Mark Hughes has claimed there is more to come from Stephane Mbia after his debut in the R’s 3-2 defeat to Reading.
A summer signing from Marseille, the Cameroon international played his first 90 minutes for the London club in the Capital One Cup last night.
Hughes said to the Fulham Chronicle: “I thought he did fine. It was a different type of game from what he’s used to but for the most part he looked strong and what a good player he will be for us.
“He hasn’t played for a couple weeks or had that many training sessions and I wasn’t anticipating having to play him for the whole match.
“He came through it thankfully and will get better. It was a good test for him and he understands this is the type of game he will have to play in.”
Mbia’s signing from France saw controversial midfielder Joey Barton going in the other direction, the 26 year old will be hoping to make his first Premier League berth, when Rangers host West Ham on Monday.
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According to Italian reports, Newcastle are one of a number of teams to have enquired about Juventus midfielder Stefano Sturaro.
What’s the story?
Newcastle will go head to head with Genoa and Valencia for the signature of Sturaro this summer, according to a report from Calciomercato.
The report claims Juventus are interested in Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin as a long-term replacement for the departing Gianluigi Buffon, and that Sturaro could be used as part of the deal.
Newcastle and Valencia have also enquired about the midfielder though, who would surely prefer Premier League action with Newcastle or Champions League action with Valencia over a move to Genoa.
Made to be a Magpie?
Newcastle stumbled across a formidable partnership in midfield this season when Mo Diame suddenly remembered he’s actually quite a good player, but that shouldn’t stop them from going after Sturaro.
Diame had a fabulous season for the Magpies alongside Jonjo Shelvey, but the Senegalese midfielder will turn 31 this summer, and the 25 year-old Sturaro is too good to pass up on as a long-term replacement.
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The midfielder will certainly be seeking a move away this summer, as he has only played 614 minutes in the league for Massimiliano Allegri’s side this season.
Sturaro would offer the Magpies defensive stability in midfield, and his versatility would be a huge weapon for Rafael Benitez. The Italian international, capped four times by his country, has played everywhere across the midfield for the Italian champions this season, even spending some time at right back.
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If Benitez is serious about guiding the Magpies towards a domestic cup run while maintaining their form in the Premier League, then a midfield quartet of Sturaro, Diame, Shelvey and Mikel Merino would give him no end of options both in personnel and system.
Furthermore, his tough tackling, hard working style would be a perfect fit on Tyneside. The Italian international also has title winning experience, which might just provide that winning mentality needed to push Newcastle to the next step.
So, Newcastle fans, would you back a summer swoop for Sturaro? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Reece Burke could hardly have written the script better.
The 21-year-old has only just returned to West Ham United following a loan spell at Bolton Wanderers, but he has been thrust into action in the FA Cup.
The defender was in the West Ham team that hosted Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup on Tuesday night, and it was his goal in extra-time that saw the Hammers make the fourth round.
On his 14th appearance for West Ham, Burke finally got on the scoresheet for the Hammers.
It might well be that Burke heads back on loan before the end of this month, but he will always remember finding the back of the net at the London Stadium.
It was a massive goal as well, with West Ham facing a penalty shootout in a bid to overcome a Shrewsbury team that performed impressively over the two matches.
Burke took to Twitter on Tuesday night to reveal his delight at finding the back of the net, and the West Ham fans were on hand to pay tribute to the young Englishman.
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Roberto Soldado’s struggles in the Premier League are a good representation of Tottenham as a whole this season: high spend, plenty of promise, but failing to hit the ground running. For most, a lesson learnt.
It’s still hard to believe that Andre Villas-Boas has refused to set up his team to get the best out of the single player who has a record of goals and who is capable of taking on a lot of the burden left by Gareth Bale. Roberto Soldado isn’t a poor player by any means, but any player, no matter their quality, can look like a waste at near £30 million if his team aren’t interested in playing to his strengths.
Just following his signing back in August, I said that this was Tottenham’s priority in the way of players in the squad. Soldado may not be the most talented – he isn’t – but he’s the calibre of striker the team have been in search of for many years.
