All posts by h716a5.icu

This’ll be music to Tottenham fans’ ears! Christian Eriksen seems excited about the long-awaited move to his team’s new home according to Danish outlet Ekstra Bladet, and that could be key to keeping their star midfielder in summer.

He said: “We have been waiting for a while at the stadium after all, so it will be great to get back to the stadium that will be our home for the next many years” (Quotes sourced from Football London). That doesn’t sound like the voice of a man who can’t wait to find the exit door in summer, so we might just see the Dane sign a new deal after all.

Nobody, apart from Spurs fans, would blame the Dane for moving to a club guaranteed success in the coming years (he’s been linked with Real Madrid by AS after all), not least because he’s 27-years-old and is hitting his prime. He needs to be winning trophies right now, before other, younger midfielders are snapped up by Europe’s greatest and he misses his opportunity.

However, from the interview, it’s clear to see Erikson believes Spurs are capable of being one of those elite sides in Europe and if that is the case, there’d be no reason to leave. The new stadium provides that clear vision of progression that the last few years under Mauricio Pochettino, on the field, just haven’t. It could mean more than just a shiny new stadium and some NFL games.

To leave now would be to abandon the project he’s been moulding since joining in 2013, and at the most pivotal point too. The new stadium is the penultimate piece to the puzzle, with the final one being silverware. The infrastructure is nearly ready, and the squad just need a few additions to build depth, then the team can really push for trophies.

It’s not hard to imagine that this season would probably have been the 27-year-old’s last if the new stadium wasn’t in the pipeline, but now it’s less than a month away from opening, it might just be the boost required to tie down arguably Spurs’ top talent.

Spurs fans, where do you think Christian Eriksen will be playing his football next season, and why? Join the discussion by commenting below.

Sunderland fans will be delighted with their side’s recent form as they’ve consistently produced positive results. But, one slight disappointment will be the fact that they couldn’t secure all three points against Barnsley, as that would have been huge for their promotion push. 

The Black Cats won’t accept anything less than automatic promotion to the Championship in the current campaign having come so far under Jack Ross. Indeed they could soon find themselves in second position as they can move above the Tykes if things stay the same by securing all three points in their game in hand.

Of course, with promotion in the Black Cats’ sights it would make sense for Ross to start looking at bringing in reinforcements. Although, it appears as if the Wearside club currently have their eye on building for the future, as according to TEAMtalk, Sunderland have been looking at former Hartlepool youngster Luca Murphy.

The 19-year-old is a very mature central defender who is arguably one of the hottest prospects in English football. And, His recent decision to leave Hartlepool United has heightened the hype around him, as a number of teams including the likes of Manchester United, Spurs, Leeds United and Wolves have taken an interest.

Indeed, the Black Cats have produced a number of special talents over the years with Josh Maja being one of the latest players to make the step up to the first-team after joining from Manchester City back in 2015.

The Wearside club can surprise everyone by landing the impressive youngster as Man United and Spurs would be the obvious possible destinations for Murphy, as he’d receive a lot of exposure and would be at a Premier League club. So, Jack Ross really could pull off a masterstroke by luring him to the Stadium of Light as he would have pipped a number of big clubs and he has all the ingredients to become a future star.

Sunderland fans, how big of a signing would Murphy be in terms of the future? Join the discussion by commenting down below!

The good times at Leyton Orient look to have returned after a few seasons of misery.

Sitting pretty at the top of the National League table with two games in hand and with a visit to Wembley in the FA Trophy final on the horizon, fortunes have turned for the better for the historic east London club.

And the performances of the players are catching the eye of some big teams with the Sun reporting that centre-back Dan Happe is subject to interest from Wolves, Brighton and Norwich for the 20-year-old defender despite making just 11 appearances for Orient this season.

Now an England C player, Happe has been a regular starter in the Orient team in place for Josh Coulson, who has been out of the O’s team with a hamstring injury, and his mature performances in the first-team resulted in the defender being nominated for the club’s Player of the Month for both January and February.

With 12-months left on his contract and big clubs sniffing around for his signature, Orient must do everything in their power to keep hold of Happe, even if they are offered the £200,000 the club value him at according to the Sun.

Happe’s rise from bench player to a vital first-team starter this season has been a story that the fans have loved, and his performances at the back in the second half of the season are a huge part as to why Orient are in a good position to return to the Football League.

