The English Football Thread

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Goals that got away: West Brom missed out on Aubameyang and Lewandowski up front

https://theathletic.com/2278563/2020/12/27/west-brom-january-transfers/

Hold this thought for a moment.

The year is 2018, and West Bromwich Albion have just sold star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for more than £50 million.

They have been a fixture in the top half of the Premier League for several years now, a talented side funded by the sale of Belgium midfielder Mousa Dembele for around £15 million six years earlier.

His purchase a couple of years earlier was paid for by selling a striker called Robert Lewandowski. Fair to say, the Pole’s done all right since departing The Hawthorns.

Tough-tackling Scott Brown is now captaining Albion in the Premier League, fellow Scot Andy Robertson is marauding from left-back while indefatigable forward Shinji Okazaki is leading the line. Jeremy Peace sold the club for around £400 million and left them pushing for Europe.

This fantastical picture of an alternative West Brom timeline is, granted, a little far-fetched and would have required multiple ‘Sliding Doors’ moments to work out well for Peace and his staff.

Yet, in theory at least, it could all have happened.

This is not a piece designed to lampoon Dan Ashworth, who vetoed the possible signing of Aubameyang in 2011. It is not meant as a dig at Peace and Mark Jenkins, who blocked moves for Dembele and Lewandowski the year before, Brown and fellow Scotland midfielder Kevin Thomson in 2007 and Ugo Ehiogu in 2006.

These things happen. Clubs have their budgets, different scouts see different things and managers miss out on deals they really want to happen. Certain players need different environments to thrive, too, so some of the men named here might not have developed in the same way had they actually moved to Albion.

No, this is a piece designed simply to take a whimsical look at what might have been at The Hawthorns.

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It is April 9, 2011, and Stuart White, whose main job is to lead West Brom’s UK scouting, is given a relatively rare overseas assignment.

His main game has been a Friday night fixture in Dijon but, before flying back from France, he also checks out Auxerre versus Saint-Etienne. Dimitri Payet and Blaise Matuidi are in the Saint-Etienne line-up but it is another player who most impresses White.

“Saint-Etienne drew the game 2-2, but Aubameyang and Emmanuel Riviere were tremendous as a pair,” White told Planet Football. “I came back raving about Aubameyang, and as luck would have it, his agent called me the following week, probably because he’d got to know that I had been at the game.

“He was obviously calling many clubs, but the lad was then an AC Milan player on loan at Saint-Etienne and he was interested in coming to England. The outline deal was explained to me and it was clear that he was going to be affordable, so I recommended that we pursued it.

“On the back of my shout, a few more of our scouts went out to watch him a week or two later and he scored an early goal against Sochaux in a 2-1 defeat but didn’t impress sufficiently on the night, which can happen.

“He then went back to Saint-Etienne (on a permanent transfer in January 2012), scored 21 in 45 and was subsequently sold to Borussia Dortmund for €13 million. He would have been a free loan to us, with a €2 million fee tied into the deal had we taken him.”

In fact, it was Ashworth, Albion’s sporting and technical director, who made a final trip to France to watch Aubameyang and decided the Gabon international forward was not for him.

Seven years later, Arsenal paid around £56 million to bring him belatedly to the Premier League.

“I have to stress, every scout in the land will have a similar story and some may even have the same one,” says White, who is the most unlikely person to criticise the highly-rated Ashworth. “It happens. Numerous other players have been recommended but not come in. Many have gone elsewhere and been successful.

“At West Brom, we tended to identify them in the earlier stages of their careers, before they took off. That’s key at clubs who can’t afford to pay top dollar, but even then, doing deals isn’t as easy as many people would assume.

“For example, we were very keen on Okazaki, but Mainz refused to sell him that summer. A year later he went to Leicester for a relatively modest fee and became a Premier League champion.”

Aubameyang is not the only world-class striker to have been offered to Albion.

In 2010, Lewandowski was a promising target man at Lech Poznan in his home country of Poland. He wanted a move to one of Europe’s top leagues and West Brom, back in the Premier League under Roberto Di Matteo, were in the market for some unpolished gems.

Lewandowski was keen on the move. In fact, April, he was close to joining Blackburn Rovers, managed by a certain Sam Allardyce, before the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted, covering Europe in an ash cloud and grounding all flights — including his to England. The move was scuppered.

Instead, Lewandowski ended up signing for Dortmund that summer as a player for the future and made 15 starts, scoring eight goals, on the way to becoming a Bundesliga champion in his debut season.

Albion had decided Lech Poznan’s asking price of around £4 million and Lewandowski’s wages were too much and instead paid around £2 million to sign a player from Lokomotiv Moscow whose contract was running down. That deal for Peter Odemwingie did not work out too badly.

