Leeds were played off the park at the Hawthorns on Saturday, and Marcelo Bielsa simply must drop Ezgjan Alioski after another poor performance.
Leeds had 72 per cent of the possession against West Brom on Saturday evening, but the Baggies were absolutely lethal on the counter attack.
Hal Robson-Kanu put the hosts in front with a sweet finish, before a flurry of goals from Matt Phillips, Harvey Barnes an Dwight Gayle rapped the game up.
There were plenty of poor individual performances in Bielsa’s side, but Alioski really summed up the entire display with his complete lack of quality in the final third.
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The 26 year-old is appreciated by the fans at Elland Road due to his immense work rate, but his inability to find the correct final pass or shot is a major concern.
He has now racked up 58 Championship appearances for the club, but only scored ten goals and provided eight assists during that period.
This is simply not good enough for an attacking player in Bielsa’s free-flowing system, and he had an absolute nightmare of a performance in Saturday’s defeat.
The Macedonian international completed zero out of his five crosses, and completed just 75 per cent of his overall passes.
He managed one shot, which did not hit the target, and didn’t complete a single take-on.
Bielsa needs his attacking players to bring that creative spark in the final third, and simply working hard is not good enough to earn promotion.
With Jack Harrison and Samuel Saiz both struggling for form as well, Bielsa must dip into the transfer market in January to find some more clinical attackers.
So, Leeds fans, should Alioski be dropped? Do you need a new winger in January? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below…
The West Ham United fans are not exactly feeling terrific about their team’s chances of keeping Marko Arnautovic at the moment.
Arnautovic has scored five Premier League goals for West Ham this season, but his future with the Hammers is far from secure.
The attacker is currently on international duty with Austria, and was asked about his future at club level following his national team’s 2-1 win over Northern Ireland on Sunday.
Arnautovic said that he ‘did not want to talk about’ his future, and the West Ham fans think that they know exactly what that means.
It was not exactly the message that the West Ham fans wanted to hear, and it does appear increasingly likely that the 29-year-old will seek pastures new.
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The West Ham supporters have seemingly accepted that their star man will be heading away from the London Stadium sooner rather than later.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
Loads of Leeds fans have been reflecting on the weekend’s action as they look ahead to the clash with Reading, and they want Will Huffer to keep his place in goal.
Leeds’ injury crisis hit new levels over the international break, as Pontus Jansson, Jamal Blackman and Bailey Peacock-Farrell were all ruled out of the Bristol City match.
Blackman’s unfortunate injury was of course the most serious, with Peacock-Farrell expected to return for Tuesday’s clash with Reading.
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Fans want Huffer to keep his place though, as the 20-year-old kept a clean sheet on his debut.
Peacock-Farrell had no such luck on his first appearance last season as Paul Heckingbottom’s side were crushed by Wolves, and the Northern Ireland international has lost his way a bit this season.
Huffer also looked a bit shaky at times, but it would be harsh to axe a young player just days after keeping a clean sheet on his debut.
Fans are calling for the young stopper to keep the spot, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…
West Ham will need to find some consistency sooner rather than later if they want to see real changes and progression up the table.
Whilst currently occupying 13th place in the Premier League, you have to consider the hard set of fixtures they were handed as to why £100 million worth of new talents haven’t hit the ground running.
The potential is definitely there for this West Ham team to go far but as of yet, Manuel Pellegrini has been unable to get them to regularly perform on a consistent basis.
Injuries have also been a big factor in that, as they always seem to do with the Hammers. Most recently, Ryan Fredericks has been hit with an injury that could keep him out for a while.
With talk of Pablo Zabaleta leaving at the end of the season as well, this upcoming transfer window is most certainly the time for West Ham to be looking at a new right-back and someone with the quality that RB Salzburg’s Stefan Lainer has.
Lainer, who is valued at £9 million on Transfermarkt, should most definitely be a player of interest for Manuel Pellegrini, as a former Hammer has also insisted.
Steve Lomas has been vocal in the idea that West Ham should make a move for the Austrian international, having liked what he has seen of him.