The towering English defender has come up through the club and will likely want to remain with the club should they win promotion to League Two and see if he can handle the quality and pressure of competing in the Football League, and Orient should act on this ambition by offering the youngster a new contract.

His performances alone this season already warrant a new deal, but with interest from big clubs now added into the mix, Orient have to act quickly to sign up their new hottest prospect as a sign of ambition as they continue their rebuild to the Football League.

Orient fans, should the club keep Happe at the club despite Premier League interest? 

There must not be too many defenders who have had a better season in the Championship than Jack O’Connell.

The 25-year-old has been nothing short of exceptional for Sheffield United with his performances playing a major role in the club’s promotion push in the second tier. A ball-playing centre-back, O’Connell has benefited from Chris Wilder’s unique tactics which has allowed him to venture forward as part of a 3-5-2 system.

Such is the former Brentford ace’s influence on the Blades, it would be incredibly difficult to find a replacement who is at the same level if interest comes in from elsewhere in the summer. Therefore, it is imperative that Wilder resists any temptation regardless on what division his side finds themselves in next season.

During his three year stint in Yorkshire, O’Connell has missed just five league games with three of those coming during the current campaign, outlining just how important he is for the club.

With the Blades potentially seven games away from a return to the Premier League after 12 years away, they are within touching distance of achieving a goal that not many thought would have been possible at the beginning of the campaign.

In order to get over the line, O’Connell will almost certainly have to be involved as he is arguably the club’s most valuable player alongside Billy Sharp who has also enjoyed a fantastic campaign up front. With the potential to develop further in the years to come at United, the defender would benefit from staying at the club rather than giving in to any possible temptation when the transfer window opens in July.

Selling O’Connell for a premium fee may provide Blades with a short-term financial boost but in terms of building towards the future, it is clear that they must not let him leave at any price if they want to secure the dream of a long-term stay in the Premier League.

What do you think United fans? Should your side avoid selling O’Connell in the summer? How much do you think he is worth in the current market? Get in touch below.

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It was revealed in an interview with The Express last September that Raul Jimenez narrowly missed out on joining West Ham United, and Irons fans on Twitter are regretting missing out on him following his latest display for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

While rumours at the time in 2015 suggested the Mexico international overslept and missed his flight to London, he confirmed via The Express that the real reason he joined Benfica instead was because that was a permanent move, while any deal with the Hammers would have been a loan one.

The 27-year-old, who completed a club-record £30m transfer to Molineux last week following a hugely successful temporary spell, scored a brilliant goal in the FA Cup semi-final against Watford on Sunday.

It looked as though it would be the winning goal until the final seconds, and even though the centre-forward was on the losing side his all-round game was once again one of the highlights for Nuno Santo’s men and didn’t go unnoticed by West Ham supporters on social media.

One labelled him as “the one that got away”, while another simply described failing to bring him to the capital as “the West Ham way”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Spurs will be looking for a big summer this year following their move into their impressive new stadium.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men are continuing to put in some impressive performances, but it is clear as day that the squad could do with some additions if they are to continue to challenge for trophies on a consistent basis.

This summer therefore will be a massive one for the club, and one man who has been linked with a move to Spurs this weekend is Celta Vigo striker Maxi Gomez.

The 22-year-old Uruguayan has been in fine form this season in La Liga, and his form has caught the eye of plenty of onlooking scouts and coaching teams around Europe.

However, the report claims that Gomez is interested in sealing a move to the Premier League if he can, and Spurs would be the ideal destination in the eyes of us here in the Tavern.

Spurs need a new striker, someone to come in and take the weight off of Harry Kane’s shoulders, and Gomez would certainly do that.

While playing second fiddle to Kane is not the ideal for anyone, if Gomez really is desperate to be given a chance in the English game, then he might be just the man who Spurs should look to as they pursue a striker who can contribute in Kane’s absence.

Gomez has plenty about him too, and at 22, has time to improve and get even better. His movement, finishing, and all around forward play make him a real threat, and with Spurs looking to kick on now they are finally in their new home, Gomez would be just the sort of signing what could turn heads.

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Loads of Celtic fans have been reacting to their stunning performance against Aberdeen, as they romped into the Scottish Cup final without breaking a sweat.

Celtic are well on track for a historic treble treble after Sunday’s win, beating Aberdeen 3-0 in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.

