Author: footballphilosophy.net

The Premier League round up

To kick the weekend off, we had a big shock as West Brom managed to beat Arsenal 3-1, with yet more ‘Wenger Out!’ chants and banners. The first half ended 1-1, but in the second half, West Brom were the better team and Robson-Kanu scored after coming on and later Craig Dawson completed his brace to end Arsenal’s hopes of getting a much-needed victory.

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Arsene Wenger and Arsenal’s chances of finishing in the top four have weakened with that loss.

Also, Leicester got a win over West Ham which continued Craig Shakespeare’s perfect record as Leicester boss. Leicester scored twice in quick succession in the first ten minutes and Vardy increased the scoreline with his 4th goal in his past five games. Having scored in the first half, West Ham had some hope that they could go on to get a point from the game after Ayew’s goal, but Leicester defended well and clung on to the three points.

Moving on, Manchester United ended the possibility of a fairytale start for Middlesbrough’s caretaker boss, Steve Agnew with a 3-1 win. Fellaini scored the game’s first goal and his first Premier League goal this season and Lingard then scored an absolute cracker of a goal in the second half and did a celebration worthy of the quality of the goal. And after Antonio Valencia capitalised on Valdes’s slip to cancel out Gestede’s goal earlier. United now move above Arsenal into 5th place and will battle it out with them and teams around them to finish in the top four spot which gives you automatic qualification to the Champions League.

Lastly, Manchester City drew with Liverpool on Sunday 1-1. James Milner scored his 7th goal of the season, which is impressive for a defender although most of the goals have been penalties. Aguero leveled the scoreline with a first time finish to score his 13th Premier League goal of the season later on. So after that weekend, the battle to finish in the top four is really hotting up and I think it could go on right to the final matches of the season.

Some Premier League previews

The first game of the weekend is West Brom vs Arsenal with West Brom carrying a big loss in the absence of the injured Matt Philips. Arsenal have got to win here to maintain their twenty year reign in the top four after other clubs have snuck up ahead of them in the table.

Also, Bournemouth play Swansea on Saturday with Swansea looking like they’re not going to go down this season after some good form, but if they lose here, things could change, because a loss for a team on form consequently knocks their confidence. The big team news is Harry Arter could not play for Bournemouth because of a calf problem, which could be a major blow for the Cherries.

Moving onto Sunday’s fixtures, Manchester United play Middlesbrough. United would absolutely love a win here because it will increase their chances of finishing in the top four, ahead of Arsenal, but wanting to stop them get their win is Boro who’ve just put Agnew in as temporary manager, and you never know what you get from a new manager.

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Steve Agnew has a big job on his hands to keep Middlesbrough up.

Lastly, Manchester City battle it out with Liverpool on Sunday with Liverpool being the firm favourites for me because of their fabulous record against the top six clubs in the league this season. But there’s always a chance that City could win because they can fully focus on the league after being knocked out of the Champions League.

How did the English teams fare in Europe this week?

The reigning Premier League champions, Leicester, got a win in their round of 16 clash which puts them through to a quarter final fixture with Atletico Madrid. Leicester keeper Schmeichel was the hero in both legs, saving two penalties and making saves in open play too. Morgan and Albrighton were also starred scoring Leicester’s goals.

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Schmeichel was Leicester’s hero.

Moving on, Manchester City were knocked out of the Champions League through away goals as Monaco beat them 3-1. City were the favourites going into the second leg after leading 5-3, but playing in Monaco is a hard thing to do and the Monaco team is a strong one even without Falcao, who was missing on Wednesday.

Lastly, United won their tie with Rostov to march through to the quarter finals, where they play Anderlecht. United had a few chances, but finally broke the deadlock with Mata’s finish, his second goal in the Europa League. An extremely odd moment in the game, which I’ve never seen before, was Rojo’s banana-eating on the pitch, having been offered the fruit by warming-up substitute Ashley Young.

Why Gareth Southgate made some poor decisions in his squad picking

In my opinion Gareth Southgate, the English national team manager has made some poor decisions in picking his squad. Firstly; he has picked West Brom player Jake Livermore, where he could have picked Jack Wilshere, who has been good for Bournemouth this season. Also, if Livermore plays against Germany he will be absolutely obliterated by the organised German midfield, who play for big clubs in Europe, unlike Livermore who represents West Brom who are 8th in the league. So, although Livermore is a good player I don’t think he’s England worthy.

Furthermore, I believe Redmond shouldn’t have been picked because he’s only scored five goals this season and got one assist and Southgate could have picked Theo Walcott who has got seventeen goals in all competitions this season and who has got good pace and shot on him and Redmond is only young whether Walcott is experienced.

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It is an odd decision from Southgate not to pick Walcott in his squad.

Moving on, I consider it a wrong decision from Gareth Southgate not to pick Andy Carroll because he’s having one of his best seasons for West Ham, and he’s a real presence in the air and is one of the Premier League’s best headers of the ball which is the type of player England have needed for a past few games.

The last wrong move I think Southgate has made in naming his squad is putting James Ward- Prowse in it, because he hasn’t started a huge amount of games this season and he’s a bit young, so I think Southgate should wait a bit before he puts Ward-Prowse in an England squad.

FA Cup quarter- final round up

The first match of the FA Cup quarter final was Middlesbrough versus Manchester City where City managed to win the tie via goals from David Silva and Sergio Aguero, who continued his good goalscoring form. Middlesbrough’s goalkeeper Brad Guzan made a string of good saves to keep the scoreline down for Boro. City will face Arsenal in the semi final, while Middlesbrough will go back to their relegation battle wondering what could have been.