The 26-year-old is definitely one of the most consistent players for Salzburg and having already made 20 appearances in all competitions, popping up with a goal and three assists, his potential value to West Ham cannot be underestimated.
With the ability to play further forward as well, West Ham surely won’t have to look any further in their right-back search than Stefan Lainer.
Arsenal claimed their most important win yet of this season as they emerged 4-2 victors over north London rivals Spurs on Sunday – fans were surely raving about the fighting spirit and combative mentality which their side adopted but, while he remained a point of discussion before kick-off as a back spasm kept him out of the match-day squad, few would have had any mention of Mesut Ozil, the man who is usually the forefront of Gunners discussion.
The midfielder was previously excluded from his side’s clash with Bournemouth as Unai Emery opted for a 3-4-3 formation and the Spaniard hinted that his number 10 was not up to the physically demanding nature of the tie.
As Emery’s side ran out 2-1 winners after coming back from behind at the Vitality there were few complaints about his decision to leave out his chief playmaker and, considering that a similarly physical approach achieved the results on Sunday, there seems to be an argument that the Gunners are better off without the player who has been their poster boy since Arsene Wenger brought him to the Emirates in 2013.
The togetherness and willingness to run and battle for one another which Arsenal displayed at the weekend is something that they have been lacking for a decade and Lucas Torreira’s performance, in particular, epitomised the philosophy and attitude that Emery is trying to instil within his squad as he looks to take the north London side into a new era.
While Ozil is capable of single-handedly winning a game for any side, a dice is thrown by starting him as one never knows which version of the German will be on show – the one who can be a world-class conduit for creation, or the one who sulks and strops until he gets substituted.
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Bearing in mind that the former Real Madrid man is Arsenal’s highest paid player – he hauls in a handsome £300k-a-week – it seems an expensive gamble to be making week after week, especially as his astronomical wages have proven to be a point of frustration for others in the dressing room.
Aaron Ramsey looks set to leave the Emirates in the summer after a tabled contract offer, which would have surely put him on similar terms to Ozil, was withdrawn with his current deal winding down. After the Welshman was instrumental off the bench last time out, the question begs as to whether the decision to let him leave while keeping one of the Premier League’s most infuriating individuals was the wrong one to make.
Ozil threatens to follow the same destructive path as Alexis Sanchez but, unlike the Chilean, will not have to leave the three-time Premier League winners to begin his descent into doom.
Sanchez is the league’s highest earner as he rakes in an astonishing £500k-a-week at Manchester United, but he rarely stars for the Old Trafford outfit and is becoming a victim of the surrounding toxicity – the Red Devils sit eighth in the standings and there doesn’t seem to be a single happy face in the camp.
Marcus Rashford and co should surely feel incensed by the fact that Sanchez is being paid such ridiculous wages when they are higher up the pecking order than he – this is the protest that Arsenal faces if the club keeps bowing to Ozil’s every need.
The Emirates outfit were finally able to part with Wenger after 22 years with the Frenchman at the helm and, if they want to maintain the calibre of performance and tight-knit collective that Emery is building then perhaps Ozil should be the next big name out the door.
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Spurs might be above Arsenal in the standings (just) but, in light of the north London derby victory and their recent win over Huddersfield taking them to 21 games unbeaten in all competitions, Gunners fans refuse to be put down by any table-related gloating.
However, one person who won’t take the current standings so lightly is former Lilywhite Ryan Mason, as the 27-year-old told talkSPORT that he believes the White Hart Lane outfit are not yet out of the title race.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men are only six points off leaders Liverpool, but with the Reds unbeaten and Manchester City only just showing their first signs of faltering as they suffered a surprise loss at the hands of Chelsea, has Mason got a point or is he talking nonsense?
The Emirates faithful certainly thought the latter as they slammed the comments, with some calling the former midfielder delusional – you can find the best of the reaction on Twitter below.