In the same summer, they also signed Paul Scharner on a free transfer and Marc-Antoine Fortune for a second time.

Yet it could so easily have been Dembele coming in. The Belgian was a rising star as an attacking midfielder at AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands and keen to move to England.

 

Albion missed out on the chance to sign Mousa Dembele (Photo: VI Images via Getty Images)

His representatives spoke to Albion and to neighbours and fellow Premier League side Birmingham City and a deal to take him to the West Midlands seemed likely. Albion, however, were balancing risk against possible reward and decided the fee, of around £5 million, was too rich for their blood.

“We like him and we think he will get better but that’s too much,” said a director at the time. “If Blues (Birmingham) want to pay that, they can have him.”

West Brom withdrew and left Birmingham with a seemingly clear run until Fulham appeared at the 11th hour, matched the Birmingham offer and Dembele opted to play his top-flight football in London, where he would remain, developing gradually into one of the best holding midfield players in the league. Tottenham Hotspur activated a £15 million release clause in 2012, two years after Fulham signed him.

There were others, too. Bryan Robson’s departure as manager in 2006 was hastened by the collapse of Ehiogu’s move back to the club whose centre of excellence had first developed him.

The deal was agreed by Robson, the defender, who died tragically young at age 44 in 2017, was happy to move from Middlesbrough back to the Midlands and he was even in the players’ canteen at Albion’s Walsall training ground getting to know his prospective new team-mates when Peace decided the terms were beyond Albion’s reach.

Robson was furious. He and Peace never patched up their differences.

That same canteen witnessed explosive scenes in February 2015, when Carlton Cole received the “Ehiogu treatment” at the hands of Allardyce.

The West Ham striker was enjoying a drink in the final few hours of the winter transfer window, having agreed a loan move to Albion that would have potentially resurrected a career on the slide in east London.

His medical was complete and paperwork signed. All that stood between Cole and his move was a sign-off from the West Ham end. When Allardyce called to tell the striker things had changed at Upton Park and the switch wasn’t going to happen, Cole launched a rant that is still talked about by those present.

“You’re fucking wrecking my career,” is one of the phrases stunned witnesses recall hearing.

Tony Mowbray, Albion’s manager from 2006 to 2009, suffered countless setbacks.

In his first transfer window at The Hawthorns in 2007, he set his sights on reuniting with Brown and Thomson, who had powered the midfield of his Hibernian side in his previous job. However, Peace could not get the deals done. Thomson moved to Rangers with moderate success while Brown went to the other side of the Old Firm divide and has become a Celtic legend.

After winning the 2008 Championship title, Mowbray wanted James Collins from West Ham to boost his defence. How much of a difference the Wales international would have made will never be known, but Mowbray’s side was badly lacking a centre-back adept at the fundamentals of defending.

He wanted Madjid Bougherra, too. The Charlton Athletic centre-back spent time at the Albion training ground for talks but personal terms were never agreed.

And in 2014, after watching Romelu Lukaku thrill West Brom fans in a 17-goal season on loan, the club had a shirt printed and an unveiling planned after agreeing to take him for a second season from Chelsea. Manager Steve Clarke’s hopes were dashed when, halfway up the motorway from London, Lukaku had a change of heart and decided a year at Everton would be a better move for his career.

Of course, Albion enjoyed numerous successes in the transfer market too. Graham Dorrans, Youssouf Mulumbu and Gareth McAuley were low-cost recruits who did wonders for the club. Darren Fletcher and Jonny Evans as well.

But managers, coaches and scouts will always lament the ones that got away.

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Diallo impresses but faces the impossible job of dislodging Romeu

https://theathletic.com/2285046/2020/12/27/diallo-ibrahima-southampton-romeu/

Ibrahima Diallo lined up for Southampton against a player many of the club’s fans had hoped would be able to carve out a career at St Mary’s.

Harrison Reed, Fulham’s central midfielder, joined them permanently from his boyhood club in the summer after spending last season on loan in west London, helping his new club win promotion back to the Premier League.

But yesterday, without doing anything spectacular, Diallo showed why Ralph Hasenhuttl was right to allow Reed to leave in search of regular football.

Having waited for over three months to register his first Premier League start following an October move from French club Brest, Diallo eased his way into the goalless draw with Fulham.

He managed 16 passes in the opening 45 minutes, with 13 of them proving successful. James Ward-Prowse, his midfield partner, completed 22 passes out of 25 attempts — a success rate of 88 per cent. The Frenchman had 23 touches in the first half, only Che Adams (17), Shane Long (14) and Theo Walcott (11) in Southampton colours registered fewer. Of his six duels, half as many as Kyle Walker-Peters’ team-best 12, he won two. He also won possession back three times.