Maybe there is a case to be made that Villas-Boas is looking to a more “complete” team with players not shackled down by individual assignments or positions; basically something which heightens the movement of a group of players who are more than capable of roaming and contributing in multiple areas of the pitch.
We’ve seen similar tactical approaches elsewhere in Europe. Atletico Madrid relied heavily upon Radamel Falcao in the Colombian’s first season with the club and into his second. But midway through, Diego Simeone found ways to enhance the contribution of Arda Turan, Koke and vitally Diego Costa. The team were no longer set up to work for Falcao with the focus switched elsewhere.
Similarly, Spurs have midfield players who want to get themselves on the score sheet and are capable of advancing into the box. It’s not a team who are playing for a poacher – at least it doesn’t appear that way.
So why buy Soldado if this was to be Villas-Boas’ plan all along? We praised the team work of the manager, Daniel Levy and Franco Baldini, but there are some inconsistencies to what we’re seeing on the pitch now to what we saw in the unity of this past summer.
Soldado isn’t a world-class striker; I’ve been over that before when comparing him and Alvaro Negredo, who incidentally I also don’t quite class in that bracket yet.
But as said, Soldado is a poacher with good movement. He’ll make intelligent runs in the final third but his game is heavily reliant on the service from others. Valencia as individuals over the past few seasons were hardly high class following the departures of David Silva and David Villa; Juan Mata is obviously an exception. However, the team became focused on the scoring ability of Soldado. As a unit, they would win possession and find ways to exploit their best source of goals.
Soldado isn’t a striker who takes shots from outside the box, nor will he pick up the ball in midfield and drive towards goal in the way players like Luis Suarez and Wayne Rooney can. And it’s telling: he isn’t doing anything because he has nothing to work with – or at least extremely little.
And that returns to the point about him falling short of the world-class tag. You generally give players like Edinson Cavani or Falcao – two world-class finishers – one chance and they’ll take it. Soldado often needed a handful of opportunities before he found the net; though his conversion has improved as of last season.
He received a call up to the Spanish national team because he was deemed another option in attack but also because he was deemed good enough. He’s scored while on international duty, taking advantage of the myriad creative outlets from midfield. Tellingly, in his hat-trick game against Venezuela, he could have had five. But that’s his wastefulness coming to the fore.
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Tottenham, under this set up, will go nowhere. Fortunately they have a good defensive foundation and have benefitted from solitary goals seeing them up the league table. But it’s not a long-term commitment. For Tottenham, anything around £30 million for a 28-year-old is a huge outlay, especially when dealing with a player who has to adapt to a new league and who has never played outside of his previous league.
But by knowingly reducing the outcome for success – and especially where there is a real opportunity to see Soldado flourish – questions will continue to be asked about the wider scale of the issue at Spurs.
Radamel Falcao’s father has confirmed that Manchester City and Chelsea want his son, and that it is likely that the Atletico Madrid striker will move to England in January.
The Colombian marksman has become on of the most lethal forwards in world football, and showed his pedigree with a hat-trick against the Blues in the European Super Cup last Friday.
With speculation that the South American could be in-line for a big-money move, Falcao’s father has confessed that the attacker could leave the Vicente Calderon in January.
“There are three teams interested – Manchester City, Chelsea and a Russian team,” The Daily Mail report Falcao senior as saying.
“Falcao has always wanted to play in the Premier League.
“Ever since he was a boy he has loved Chelsea and has always thought it would be an honour to play for a big Premier League team.
“I don’t want to talk about any pre-agreements.
“I spoke to Falcao very briefly yesterday. The minimum release clause in his contract with Atletico Madrid is about €55million, but Falcao doesn’t want to talk figures,” he concluded.
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Neither Manchester City or Chelsea bought new strikers in the summer transfer window.
Not that long ago, many Tottenham Hotspur fans would have wondered whether Erik Lamela would ever regain form.
The Argentina international spent a year on the sidelines with hip problems that required multiple operations.