Dominic Ball made life all too easy for the Bhoys when he was sent of for a foolish challenge on Ryan Christie, just 36 minutes into the game.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals he often received racist abuse after North London Derbies – Check out the video below…

James Forrest then punished the Dons with yet another wonderful goal, and Odsonne Edouard doubled the lead from the spot before Tom Rogic completed the rout.

Lewis Ferguson was also sent off for the Reds, but it is not one of the men on the scoresheet or the men in the cards column who fans are all talking about.

Jonny Hayes joined Celtic in 2017 for around £1.3m, but has become a bit of a forgotten figure due to injuries, amassing just 37 appearances in nearly two seasons at the club.

He was fantastic on Sunday though, bombing down the left wing and causing all sorts of problems once Ball was sent off.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where fans are delighted for one of the hardest-working members of their squad…

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When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed Manchester United manager, many fans and pundits alike rejoiced.

Here, they claimed, was the true successor to Sir Alex Ferguson, the former striker done good, riding in to save the day after the poisonous reign of Jose Mourinho turned the club into also-rans.

A scarcely believable second-leg win over PSG in the Champions League sent them fawning. Rio Ferdinand, on BT Sport, told United to give Solskjaer the job on a permanent basis, and for him to be allowed to sign for as long as he wanted to. Henry Winter, perhaps the pre-eminent football journalist in this country, talked up the football, insisting that the “United of Solskjaer was the United of Ferguson”.

It is all coming crumbling down. Solskjaer was, per Ferdinand’s request, given the United job on a permanent basis on March 28th. Since then, United have beaten Watford and West Ham United, lost to Wolves in the Premier League – Solskjaer, while caretaker manager, saw his side beaten by Nuno Espirito Santo’s men in the FA Cup – and been outclassed by Barcelona in the Champions League. Then, on Sunday, the straw that broke the camel’s back: a 4-0 thumping at the hands of Everton.

Solskjaer came out afterwards and seemed to speak from the heart.

The BBC report that he said: “That performance is not good enough for a Manchester United team, from me to players, we let the fans down, we let the club down. That performance is difficult to describe because it is so bad.”

The fact of the matter is that Solskjaer has a very different idea of what a Manchester United performance should constitute than the rest of us. He is a Ferguson fanboy, at the end of the day, in thrall to the greatest manager the club has ever had. Of course, that is forgivable, he played under the man and won title after title with him, but it is not becoming of a good manager on his own terms. Reports have claimed that Ferguson offers advice on team selection and that Solskjaer won’t even park his car in the manager’s space at the training ground because he believes it belongs to the Scot.

Since Ferguson’s departure, though, United have lost games regularly. They have downed tools; they have been outrun, outfought and outthought. Sunday was the latest in a long line of poor results overseen first by David Moyes, then Louis van Gaal, Mourinho and now Solskjaer.

The first three, however, never invoked Ferguson quite so readily. In doing so, in being so reverent to the past, Solskjaer is inadvertently besmirching the legacy of a United legend.

Solskjaer said, upon his appointment, that Ferguson was his mentor. He told the club’s official website: “If you play at Man United, you play without fear and you play with courage.

“You go out there and express your skills. I’ve had the best [manager]. He [Sir Alex] just said ‘go out and express yourselves, take risks.’”

This is simplistic at best and naïve at worst. Compare the squad today with the side Ferguson took to the Premier League title in the 2012-13 season. The likes of Rafael Da Silva, Jonny Evans, Anders Lindegaard, Tom Cleverley, Shinji Kagawa and Alexander Buttner would all be nowhere near today’s XI. Conversely, such stars as Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw would all walk into the 12-13 XI and play enough to wear a winners’ medal around their neck.

Ferguson’s main strength, at the end of the day, was cohesion. Regardless of the amount of transfers the club made – the signing of Robin van Persie was a masterstroke not since seen at Old Trafford – Ferguson always knew how to build the very best team for every occasion. That season, United won the league by 12 points with a worse squad than they have now. This term, they are sixth, 24 points behind Liverpool.

The league has moved on, of course it has, and it would be remarkable to see a prime Ferguson take on the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp and see if he could still come out on top.

But we will never know. It is Solskjaer at the wheel, as the United fans so regularly sing, but he seems determined to constantly remind fans that Ferguson is also present as a backseat driver.

Indeed, it still feels as though this was an emotional appointment, driven by the desire to make fans happy.