Also, Lincoln’s FA Cup dream ended with a thumping from the rampant Arsenal who scored five on the day. Lincoln went into half time on pretty good terms, but in the second half Arsenal improved and played some sustained attacking football with many little tricks and one-twos in the box which Lincoln, being a non-league team struggled with. Carrying disappointment in their heart Lincoln players will have to resume their fairly difficult task of getting promoted to the Football League after five seasons out of it.

On Sunday, Tottenham managed to beat Millwall 6-0. In the game, Son Heung-min – Spurs’s Korean winger – played absolutely brilliantly, scoring a hat trick and setting up Janssen’s first goal from open play for Spurs. Spurs were a bit lucky that their attacking players played well on Sunday because their main striker Harry Kane limped off on the ten minute mark to be replaced by Christian Eriksen. Spurs have been drawn to play Chelsea in the next stage of the FA Cup which is a big London derby and famously heated up a bit last year in a very big game.

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Son was my man of the match.

Lastly, Chelsea beat Manchester United on Monday with Kante scoring the sole goal of the match. Kante’s brilliant performance and masterclass over Paul Pogba has brought him many praises and comparisons to top midfielders and his career looks like it’s going nothing less than uphill. A controversial moment of the match was Herrera’s second booking and subsequent sending off, and brought United a fine for not being able to control their players from surrounding the ref.

Who are the best English youngsters who could get call ups soon

There is a lot of extremely good English young talent who I’m sure will be England regulars in a few years, so on this article I’ve named a few.

Tom Davies

The Everton midfielder has been a very influential player for the Toffees since sparking onto the spotlight after a truly magnificent performance against Manchester City where he scored his first goal for the Merseyside- based club. And it looks like he will grow up to be a real leader for Everton, and his England career could get started very soon if his good form continues.

Jordan Pickford

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Pickford capitalised on Mannone’s injury.

Pickford got the chance to show that he should be Sunderland’s first choice keeper after an injury picked up by Mannone, and he took that chance well, keeping Sunderland in lots of games and putting damage limitation on some of Sunderland’s scorelines and Moyes realised his good goalkeeping skills and has made him top in . So if any of England’s keepers get injured, don’t be surprised if Pickford comes in to replace them, as he has done before.

Mason Holgate

When playing, Holgate has kept many frustrated and surprised strikers at bay and most memorably bossing Sergio Aguero in Everton’s game with City. The Everton youngster has only had experience playing with the English youth groups, but he could make his full national team debut in the near future.

Rob Holding

Holding has played a full ninety minutes nine times this season which may not sound like a lot, but if you think of the good defenders Arsenal have in his position, you realise what a good player he is, so an England debut could be coming his way in the next few years.

Previews of the FA Cup quarter final fixtures

The first fifth round fixture that’s happening is Middlesbrough versus Manchester City, where I hope for a match as exciting as the last time these two teams met when Marten de Roon snatched a late winner for Middlesbrough ninety one minutes through the game. The last round for City and Boro proved difficult as City went through after a replay and Boro somehow managed to snatch a late winner.

Another game that’s happening on Saturday in the FA Cup fifth round is non-league Lincoln versus Premier League Arsenal. Lincoln pulled off a shock and historic win against Burnley in the last round and hope to do the same here, but standing in their way is a strong Arsenal team. The odds are against Lincoln, but it’s the FA Cup and anything can happen in this competition.

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Danny Cowley and his Lincoln team would provide one of football’s greatest shocks if they beat Arsenal.

The only FA Cup fixture happening on Sunday is Tottenham versus Milwall, where Harry Kane, fresh from earning Premier League player of the month, will take on his former team that he was on loan to. Tottenham could be vulnerable since they must have their eye on next weekend’s game against Southampton, so you should watch out for an upset.

Also, Manchester United play Chelsea on Monday with Mourinho and Manchester United hoping they can win their second bit of silverware this season in the FA Cup. Also Conte would love to win his first FA Cup as a manager since it’s such a great competition. But if any of these managers are going to win the FA Cup they’re going to have to beat their opposition.

Which Manchester United fringe players could move clubs this Summer transfer market

With there being many fringe players at United, here is my view on them and whether I think they should leave United this Summer.

Luke Shaw

Shaw has not played a full ninety minutes since playing Wigan on January 29th, and the Englishman, when fit, has not been included sixteen times in the United squad this season in all competitions. Because of the lack of playing time, Luke Shaw is probably getting a bit frustrated at United so I think he’ll leave the club this Summer or maybe United will sell him because if Mourinho’s not a fan of Shaw, there’s no point having him at the club.

Matteo Darmian

Darmian moved from Torino in the Summer of 2016 and had a great first season, but this season has been different as he’s gone down the pecking order at his preferred left back position. However, in my opinion, he should stay at United because Antonio Valencia, United’s first choice left back is getting a bit old for a footballer at thirty one, so he may leave United soon meaning Darmian can take his position in defence.

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Darmian has had a difficult 2016/17 season.

Marcus Rashford

Rashford flew on to the scene after scoring twice on his Europa League and his Premier League debut and nailed down a starting place in the United attack. But since the arrival of Ibrahimovic, it’s been hard for Rashford to get regular game time, so I believe Rashford should go on loan this Summer to a club which will play him more times than United do and come back fit and ready to Manchester in the build-up to the 2018/19 season.

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Schweinsteiger has not featured in the Premier League this season and he’s only played one hundred and thirty four minutes in cup games, and it looks like him and Mourinho at the same club are not the right fit. So, I think at thirty two, Schweinsteiger should leave United and live the rest of his footballing years playing in the MLS or the Chinese Super League.