Category: Analysis

Even if Arsenal don’t finish in the top four I’m sure their fans will agree with me that this season has been a disappointment. Shocking and sloppy performances against rivals such as Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and City have left them struggling in the league and big stars like Sanchez and Ozil could be leaving. So, here are a few players who I think whoever the manager is should buy to make next season more of a success for Arsenal.

Kyle Walker, Spurs

Although this may not be a popular target among Arsenal fans, rumours suggest that Bellerin is being eyed up by Manchester City and Barcelona, meaning that if the Gunners don’t want to play Jenkinson or Debuchy in defence, they’re going to have to get a new right-back. And Walker has said that he wants to leave after a row with Pochettino – hinting he’s open to other club’s interest.

Edinson Cavani, PSG in swap deal with Alexis Sanchez

Cavani’s time at PSG could be up and a move to the Premier League has not been ruled out. Also, Arsenal need a new striker and Sanchez has not put pen to paper with his contract and a swap deal with Cavani would help the two clubs, but not make both of them pay fees for the players.

Raphael Varane, Real Madrid

Although Koscielny is an Arsenal faithful and has served the club well they need a really good top defender to match their rivals. Step in Raphael Varane, someone who Arsenal badly need. He has shown his world-class quality at just twenty-four and must really want to nail down in stone a starting place in a team week in week out, so he would also want the move to happen.

Sergio Busquets, Barcelona

Arsenal have not had a midfielder who has been keeping the team going in midfield and dominating it this season after Xhaka has been banned too much, Ramsey is not high in confidence and Elneny has not played enough. So, I think Arsenal would love to have Busquets at the club. He is a midfielder who has been shadowed by the likes of Iniesta and Xavi at Barca and I’m sure he would like to prove he’s worth it in the Premier League.

The race for the top four is getting very exciting – and because every team’s so close, it could go down to the final day of the season. Chelsea and Tottenham have all but secured their finish in the top two positions, but there are still two more places available in the Champions League qualification positions – and four teams who all have a relatively big chance of finishing in them: Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal. So I’m going to give reasons why they’ll finish in the top four and why they might not.

Liverpool

Why they will finish in the top four: Liverpool are third, six points inside the places which bring you Champions League qualification and haven’t lost in seven games. Also their attack is lethal, even without the injured Mane, and they are the Premier League’s leading scorers.

Why they won’t finish in the top four: The defence is a big worry, and forgetting their 1-0 win last weekend they hadn’t kept a clean sheet for seven games.

Manchester City

Why they will finish in the top four: They’re in a great position in the league and they’ve got a fixture list which includes five teams who are currently not in the top nine.

Why they won’t finish in the top four: Pep Guardiola has intended to rotate Bravo and Caballero around at goalkeeper, meaning the mistake-prone Bravo will play, and he has been absolutely awful this season.

Manchester United

Why they will finish in the top four: United are a team bursting with pace and prodigies, and their victory against Chelsea showed what a good team they are.

Why they won’t finish in the top four: They still have to play Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham all away and failure to beat any of those teams will put them on the backfoot in the race to finish in the top four. They could also get distracted by the Europa League.

Arsenal

Why they will finish in the top four: Arsenal have qualified to finish in the Champions League for twenty years, and with a team consisting of stars like Ozil and Sanchez they surely couldn’t miss out.

Why they won’t finish in the top four: Arsene Wenger’s future at the club has been questioned and the talk off the pitch could affect the players on the pitch, and the split in fans makes the atmosphere at games horrible.

Verdict: I think Liverpool will finish in the top four along with Manchester United because United have a great team and spirits are high after winning over Chelsea. And Liverpool because they are third in the league right now, and it doesn’t look like anyone can catch them with their advantage points-wise.