This season after making his comeback, Lamela made 33 appearances in all competitions, provided four goals and two assists.
The traditional winger struggled for regular game time, though, as he was named in the first XI only 12 times by manager Mauricio Pochettino.
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Lamela predominantly plays on the right wing, but fans are wondering whether his positioning should be tinkered with.
On occasion, the Argentine has played more centrally in attack, just behind Harry Kane, but he has also been farmed out to the left.
On Reddit, some supporters suggested that Lamela, who is valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, should be used as cover for Dele Alli.
Plenty agree, while some fans had other suggestions for the ex-Roma star.
Lamela better in a central attacking role/ backup to Dele? from r/coys
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Duncan Ferguson turned 46 on Wednesday, and as expected, Everton’s official Twitter account was on hand to pay tribute to the club’s former centre-forward.
Ferguson is now on the coaching staff at Everton, and it would be fair to say that the Scot is a very popular figure at Goodison Park.
He initially joined Everton from Rangers in the summer of 1994 – representing the Toffees for four years before making the move to Newcastle United.
Ferguson was back at Everton in 2000, and he went on to make another 123 league appearances for the club before retiring from professional football in 2006.
Ferguson scored 58 league goals for the Merseyside outfit, and formed a reputation as one of the hardest strikers around.
A no-nonense Scot, Ferguson managed 98 league goals in 360 appearances during his professional career, and is now tasked with assisting Sam Allardyce at Everton.
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There are some that believe Ferguson was overrated when looking at his numbers for a centre-forward, but not too many would be interested in telling him to his face.
Blackburn Rovers defender Scott Dann has Fulham, Swansea and Everton chasing him this summer, according to Sky Sports.
Dann is a key man for Rovers but the club are willing to listen to offers for any big money players after spending big last summer and showing little reward.
The strikeforce of Jordan Rhodes and Leon Best cost over £10million and a bottom half finish and three different managers showed little reward for that.
Fulham boss Martin Jol is still in for a defender to complete his squad after spending most of his summer improving his attacking options with Darren Bent the latest signing.
Swansea boss Michael Laudrup will move for Dann if Arsenal follow up their interest in City defender Ashley Williams with a big money bid in the coming weeks.
Dann played for Rovers last night but a number of scouts were at the game with just 17 days to go until the end of the transfer window.
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Sergio Aguero should only be side-lined for a month, despite being stretchered out of Eastlands against Southampton.
When the Premier League champions’ top scorer went down clutching his knee ten minutes into City’s 3-2 win over The Saints, many feared the diminutive Argentine could have suffered ligament damage.
But scans have shown no major damage and the 24 year old could return as early September 15 when the Blues face Stoke.
Roberto Mancini spoke to The Independent, “I don’t think Sergio will be out for a long and we are hoping he will be back after the international break…we feared he could be out for six months or maybe even more which would have been very bad news.”
Aguero managed 30 goals in all competitions for the Manchester club last term, including the notorious stoppage time, title winning goal against Queens Park Rangers.
With an international break at the start of September, City may only be without their £38 million striker for two games.
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There is constant taunting between rival football fans over the course of the season, particularly when it comes to the North-West enemies Liverpool and Manchester United.
Jose Mourinho’s side have the bragging rights as far as the Premier League is concerned given that they finished second in the table, six points above fourth-placed Liverpool.
The Red Devils are also one win away from lifting the FA Cup, but their Merseyside rivals will trump them if they come away with the Champions League trophy on May 26.
Jurgen Klopp’s men will take on Real Madrid in Kiev in the hope of claiming a sixth European crown for the club.
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Understandably, United fans are praying that Liverpool fall short against Los Blancos, but an interesting article by Scott Patterson for ESPN shows a deeper insight into the rivalry.
In the piece, it is claimed that the Red Devils are just as keen to see their rivals lose in the Champions League final as they are to witness their own team win the FA Cup.
In a discussion on Reddit, Liverpool fans were not hugely surprised by the opinion, and in fact, some of them mirrored it while others embraced the rivalry.
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