reacting to Dean Smith’s comments on Wesley Moraes on social media.

The 24-year-old made his first appearance of the season in the 2-2 draw with West Brom on Sunday evening.

Smith described Wesley’s long-term absence due to a cruciate ligament injury as one of the most significant injuries he’s seen in football.

The Villa boss revealed that the Brazilian, who joined in a deal worth £22.5m back in 2019, received a round of applause from the Villa players after he named the squad in training for the clash with Sam Allardyce’s side.

Wesley has made a total of 22 career appearances for Villa so far, scoring on six occasions and registering a single assist.

Villa fans react

Villa shared the footage of Smith talking about the striker on Monday lunchtime on their official Twitter page.

Several supporters gave their views on his comments, with a selection available to view below.

“Is this man going to take us any further or do you think it is the end of the road”

Credit: @Dylanjo70365265

“my heart”

Credit: @fokkos2

“Love that”

Credit: @nickgd99

“I love this club soo much utv”

Credit: @Marco60921015

“Keinan may have scored the equalizer, but it was Wes who made the impact. Big lad like him in the box for the last minutes, well, we all saw the chaos it caused for West Brom. More options in attack, nice to have him back !”

Credit: @JarkkoKyn

“Man like big Wes! Cannot wait to see him back fully fit. Support him lads! It was a massive injury.”

Credit: @jSG50

In other news: £47k-a-week Aston Villa man a shock target for Premier League giants, find out more here. 

Plenty of Crystal Palace supporters have been reacting to an update on the club’s reported interest in Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey on social media. 

Transfer expert Nicolo Schira suggested last month that the Eagles enquired over the possibility of signing the Wales international in the summer, along with Premier League rivals West Ham.

However, according to The Athletic, Ramsey is enjoying his football under Andrea Pirlo and has received no indication the Italian giants want to sell him over the coming months.

Ramsey, valued at £18m by Transfermarkt, is under contract in Turin until 2023.

He’s made 28 appearances in all competitions for Juventus this season, and it doesn’t seem as if a move to Selhurst Park has any legs.

Palace fans react

@CPFCtransfersHQ shared the update regarding Ramsey on Twitter on Thursday morning, which, as to be expected, received plenty of interaction.

This is what some had to say in reply, with many not exactly surprised.

“Ramsey watched the Chelsea game”

Credit: @RobbieScotcher

“oh no!”

Credit: @palacejacob

“Turin or Croydon?”

Credit: @Palace_CPFC

“Good”

Credit: @Sumo08112

“Can’t believe he doesn’t want to come to palace. Shock.”

Credit: @eagle176

“Ramsey’s wages would liquidate us”

Credit: @Upsided0wncpfc

In other news: Many CPFC fans not impressed at update on Palace pair from reliable reporter, find out more here. 

According to a report by Italian news outlet Tuttomercatoweb [via Sport Witness], Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy has made some sort of approach to sign Juventus and Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey – possibly enquiring over financial details.

Indeed, as per the Italian outlet, Spurs, Everton and Liverpool have all made ‘some sort of contact’ over his potential signing, with Juventus aiming to offload the £18m-rated ace this summer along with Adrien Rabiot.

Tottenham make Ramsey approach

Another report by Calciomercato claimed that the Serie A champions wish to sell Ramsey and Rabiot to free up wages and fund potential summer acquistions, with Tutto now throwing Tottenham into the mix as an interested party.

A former Arsenal player, it is believed that the Lilywhites have now joined the race for his signing as the 30-year-old attracts plenty of suitors. He has made 26 appearances in all competitions this season, but has rarely completed a full 90 minutes and is currently out with injury again.

Transfer Tavern take

Ramsey’s quality as a player is evident, especially considering that Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo hailed him as ‘very intelligent’ and a ‘great player’ in an interview with the press (The Athletic).

Based on his past form in the Premier League, he has also attracted praise from Tottenham legend Glenn Hoddle, who labelled him an ‘excellent player’ in 2018 on BT Sport [via Daily Express].

Time will tell what comes of this update, but Spurs are now mentioned as possible suitors for Ramsey and have even made contact over a potentially sensational return to north London.

In other news: Alasdair Gold has dropped a claim on this talent, find out more here.