Kit and I are back for another exciting and entertaining podcast – where we discuss the situation over Payet’s future at West Ham, we discuss Costa’s rumours over a move to China, and lastly we talk about if Tottenham are title contenders, where the topic veers over a bit about Liverpool vs Manchester United.
What I think of the big transfers made so far
Morgan Schneiderlin to Everton from Manchester United for £24m
With Schneiderlin not playing much under Mourinho, he had to move elsewhere in the market, so I think moving to Everton was the correct decision because he knows the manager through the time at Southampton and there’s positions up for grabs in the midfield.
Nathan Ake recalled from loan from Bournemouth to Chelsea
I think Bournemouth need him much more than Chelsea do because Chelsea already have lots of options at centre-back. However, maybe he will develop into a better player and be a regular in a few years.
Oscar to Shangai SIPG from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee
He’s still a young player so he could still return back to somewhere in Europe, but he probably won’t because the riches in China are so big.
Gabriel Jesus to Manchester City from Palmeiras for £27m
I think that City need a centre-forward to cover for Aguero or Iheanacho when they’re injured. However, I don’t think Jesus is the right man because he’s still young and also as many goals as he scored in the Brazilian league the standards are not very good there.
John Obi Mikel to Tianjin TEDA from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee
I think it was the right time in his Chelsea career to move because it was obvious that he was not going to play much under Conte especially as the other great options Chelsea have in midfield.
Some Premier League weekend previews
This weekend the Premier League returns with some really exciting fixtures coming up.
The first one is on Saturday, where the former champions, Leicester take on the team at the top Chelsea. Where Chelsea hope to bounce back from their last league game as they lost Spurs 2-0.
The second one is on Sunday when Manchester City take on Everton, with Everton already splashing the cash this market as they’ve signed Schneiderlin and Lookman, and have targetted many more.
However, definitely the biggest game of the weekend is on Sunday. Where two of the biggest rivals play each other. Yes, it’s Manchester United vs Liverpool at Old Trafford. Where Klopp will be looking do forget their loss against the Saints by beating Manchester United. The huge team news for both team is that Coutinho is hoping to start his first league game for about six weeks, with Manchester United big news is Ibrahimovic is being assessed after he didn’t play against Hull due to illness.
Other Fixtures
Tottenham vs West Brom
Burnley vs Southampton
Hull vs Bournemouth
Sunderland vs Stoke
Swansea vs Arsenal
Watford vs Middlesbrough
West Ham vs Palace
My thoughts on the EFL Cup semi final first leg results
Manchester United 2-0 Hull
Mata 56, Fellaini 87
- United will beat Hull easily in the second leg.
- Fellaini has been getting too much criticism- he has shown at times what a great player he is.
- Hull shouldn’t take this cup seriously, they should only worry about staying up this season.
- Mata is an exceptional player, but should move this transfer window because of all the attacking options United have he’s not been giving enough chances at Man U.
- United will go all the way in this competition.
Hull manager Marcos Silva’s aim for the season is to stay up which looks unlikely, so I think he should just focus on the league this season.
Liverpool 0-1 Southampton
Redmond 20
- Liverpool played awfully last night.
- Southampton will win the second leg.
- I don’t know what Klopp was doing playing Karius, Mignolet has been class in the past few games.
- Southampton will just miss out in the final.
With Mignolet playing perfectly well in the pat few games, I think it was a ridiculous decision to play Karius in goal last night.
Wednesday Football Podcast- 12th January 2017
This Wednesday Jack and I discuss the big talking point of the World Cup being expanded to 48 teams and what City and Swansea should do in the January transfer window.
Who Klopp should buy in the January window to try and catch Chelsea
Current Liverpool line up
Keeper: Mignolet
Defence: Milner, Matip, Lovren, Clyne
Midfield: Lallana, Henderson, Wijnadlum
Attack: Mane, Firmino, Coutinho
Backup: Klavan, Leiva, Can, Moreno, Sturridge, Origi, Woodburn, Ejaria, Alexander-Arnold, Ojo, Stewart, Grujic, Gomez
This window is a vital one for Klopp as his team try to catch Chelsea in the title race, so below are some players that I think Liverpool will need to buy in the market.
Joe Hart
With Liverpool’s keepers not performing well this season, it’s the obvious decision to buy Hart, as he is a top keeper and he’s been unfairly treated by Pep at City.
Virgil van Dijk
With Liverpool having major problems in the centre back position they need Virgil van Dijk, who is an exceptional defender with a talent for defending set pieces, which Liverpool have struggled with. However, Liverpool need to spend big because Southampton chairman Les Reed has said that he will not sell van Dijk, but he could change his mind if a big offer comes in for van Dijk.
Christian Pulisic
If Pulisic was to join Liverpool he wouldn’t play much this season, but the American would play much more in future seasons as he’s still very young.
Michy Batshuayi
Batshuayi might want a move away from Chelsea this market as he hasn’t made a Premier League start this season for them. Liverpool could do with a deadly partnership of Batshuayi and Firmino.
One month Anniversary of Football Philosophy
I’ve really been enjoying writing my blog for the first month. Thank you for anyone who has been reading this website, I really appreciate it. I hope to continue this blog for a long time. I understand that it’s not very popular now, but I hope as I do it for longer it will grow gradually bigger. I can’t wait to find out how the table will look at the end of the season.
FA Cup Third Round Round up
This Saturday it was a special moment for Wayne Rooney- he equalled Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of the most goals for Manchester United in all competitions as his team beat Reading 4-0. Martial and Rashford scored too.
It was a disapointing draw for Liverpool against Plymouth, where Liverpool had a large amount of possession. In the game Klopp played a questionable amount of youngsters.
Moving on, Chelsea secured a comfortable win over Peterborough, where John Terry’s first start since October ended in disaster as he got sent off.
There were both relegation bound teams playing each other- Swansea and Hull. The game finished 2-0 to Hull, which was Hull manager Marcos Silva’s first game for the club.
The draw for the next round is tomorrow.
Football podcast with Kit – Sunday 8th January 2017
Welcome to this FA Cup weekend podcast where me and Kit previewed Chelsea vs Peterborough and Liverpool vs Plymouth, we talk about Rooney as he equalled Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of the most goals ever for Manchester United, and lastly we looked back at Bournemouth’s loss at Millwall as they made eleven changes for that game.
I am sorry about the poor sound quality. Sometimes when Kit was speaking the microphone was not on his mouth.
Some FA Cup Third Round Previews
Kicing off the FA Cup third round it’s West Ham vs Manchester City at 19:55 today. With Pep Guardiola’s first game ever in the Fa Cup. He has said in the in an interview that he is looking forward to a special first FA Cup tie.
The big team news is that West ham club captain Mark Noble may return after suffering a knock against Leicester.
It’s a big game for Jaap Staam as his Reading side take on Manchester United. Who he represented in his playing career.
On Saturday two relegation favourites play each other- Hull and Swansea. With the Championship looming for both clubs, they might want to do what Wigan did win the FA Cup and go down in the same season.
With Chelsea playing Peterborough on Sunday, the main question for them is can they win the Prem and the FA Cup this season.
You can listen to me and my fellow pundit Jack discussing if Chelsea will win the double on the podcast below:
You just have to skip to 3:30 in the video.