The second half, though, saw Diallo grow in confidence and assert himself more around the pitch.

He ended up with 55 touches, 12 duels, 40 passes — with 85 per cent of those being accurate, which was the highest number of any Southampton player — and a remarkable air shot to boot.

The below graphic is Diallo’s first-half touch map:

As you can see from the next graphic, displaying his second-half touches, the 21-year-old was a lot more active after the interval.

Although this may not seem like a lot, Reed, who has played in 11 of Fulham’s Premier League games this season, was beaten by Diallo in almost every category. Reed hit five fewer passes with 35, had a worse passing accuracy (77.1 per cent) and made two recoveries to Diallo’s nine. He did manage to win one more duel: six to five.

But how did Diallo perform with his team-mates?

Well, there was clever link-up play with Stuart Armstrong just after the half-hour mark, which offered a glimpse of what he can offer in an attacking sense. After the break, you could see him wanting the ball more frequently, looking for ways to impact the game.

That unfortunate swing and miss came in the 66th minute, when the ball fell to him just outside Fulham’s penalty area.

“Against the ball, he was good and aggressive,” said Hasenhuttl. “With the ball, maybe not always the best decisions in front, but today it was not necessary. To be safe and not make too many risks was absolutely the right decision.

“In the first half, I saw him having a few good fights and he was strong. I’m happy he is here and he will make a lot of games for us.”

Were it not for Hasenhuttl’s powers of persuasion, there’s a good chance Diallo would still be plying his trade in Ligue 1. The Monaco academy graduate was happy to remain in Brest, a port city on the southern side of the English Channel, rather than cross over to one on its northern shore. His departure did not come until October. A meeting with Southampton’s manager, though, made up his mind over the £11 million move.

“To convince him to come here was not so easy, because he really asked questions,” says Hasenhuttl. “I must say, I haven’t it had so often as a manager trying to sign a player.

“He really wanted to know what we are about. I think everything we told him is exactly how he found it. The issue for him was that the team were doing so well, so it was difficult for him to step into the side. Although he understands this, he was not happy about it.”

To get his chance, Diallo has had to stay patient and wait for Oriol Romeu, the master of yellow cards but avoider of reds, to be either suspended or injured. Before his maiden Premier League start on Saturday, he had been limited to six appearances off the bench, totalling just 24 minutes of football. Ward-Prowse and Romeu had become undroppable.

Despite these early frustrations, The Athletic understands Diallo has made a positive impression in the dressing room. He has formed a bond with Moussa Djenepo and Dan N’Lundulu as the trio can speak French together. Although English isn’t his first language, the midfielder makes a conscious effort to converse in it with club staff.

Diallo, whose older brother, Abdou, plays in defence for serial French champions Paris Saint-Germain, has received plaudits for his attitude behind the scenes. Other players in the camp have been impressed with him in training.

With Romeu available again for Tuesday’s home game against West Ham United, it’s hard to imagine a world where Diallo keeps his place in the team. But that shouldn’t be viewed as a negative.

Hasenhuttl now has a wonderful problem on his hands — two players actively competing to feature alongside Ward-Prowse.

Romeu, with his vast experience and added physical edge, looks to be more of a natural fit for the next match. But now Diallo has had a first proper taste of Premier League football, you sense he will be chomping at the bit to be in the starting XI more often.

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Walker-Peters exclusive: How I’ve learnt to defend differently under Hasenhuttl

https://theathletic.com/2276393/2020/12/26/walker-peters-hasenhuttl-southampton/

Kyle Walker-Peters is surely a contender for bargain buy of the season.

It seldom happens where both clubs involved in a transfer end up satisfied with the business conducted, but that has to be the case with Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur over their deal for the full-back.

Jose Mourinho’s Spurs landed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Southampton’s wantaway midfielder, for £15 million in the summer before Walker-Peters made last season’s loan move in the opposite direction permanent for £12 million.

The right-back is flourishing under Ralph Hasenhuttl’s guidance after struggling for game time in Tottenham colours, playing every single minute of his new club’s 14 matches so far.

Although it may look like a seamless transition from the outside, there has been a lot for Walker-Peters to get his head around.

In other words, old habits die hard.

“It’s always hard when you change teams and you have to change your way of thinking,” he tells The Athletic. “When you are growing up in football, some things become second nature and one of the big things I found tough at the start was the aspect of doubling up.

“That was something, even still now sometimes, you find it hard to change.”

After spending his entire career at Spurs up until last January, it’s no wonder it took Walker-Peters a while to adapt to Hasenhuttl’s methods. For Southampton’s manager doesn’t want his full-backs to do what most of them are taught from a young age. Gone are the days where you do everything you can to stop the opposition’s winger.