Nottingham Forest manager Aitor Karanka looks set to be without Michael Dawson, Danny Fox and Tobias Figueiredo ahead of the crunch clash against arch-rivals Derby County at the Pride Park Stadium on Monday night.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the trio all missed the 1-0 defeat to Preston North End at the City Ground last week, and the latest reports on The Mirror’s live blog (Wednesday, 9:10pm) suggest that Dawson will be out for six weeks following the issue he suffered against Ipswich Town, Fox is expected to be out potentially until 2019 and Figueiredo is still suspended.
Against the Lilywhites, Jack Robinson moved from left-back to centre-back with Ben Osborn filling in at left-back, and it seems likely that the Spanish boss will have to pick the same defence against Frank Lampard’s men unless he chooses to push Claudio Yacob into the backline.
Karanka even gave the long-serving Osborn the captaincy against Alex Neil’s men to reward him for his patience, but he has a tough task on his hands on Monday.
Why is that?
Osborn may have played at full-back before but it certainly isn’t his strongest position, and the build-up to Preston’s winning goal last weekend came down his flank.
Things aren’t going to get any easier for the 24-year-old when he comes up against the in-form and dangerous Harry Wilson for the Rams, with the attacker scoring seven goals and assisting one more in 16 Championship appearances from out wide so far this term.
The Liverpool loanee is equally as confident on his right side as he is at cutting in on his left foot, and Osborn may well be in for tough evening in what is not his preferred position.
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl was critical of goalkeeper Alex McCarthy for his positioning during his side’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham United at St Mary’s on Thursday, and his comments may well suggest that Angus Gunn could be about to make his Premier League debut for the club.
What did he say?
Speaking to BBC Radio Solent following the loss to the Hammers, the Austrian boss said:
“Alex [McCarthy] was not in the right position, he was stood too far to the left of the goal and he knows that I think”.
What do his comments mean?
Like Forster before him, the England international is becoming renowned for being beaten by shots from outside of the penalty area, and there was yet another case of that against Manuel Pellegrini’s men as Felipe Anderson’s shot flew past him at the near post.
Despite him being in the set-up with the Three Lions, being beaten from range isn’t the 29-year-old stopper’s only issue as his distribution also leaves a lot to be desired, and that is something that could be a key attribute that is needed under Hasenhuttl.
Meanwhile, the south coast outfit signed Angus Gunn in a £13.5m deal from Manchester City during the summer but the highly-rated 22-year-old has so far been reduced to action in the Carabao Cup, helping his team to wins against Brighton and Hove Albion and then against Everton on penalties, before they were beaten on spot-kicks against Leicester City.
Hasenhuttl may have hinted that the goalkeeper could soon get his chance – and potentially against his former employers on Sunday – as the club look to get the result they need to keep them away from the relegation zone.
Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after their club’s former boss Frank de Boer was appointed as manager of MLS side Atlanta United.
It will be the Dutchman’s fourth job in football after managing Ajax, Inter and the Eagles, with the last two seeing him fail miserably.
Palace fans will be keeping a close eye on his progress over in the United States, seeing as de Boer was arguably the worst manager in their history and statistically the worst manager in Premier League history – his four games in charge yielded no wins and not even a single goal.
Most supporters of the south London club will know that the 48-year-old enjoyed showing off a bit and allegedly ostracised his players at Palace, coming off as a bit arrogant in general as reported by The Sun.
In conclusion, he did not go down very well at Selhurst Park and is still thought of quite poorly at Palace, something which is evident in the tweets reacting to his latest appointment…
Loads of Liverpool fans have been reacting to some rather stunning transfer news, as they look set to recoup a whopping £19m for struggling striker Dominic Solanke.
According to James Pearce, Liverpool have agreed a £19m fee to send Solanke to Bournemouth.
The striker has not played a single minute of first team action this season, and only scored once in 21 league appearances in the last campaign.
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Given that he has never really performed at the top level, it’s quite a coup from the Reds to make a hefty profit on the 6 ft 2 in youngster.
Fans are now turning their attention towards Timo Werner, who has reportedly been told to either sign a new deal or leave by his club Red Bull Leipzig.
The German international would be a huge upgrade on Solanke of course, and may even force his way into the Reds’ starting eleven.
You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where fans are praying Solanke’s exit triggers a new signing…