After taking a fairly neutral approach in the last few months, I think it’s finally time for Wenger to go. Here are some reasons why:

Firstly, at Arsenal right now there seems to be a similar situation to Leicester City when they sacked Ranieri. Wenger has clearly lost the dressing room which means Arsenal can’t build as a club unless they sack the Frenchman, and when I see players not tracking back and unpassionate performances, like their loss against Palace on Monday, I wonder the outburst there would be if Wenger’s awarded a new contract at the end of the season.

Reinforcing my argument, Arsenal will almost certainly not finish in the top four this season. They lie in 6th place, level on points with Everton and seven points adrift of Champions League qualification places – and only if their rivals slip up will they finish in those creditable positions. And for Wenger to have lead his team to a top four finish for every year he’s been at the club (20 years) and not do it this year would signal that he’s had his best days as a manager and Arsenal should sack him.

Lastly, there is a big split in Arsenal’s executive board and fans and this split is bad for security reasons at games and unity throughout the club. And when you see Arsenal Fan TV all that’s on is Arsenal fans ranting about Wenger. However, if Arsenal sacked Wenger, replaced him with a young new manager then they could really build as a club rather than have disagreements inside the club.

After two weeks, the FA has finally realised the importance of Moyes’s words to BBC reporter Vicki Sparks after their 0-0 draw with Burnley. After the interview, which included some hard questions, Moyes said to Sparks: “Just getting a wee bit naughty at the end there so just watch yourself or you might get a slap even though you’re a woman.”

When asked why he made these comments in a press conference he said “It was in the heat of the moment…sometimes you only have seconds to think and answer.” Also in the conference the Scotsman described Sparks as the girl, not referring to the reporter by her name.

The Woman in Football organisation issued a statement about Moyes’s behaviour saying “We are deeply disappointed and concerned by the threatening language used by Sunderland manager Moyes”.

Moyes only came in at the start of the season and could continue the merry-go round of Sunderland managers being sacked if the Sunderland board deem the comments a sackable offence

Sunderland’s next game is a fixture with a Leicester tonight, where with a loss they could fall further into the relegation zone.

The title race has widely been considered over in the past few weeks because of Chelsea’s good form and big lead at the top, but with a shock 2-1 loss to relegation fighters Crystal Palace, I think Tottenham have a big chance of winning the league, and here are some reasons why:

Firstly, Chelsea have been cruising to victories for most of the season, and have recorded some thrashings, so a loss against Palace will definitely knock the confidence of their players and coaches and could end their good form that we saw before the loss on Saturday.

Secondly, teams like Chelsea have been in a dominant position at the top of the table, but then thrown away the league. Most memorably in 2012, when Manchester United gained an eight point lead at the top with six games to go, but then went on some horrendous form and ended up gifting the title to City due to complacency, and that could happen to Chelsea.

Moving on, Tottenham have been brilliant this season, and for the first twelve games they were unbeaten, and are now on a five game winning streak – which means that Chelsea will have to win games because Tottenham don’t look like they’re going to lose again in this 2016/17 season.

For those reasons I think Tottenham have a chance of winning the title, but in my opinion Chelsea will just manage to win the league.

“Who is the Premier League’s best midfielder?” is a common debate among pundits and the public who are interested in football. I think the best is Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante. Here are some reasons why.

Firstly, Kante is an exceptional tackler and has made the second most tackles this season and the most last season and his tackle success is 65% in 2016/2017, which may not seem like a lot, but it’s actually excellent. Kante has also produced great tackling displays against Liverpool and Chelsea which show that he can deliver in big matches.

Furthermore, Kante is a worker on the field and as Steve Walsh famously and accurately described the Leicester midfield last season: “We’ve got Drinkwater in the middle and Kante either side of him,” referring to Kante’s work rate.

In addition, the Frenchman’s passing is top notch, and his ability to spray a 40 yard pass across the pitch is incredible and his long balls from a deep lying centre midfield position have started many of Chelsea’s successful attacks.

Lastly, when Kante was at Leicester he won the Premier League and looks to be winning English’s most important trophy once more with Chelsea, which brings a good omen for the club he goes to next that they will win the league.