Hasenhuttl wants Walker-Peters and left-back Ryan Bertrand to forget about the threat down their flank and instead protect the centre-backs.

You may be wondering how this all works. The Athletic certainly was, which is why we’ll let Walker-Peters do the hard yards in explaining it.

“If strikers are pinning my centre-back and I am the full-back, instead of going with the runner, I need to go to the guy pinning the centre-back and tackle from the front,” the 23-year-old continues.

So, who is responsible for the winger on your side when you go to cover Jan Bednarek in the middle?

“It’s the next centre-back,” he adds. “We all slide across. He (Jannik Vestergaard) should be coming across anyway. And then Ryan covers for Jannik.”

But then who slots in for Ryan?

“The No 10 (whoever is playing on the left of the 4-2-2-2 formation),” Walker-Peters says, while erupting with laughter, almost knowing it sounds bonkers.

“It’s a lot of running, but it’s working. We are proving we can do it. We are an intense, high-energy team.

“You’ll sometimes see in games that we won’t always do it if it doesn’t feel right. Sometimes you have to sense it on the pitch. You have got to think where the players are on the pitch. Ultimately, it’s our job to stop goals. If we don’t feel it is 100 per cent right, then Ralph says to us all the time that we have to pick the moments and make sure it feels right.

“But if you go, then you have to trust the man behind you is coming. There is an element of doing it, but if it doesn’t feel right then take your time and, ultimately, stop goals and make sure we are secure at the back.”

How do you take all of that on board?

“The staff always explain what the philosophy is,” he adds. “It’s just something that happens in football a lot. The first two, three games… it takes someone a while to really adapt to a new style.

“I was probably a bit lucky with the (three months of) lockdown and having a little pre-season where I could really focus my mind on adapting to the style. From there I really kicked on, so I have to give credit to the staff and everyone for helping me get there.”

If the defensive element of Walker-Peters’ position sounds confusing, you’ll be thrilled to know the attacking side is a lot simpler.

Hasenhuttl allows Walker-Peters and Bertrand to express themselves up the pitch. And it’s paying off. The former Tottenham man registered an assist against his old club in September and was responsible for winning Southampton’s penalty in their win over Brighton & Hove Albion earlier this month.

Although Hasenhuttl and his coaching staff needed to do a lot of work on the training ground to help their summer buy fully understand the system, the attacking element of Walker-Peters’ game had already been fine-tuned by Mauricio Pochettino, the former Spurs (and previously Southampton) boss.

Pochettino, also known for his expansive style of play and aggressive pressing, handed the locally-born defender his Tottenham debut as a 20-year-old in August 2017 and allowed him to roam forward. And Walker-Peters admits that although there are subtle differences between the two managers, they place the same demands on their full-backs.

“They are very similar actually,” he says. “High intensity, high energy. Offensively with Pochettino, I was quite free to do as I please. But as a defender, you have to do the typical things.

“It’s actually pretty similar. He (Hasenhuttl) is happy to trust us offensively. Defensively, it’s about winning your one-v-one battles, stopping the crosses, putting your body on the line and, yeah, a lot of running and high-intensity work.”

It’s the same story in England’s age-group ranks, where Walker-Peters has featured at every level from the under-18s to the under-21s. There has been no first senior call-up yet but, given how he’s playing at the moment, that will surely come.

“They (England) want you up and down (the pitch),” he reveals. “The full-back position has changed a lot. It is used a lot more as an offensive position as well as a defensive one. You have got to be able to do both sides of the game. Through England youth set-ups, it was the same.”

Behind the scenes, Walker-Peters is a popular member of the dressing room.

His closest friends are Michael Obafemi, Che Adams and Nathan Redmond. The quartet often play FIFA against each other, and the defender is said to be one of the better players in the squad at the video game.

When Redmond isn’t around, Walker-Peters seizes the initiative and takes control of the dressing-room music, both at the training ground and St Mary’s. The Athletic is led to believe rap is his go-to genre.

His best friend in football is former Spurs team-mate Dele Alli. The pair are often seen spending time together and they travelled to Mykonos, Greece on holiday last summer. Tottenham’s Eric Dier is also a close companion.

If moving away from hometown London was initially rough, life in Hampshire was made easier for Walker-Peters after his loan move turned permanent. He moved out of the hotel he was staying in and found a place in Winchester, where he has been joined by his girlfriend and Dior, his toy poodle.

Walker-Peters is a vocal member of the Southampton side during training, often taking a lot of pleasure from seeing someone getting nutmegged during a rondo. It isn’t all fun and games, though.

“We do a lot of sessions where you are out of position and you have to sprint back,” he tells The Athletic. “Really you shouldn’t get there, but it’s disguised running. That builds you up, gets you ready and makes you feel confident that you can do those long runs during matches.”