It appears all the more illogical the more one looks at it, with Solskjaer regularly attempting to invoke a non-existent ‘United way’ that has not been a factor in results since Ferguson retired.

Consistently doing so will not do Solskjaer any favours.

In fact, it will only make his ultimate downfall even harder to swallow for a group of fans who need a manager to stand on his own two feet and help United back to theirs.

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Rekeem Harper is just another player in a long line of fantastic talents to come through West Brom’s youth academy. It’s a flourishing system but down the years they’ve seen too many leave.

The same could be about to happen to Harper, with the central midfielder’s contract running out this summer.

Attempts have been made by the Baggies board to tie him down, but as the season goes on it may be becoming a concern that he’s yet to sign a new deal.

In February the Express & Star reported that a new contract for the 19-year-old was moving a ‘step closer’ and then in March, the same publication reported that there had been ‘good’ talks between both parties.

But there hasn’t been an update since so it remains a real possibility he could depart the Hawthorns for nothing in a few months time.

With this in mind, what would the potential consequences be if he were to leave?

Field flourishes

Playing two inexperienced midfielders together is a gamble and, although West Brom kept a clean sheet with the pair of them in midfield on Easter Monday, it’s unlikely that they’d both be able to play in the same side.

Therefore, if Harper left then it would give a perfect opportunity for Field to come in and takes his place.

The 20-year-old is a more defensive minded player than his fellow teammate but the fact he’s a more disciplined individual may work in his favour going forward.

He’s only started four times this season in the league but made his first outing under James Shan this week. The academy graduate will be well known to the new manager due to his previous work with the U23s so they will already have a great natural understanding of each other.

Field is a calming influence and his emergence in the first team would be the perfect way to soften the blow of Harper leaving.

More academy frustration

A reoccurring theme over the years has seen West Brom lose a host of their brightest academy prospects. Izzy Brown moved on to Chelsea whilst the likes of Kemar Roofe and Tyler Roberts also fled the nest at the Hawthorns.

Although Field, another academy graduate, would benefit as a result of Harper leaving, it would bring yet more frustration upon the club’s wonderful youth set up.

Albion’s inability to keep their best young players at the club hasn’t appeared to be too much of a hindrance down the years, but you can only wonder what they’d be like had Brown stayed.

He was a wonderful talent and ever since leaving the Baggies he hasn’t shown too many signs of progression.

Perhaps Harper ought to look at his example and sign a new contract with the club. Either way, it’ll be hugely concerning for West Brom supporters that another of their most promising players is so close to the exit door.

If the club wants to be taken seriously when it comes to developing young footballers then they have to try and keep him.

West Brom can focus on what really matters

No one wants a player at their club who doesn’t actually want to be there and if recent performances are anything to go by it’s clear to see that this contract talk could be affecting Harper’s game.

His attitude and disinterest in recent matches has been alarming, particularly against Hull, as he was one of few negatives from the victory.

As we’ve seen in days gone by, contract talks can affect not only the player but the team too. In some senses, if Harper was to leave then it would likely be beneficial for everyone. There’d be improved morale and West Brom would be able to focus on matters on the pitch, rather than off it.

At 19-years-of-age he’s still young, but an attitude problem can be hard to fix and it may actually be a blessing in disguise if he failed to agree to new terms with the West Midlands club.

After all, Harper won’t be the last academy graduate West Brom have the opportunity to develop and, with players like Finn Azaz also waiting in the wings, Baggies supporters shouldn’t feel as worried.

[ad_pod ]Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to highlight Virgil van Dijk’s leadership qualities, after the centre-back made a big call which ended up winning his side the game against Newcastle.Jurgen Klopp’s men won the game with just minutes remaining, after Jamaal Lascelles flicked Xherdan Shaqiri’s whipped freekick into his own net to hand the Reds a vital 3-2 win which keeps their title hopes alive.Luis Suarez certainly had no qualms about celebrating against his former employers in the video below…However, it could’ve been very different were it not for Van Dijk’s intervention. The right-footed Trent Alexander-Arnold was getting set to take the free kick out on the right for an out-swinging delivery, until the Dutch international ordered the left-footed Shaqiri to take it so the cross was an in-swinging one instead.It was a decision that paid off and means that the Premier League title race will go down to the final day, and lots of Liverpool fans were quick to highlight their No.4’s part in the match-winning goal.

Let’s see what they’ve been saying on Twitter about the big call…