Following Defoe’s goal against Lithuania, Southgate has got a big question to face- Should he pick Defoe in his World Cup 2018 squad?

Why Defoe should go: Defoe has saved Sunderland from relegation for the past two seasons with his goals. Surely his fighting spirit at the bottom of the table will carry on at the World Cup if he’s picked.

Also, Defoe has proved he can make it at the top level internationally in past years and he’s already scored at a World Cup before which is hard to do in a hot country in front of the world stage.

Lastly, Defoe is on a vegan diet and has ice baths regularly. These things will get him in shape and make him have the edge over some other England strikers.

Why Defoe should not go: The Sunderland striker is past his best days at 34 and although he used to be good for England, his age has made aspects of his game worse.

Moving on, because of all the money going into the Chinese clubs, Defoe’s good form has probably turned some heads at Chinese clubs and a big money move may tempt Defoe into a transfer. If that happens, Defoe will not be playing at a high quality and he will be surprised if he plays in the World Cup by the quality of the defenders there.

Verdict: If Defoe continues his good form at Sunderland I think he should go to Russia for the World Cup and play with Harry Kane in a pairing upfront.

Despite all the controversy and fighting in Syria, the national football team is thriving in their World Cup qualifying group and lie one point off the play off position and two points behind automatic qualification to the World Cup after a historic win over China and draws with Korea and Iran.

The team got a very important win against Uzbekistan on Thursday which was goalless until the 91st minute until Omar Kharbin tucked away a paneka penalty and the few fans that were there went wild.

The game was played in Malaysia’s Hang Jebat stadium not in Syria for safety reasons, and because they have to play there, they have to travel 4,500 miles for supposed home games.

Syria’s coach, Ayman Hakeem, fell into tears of happiness, pride and disbelief after their win over Uzbekistan. Hakeem has managed Syria since September, 2010.

The team’s next task is to defeat Korea, which will be hard because Korea are a good team and have some top Premier League players.

Here are some of the clubs fighting to get promotion to the Premier League.

Newcastle

Newcastle look well on track to getting an automatic promotion straight back to the Premier League – with all the great players that they managed to keep from last season and the ones that they bought and an incredible tactical genius in Rafa Benitez.

Verdict: Promotion

Brighton

Along with Newcastle, Brighton are running away at the top of the Championship and they look like they’re going to get promotion easily unless they go on some horrendous form. And if they do go up then I think they thoroughly deserve it because they only just missed out on automatic promotion last season from goal difference and they lost to Sheffield Wednesday in the play offs, who they finished fifteen points above.

Verdict: Promotion

Huddersfield

David Wagner has worked miracles at Huddersfield this season, getting them up to 3rd place currently, a whole sixteen positions higher than their 2015/2016 campaign. Also, the loan signing of Elias Kachunga has helped Huddersfield a lot because Kachunga is a real goal machine and he’s their top scorer.

Verdict: Promotion

Leeds

Leeds have improved a lot this season under Garry Monk and are 3rd in the table. They also have Chris Wood who is top scorer in the Championship and supplies for most of their goals.

Verdict: No Promotion

Reading

Under Jaap Staam, Reading have been a disciplined team and a force to be reckoned with in the Championship. Furthermore, they have a good defence which consists off young prodigy, Tyler Blackett; Wales regular, Chris Gunter; ex Hull player, Paul McShane and the Nigerian, Jordan Obita

Verdict: Promotion

Sheffield Wednesday

Since Carlos Carvahal has come in as Wednesday boss, he has improved their league finish and very nearly got them promoted last season. Despite having a good midfield, Sheffield Wednesday have also got an incredible attack and have a large luxury in picking players to play at the striker.

 

Verdict: No Promotion

Fulham

After getting relegated from the Premier League in 2014, Fulham have threatened to go down another division which was unexpected, but now things are finally looking up at Craven Cottage and promotion could be a possibility.

Verdict: No Promotion

 

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.

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.