Walker-Peters, who has contributed to seven Southampton clean sheets in his 24 Premier League appearances, is already feeling the benefits.

Despite playing in the Champions League for Tottenham, this current run of form, he says, is his best football to date.

Southampton are looking to add another full-back in January to provide squad depth behind Walker-Peters and Bertrand. However, it would take a lot for the 23-year-old to lose his place in the starting XI. He has simply been that good.

But he knows there is still so much more room for improvement.

“Definitely,” he responds, when asked if this is the best he’s played since turning professional. “Ultimately, it is because I’ve been able to get that run of games which gives you confidence and you become accustomed to situations that you are facing in every game. It can honestly only come with games.

“It’s a hard one when you are not playing regularly. I would say now you are seeing — and I’ve still got more — a good level of Kyle Walker-Peters.”

[Vesper 28,778]

Sensible Transfers: Augustin’s a warning sign but Leeds will act if they need to

https://theathletic.com/2270197/2020/12/24/sensible-transfers-augustins-a-warning-sign-but-leeds-will-act-if-they-need-to/

The abiding image of Jean-Kevin Augustin came from his first morning at Leeds United’s training ground. It was cold, it was windy and he was out on the running track with one of the club’s coaching staff, lapping the fields quietly.

Day one for Augustin was also square one. Leeds were deep into their fixture list, well beyond halfway, but they put Augustin through the mid-season process which clubs like to call a mini pre-season. His fitness was below par so Marcelo Bielsa arranged to have him run hard. No cutting corners and no special treatment, however much his loan from RB Leipzig was costing. The rest of the squad trained separately, on a pitch nearby. That was where Augustin wanted to be.

Leeds think of him when they think about how best to play the January transfer window. Even before that regrettable signing, a deal which FIFA is now being asked to arbitrate over, Victor Orta was averse to winter recruitment on the grounds that choice and value was often thin on the ground. But Bielsa as head coach brought an extra layer of complication. Beyond choice and value was the challenge of finding players with the conditioning to match the footballers at Leeds who had spent two-and-a-half years adapting to Bielsa’s regime. Augustin was what happened if a new recruit fell too far off the pace.

In the summer window just gone, Leeds’ investment of £100 million in transfers was a long-term blueprint, as investment like that should be. They were not just preparing for an immediate taste of the Premier League. By scouting as they did, the club felt their resources were made for this season and next, built in a way (and with an average age) which would allow them to evolve and rise up the table. That big hit of £100 million was, ideally, supposed to reduce the call for further expenditure, at least for a handful of windows.

It would suit Leeds to let this January go by peacefully and there are plenty of clubs in the Premier League who find themselves doing little in the market at this time of year. Bielsa is not giving anyone the impression that he wants Leeds to be active either. In the first fortnight of December, he lost both of his right-sided centre-backs, Robin Koch and Diego Llorente, to injury. Bielsa was asked if he would try to sign cover. We have Luke Ayling, Kalvin Phillips and Pascal Struijk, he replied. On top of that, Gaetano Berardi should be fit in February after an ACL injury. So no, not a chance.

Bielsa, in his time at Elland Road, has never allowed his impact as a coach to be seen in the context of how big his transfer budget is. The club have spent, no question, but even now the spine of his team has been on the books since his very first summer. The only reason Leeds went anywhere near Augustin last January was because Eddie Nketiah’s loan from Arsenal was cut short. In two-and-a-half years, Augustin is the only outfield player (or the only outfield player with any senior experience) who Leeds have brought in mid-season. Bielsa and Orta are aligned in that sense, sharing the view that it is better to have a squad in place at the outset. That way January is there for emergencies, or for opportunities too good to pass up.

That is likely to be Orta’s approach next month, if indeed Leeds spend anything in this window. As they showed when Raphinha was offered for £17 million (less than a week after Leeds had come close to ploughing £20 million into Michael Cuisance, a different player in a completely different position), the club are set up to react when tempting options present themselves. But Bielsa has refrained from banging the drum for impact signings and it would be hard to tell him that he needs them. Leeds’ form has been good and their football is highly competitive at its best. Realistically, in season one, this is what Leeds were hoping for, even allowing for Sunday’s thrashing at Old Trafford.

Cuisance, until the collapse of his move from Bayern Munich, was seen as an ideal fit in the one area which Leeds failed to fill before the last deadline in October. Their interest in a central midfielder ebbs and flows depending on where Adam Forshaw is in his never-ending recovery process but it is there that Leeds are thin, in front of the defensive wall of Kalvin Phillips. Bielsa’s devotion to Mateusz Klich continues unabated and Klich’s mind and body continues to hold up to the strain of starting every match but there is a dearth of depth in that specialised role, somewhere in the gap between a No 8 and a No 10. Bielsa has only once felt compelled to replace Klich, on the Sunday after promotion when the dressing room at Leeds was a little tired and emotional. Like Phillips, when it comes to replacing Klich you hope Bielsa never has to.

Leeds made enquiries about Udinese’s Rodrigo De Paul in the summer, a good match for that position in the team. They fell well short of Udinese’s £35 million valuation, though, and the transfer was never more than a conversation. The club are unlikely to rush into that sort of deal in the window ahead and sources close to De Paul do not anticipate a fresh approach. They are talking instead about destinations for him in Italy and Spain. There was credible interest from Leeds in Atalanta’s Ruslan Malinovskyi too but he is in the frame in Serie A, appearing regularly enough.

Closer to home, Leeds have made no secret of the attention they have paid to Todd Cantwell at Norwich City and Louie Sibley at Derby County. Within the lower-league ranks, Bielsa is also an admirer of John Swift, the former England Under-21 international, at Reading. But Leeds found in the summer window that fees in the European market were more favourable: Robin Koch for half the price Leeds tried to pay for Ben White, Rodrigo for a million pounds less than Ollie Watkins and Raphinha for a sum which looks like a snip. Orta’s scouting network is spread wide across the continent, with eyes in most major leagues of note. Those are the sort of deals that appeal to him most.

As for a left-back? It is the only position in Bielsa’s team where he seems happy to make do. High-quality full-backs have never been more prized in the Premier League and they are essential to Bielsa’s own tactics. That, to an extent, was shown by Barry Douglas materialising as his first permanent signing as head coach in 2018, a deal which brought in nominally the best left-back in the Championship. But Douglas was bit-part and in October he left for Blackburn Rovers. He was fourth in line at Leeds, behind Stuart Dallas, Gjanni Alioski and Leif Davis — a right winger, a left winger and an academy product.

Leeds cast an eye over Fulham’s Joe Bryan at the beginning of the summer and looked at Tottenham’s Ryan Sessegnon towards the end of it but did not make significant strides towards landing a different option on that side of defence. Dallas was Bielsa’s first choice there and a tidy pair of hands. Alioski provided the competition (and Bielsa is so happy with Alioski that talks with the 28-year-old over a new contract are underway). There is an underlying feeling that one day Leeds will need a specialist there but, for now, their head coach seems satisfied with the balance.

In this window, the club intend to operate without undue pressure; to avoid deals completely if none make sense and to make signings purely on their terms. Orta likes to plan for the future and dig up targets with residual value. It will not be a surprise if he has something of that nature up his sleeve. But season-changing deals? Expect limits to the drama, assuming there is any.

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Carlo Ancelotti is finding ways to win – even without Richarlison

https://theathletic.com/2285565/2020/12/27/everton-carlo-ancelotti-tom-davies-richarlison/

It took them nine games, but Everton found a way to win without Richarlison.

Given the manner in which they have overcome obstacles in their path so far this season, maybe it should not have come as much of a surprise that they finally did. 

This team have spent much of the campaign needing to find ways to cope without key players. First without Richarlison. Then Lucas Digne, Seamus Coleman, James Rodriguez and Richarlison again.

Save for the rut after the drawn Merseyside derby — the three defeats on the spin that were the guts of a one win in seven run — they have adapted at every turn. Boxing Day’s hard-fought 1-0 victory over Sheffield United made it four consecutive league wins and took them up to the heady heights of second in the table. 

This is a different Everton to the one who thrilled with free-flowing football earlier in the season. They know they cannot blow teams aside so have to be more reserved and compact. As assistant manager Davide Ancelotti told The Athletic recently: “If you have James (Rodriguez), Andre Gomes and Lucas Digne, they are players that need the ball. Without them, you can change a little bit and use other weapons we have.”

What will please Davide’s dad Carlo most about their side’s recent performances is how, in the absence of key figures, a new-found resilience has emerged and hitherto peripheral players such as Tom Davies have stood up to be counted. 

Few can replace the influential Allan at the base of the Everton midfield — and this was relegation-threatened, still-winless Sheffield United not Bruno Fernandes and Manchester United — but Davies made the most of his return to the team to deliver a more-than-passable impression of the absent Brazilian. 

Davies was Everton’s Allan at Bramall Lane, dropping in to receive the ball from his defence to start attacks. His 73 touches were the most of any midfielder on the pitch despite leaving the game on 74 minutes, his 29 passes into the opposition half the joint-highest. That Davies did so with an accuracy of just under 80 per cent hints at growing composure on the ball. Overall, his pass accuracy was 86 per cent, the best of any Everton player. 

Everton were at their best when Davies was in charge of possession, his sharp balls through the lines rare moments of quality in a poor match in part affected by the swirling winds and driving rain. 

For so long, there has been discussion about the 22-year-old’s best role, but he is finally starting to carve out his niche after similarly effective displays this sesason against Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal. While Davies has been seen as a liability defensively at times, there is evidence that his video work watching Allan is paying off. No player made more possession regains in the game than his 10, a sign of burgeoning positional intelligence.

Davies was a standout before Gomes replaced him for the final quarter of an hour. But even then, it did not always look like Everton would find a way against a home side now on two points after 15 games.

Against Chelsea, Leicester City and Arsenal, Ancelotti Sr’s side allowed the opposition to have the ball and countered effectively. It is a natural fit given the players at their disposal at present. Yet what happens when teams allow them the ball, as United did on occasion on Saturday, still appears up for discussion. 

There is such reliance on Rodriguez to provide passing quality and Digne to supply the crosses that without them, Everton look ill-equipped to provoke and dictate. Too quickly, they resorted to aerial punts forward as a means of attack, leaving lone striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin with an unenviable task against three central defenders. Too often, the final pass eluded them. 

It felt like the increasingly dominant Calvert-Lewin would have to do it all by himself against his boyhood club to secure an Everton win. One sublime piece of chest control followed by a first-time volley that sailed just past the post was symbolic of both the confidence coursing through the striker’s veins this season and the extent to which he had become a one-man band. Nobody else in a blue shirt got near him for long spells in South Yorkshire. 

Thankfully, Ancelotti realised his side needed more and three second-half substitutions helped tip the game in Everton’s favour.

Bernard, his first introduction of the evening, added poise amid the chaos, probing from the left and helping create the moment his team-mates had craved all night. Few others on the pitch would have had the audacity and touch to direct an airborne ball towards Abdoulaye Doucoure in the box in the build-up to Gylfi Sigurdsson’s winner. But Bernard is, sporadically at least, capable of such moments.

 

Gomes moved Everton up the pitch with some strong running, while captain Coleman was brought on to provide more thrust and drive from right-back. His extra width was important in the context of the swing in momentum, simultaneously creating more options for players in possession, more variety in their play and more of a headache for the United defence. Everton are usually at their best when they provide penetration from deep and will need to do so more regularly when using this set-up against defence-minded opposition. 

All three substitutes were singled out for praise by Ancelotti, a sign the Everton manager knows how important it will be to eke every ounce of quality from his squad. 

“I’m really pleased,” he said. “It’s a victory of spirit, not quality. Defensively we were solid and didn’t give Sheffield United opportunities. In the end, we scored a fantastic goal with fantastic combinations.

“The fact is that the three players from the bench, Gomes, Coleman and Bernard, helped a lot the team to win this game. We knew we needed to be patient and wouldn’t have opportunities to score.

“The fact we are second with all these players out means the squad is good, has ambition and motivation.”

Add to that list a way to finally win without Richarlison, the growth of squad players and a place in the Champions League spots on Boxing Day.

It may not always be pretty at present, but Ancelotti is finding ways to return winning football to Goodison Park.

[Vesper 28,778]

Fabinho’s heroics are being undermined by Liverpool’s lack of centre-halves

https://theathletic.com/2283508/2020/12/28/fabinho-liverpool-transfers/

Fabinho won’t look back with much fondness on the day he brought up a century of appearances for Liverpool.

The Brazil international cut an agitated figure as he headed down the tunnel after the final whistle. Semi Ajayi had climbed all over him to nod home West Bromwich Albion’s late equaliser at Anfield.

There was a collective sense of anger in the home dressing room after standards slipped alarmingly in the second half following a one-sided opening 45 minutes when Sadio Mane fired them in front.

The wounds were self-inflicted. Liverpool only had themselves to blame for carelessly squandering two points but Fabinho had nothing to apologise for.

Once again he excelled as a makeshift centre-back. He completed 88 per cent of his passes and won 78 per cent of his aerial duels. He regained possession on 10 occasions, more than any of his team-mates. There were also three clearances and two interceptions.

Fabinho has grown in stature since Liverpool lost Virgil van Dijk to a torn ACL at Goodison Park in October. Jurgen Klopp asked him to become a more vocal presence and a leader in the absence of the commanding Dutchman and he has delivered for his manager.

The 27-year-old’s outstanding form is one of the key reasons why Liverpool have been able to collect 21 points out of a possible 27 since that ill-fated Merseyside derby. He has stepped up and helped to fill the void. Calm and composed, he’s adept at sensing danger and dealing with it. His distribution is also a major strength.

Affectionately known as “El Flaco” (the skinny one) by his team-mates, Fabinho shares a close bond with fellow countryman Alisson and Roberto Firmino. His grasp of the language has improved to such a degree that in recent months he’s started doing club media interviews in English.

Rather than bemoan being shifted from the holding midfield role he was carrying out with such aplomb, he has embraced the challenge of learning a new position. He has put the team first, no questions asked, which given the humility and professionalism he’s shown since arriving from Monaco in the summer of 2018 has surprised no-one at the AXA Training Centre.

Fabinho is a strong contender for Liverpool’s player of the season so far. His early struggles at Anfield when he was adapting to the pace and physicality of English are an increasingly distant memory. He’s worth at least double the £43 million the club paid for him.

He has proved beyond doubt that he can be relied upon to operate to a high level in the backline until Van Dijk and Joe Gomez return either in the closing stages of this season or early next season.

But the glaring issue for Klopp is the other centre-back spot. Joel Matip started there against West Brom but limped off after an hour with the latest in a long line of muscle injuries.

“Joel told me he felt something in his adductor and that’s obviously not too good. I am not sure how serious it is but it was serious enough that he had to leave the pitch,” Klopp said.

Matip’s quality has never been in question. It was there again with the pinged pass which Sadio Mane expertly controlled and clinically dispatched to open the scoring against Sam Allardyce’s side.

However, the reality is that he simply can’t be relied upon to stay fit over an extended period. Earlier this month he didn’t emerge for the second half against Fulham at Craven Cottage due to a back spasm and missed the subsequent clash with Tottenham.

Liverpool have played 15 Premier League games so far this season and the former Cameroon international hasn’t been available for seven of them. He has played just 556 minutes of football in the league in 2020-21, completing 90 minutes just five times.

It’s not a one-off. Last season he wasn’t available for 22 of Liverpool’s 38 league matches. He completed 90 minutes on seven occasions.

Matip’s injury record is why not replacing Dejan Lovren when he was sold to Zenit St Petersburg was such a gamble last summer.

The club’s rationale made sense at the time. Money was tight due to the global pandemic and Liverpool had to prioritise certain areas of the squad.

They had to sign Kostas Tsimikas as back-up for Andy Robertson and they needed more firepower in the form of Diogo Jota. The chance to buy Thiago Alcantara was just too good to turn down.

Klopp had already touted the idea of using Fabinho at the back in an emergency and he was impressed by the youngsters coming through.

However, it meant they took a risk as they went into the new campaign with just three senior recognised centre-backs. Now as 2020 draws to a close all three are sidelined. The cupboard is bare. Jamie Carragher, the former centre-half working on Sky Sports as a pundit, reacted to Matip’s injury by saying that “it’s paramount that Liverpool sign someone in January.”

Senior sources at Liverpool have been adamant that the club won’t dip into the transfer market next month. Klopp has been delighted by how rookies Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips have performed when handed their chance to shine this season.

Liverpool have high hopes for Williams especially and don’t want to block his pathway. However, the final half-hour against West Brom provided a reminder that the academy graduate is only 19 and still learning his trade. There are bound to be bumps along the way. It would be wrong to expect too much too soon.

It remains to be seen whether the outcome of Matip’s scan leads to a change of heart from the Anfield hierarchy going into the January window.

What about the business end of the campaign when the pressure is cranked up and the stakes keep getting higher?

There’s a spell in February when Liverpool face Manchester City, Leicester City, RB Leipzig and Everton all in the space of a fortnight.

The imminent return of Thiago will help provide the kind of creative spark which was sadly lacking against West Brom but defensive concerns remain.

Fabinho is a rock. Liverpool are lucky to have him. However, it’s that vulnerability alongside him which is a chink in the champions’ armour.

[Special Juan 27,424]

Palace v Leicester here we go....beers ready, chicken curry cooking and just Chelsea to ruin it

[Vesper 28,778]

2020-21 English Premier League

Crystal Palace             
Leicester City              

http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/premier-league-crystal-palace-vs-leicester-city-s1/

https://www.totalsportek.com/leicester-citys/

[Special Juan 27,424]

Inehacho missed penalty...good save by Guaita

[Special Juan 27,424]

It was a totally shit penalty, I wish players would just smash the fucking ball properly.

[lucio 5,418]

Dross Townsend , would have buried that vs us

[Jase 43,479]

Everton v Man City OFF tonight apparently. COVID-19 cases at City.

[Jase 43,479]

1 minute ago, Jason said:

Everton v Man City OFF tonight apparently. COVID-19 cases at City.

And it's OFF...

 

[Special Juan 27,424]

Fuck sake, was looking forward to that

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Special Juan 27,424]

1-0 Palace what a superb goal

[Stats 7,053]

14 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

Might mean our game with City is postponed.

[lucio 5,418]

Zaha is a baller , too bad he will waste his career at a pub team like palace