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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It can be easy to take someone like Antonio Valencia for granted, especially in a team as talented as Manchester United’s.
Right-backs aren’t exactly the stars of the show and Valencia, although certainly capable of individual brilliance, is better famed for the consistency he provides. But the statistics are incredibly telling and United’s win-rate this season drops by 16% when the Ecuador international isn’t in the starting XI; during his absence through injury over the winter period, United lost to Bristol City before suffering draws to Leicester, Southampton and Burnley – three teams the Red Devils really should be beating.
But the 32-year-old had an instantaneous impact upon his return to action last night, which very much set the tone for the evening as United found themselves hosting a managerless Stoke City side marooned in the relegation zone and suffering from a succession of injury problems in defence.
Reminiscent of his days as United’s industrious right winger, the South American stepped inside Josh Tymon to net a beautiful curling finish past Jack Butland – it took just nine minutes for Valencia to put his side in the driving seat.
It was a moment of quality exploiting the naivety of an 18-year-old defender, but it was also a clear example of the ruthlessness and professionalism United needed to secure a routine win at home and avoid the complacency seen from during Valencia’s absence. And the 92-cap international’s influence didn’t stop there either – a highly competent defensive display saw him finish up with most tackles and joint-most interceptions to his name of any Red Devils player while completing 94% of his passes.
While United would always expect to achieve a solid result against Stoke at home, Valencia’s impact is a reminder of his importance within the squad – not only as one of the most consistent right-backs in the Premier League who can provide those moments of magic while keeping it solid at the back, but also as a leader who can set the tone for those around him.
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Manchester United have already caused an upset to their fierce rivals Manchester City by swooping in to snatch Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola’s side were heavily linked with the Chile international last summer, but in a big twist, the attacker ended up moving to the red half of the city.
It appears that City are now looking forward and have outlined a move for Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte.
According to Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Guillem Balague, the North-West outfit are prepared to meet the £60m buyout clause in the 23-year-old’s contract.
Former United captain Gary Neville has sparked a discussion on Twitter by claiming that United should try to hijack City’s deal for the defender.
United supporters have now taken to social media to give their say on potentially ruining City’s transfer activity even more.
Some also criticised their rivals for spending £60m on a player after they reportedly ended interest in Sanchez due to financial reasons.
Meanwhile, the Red Devils remain 12 points adrift of their neighbours in the Premier League title race.
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With just over 24 hours to go before one of the biggest Premier League fixtures of the season, Tottenham fans will be delighted to hear that Lucas Moura is in contention to feature against Arsenal, in what will be his debut for the club.
Lucas, who is valued at £25.2million by Transfermarkt, was the only new arrival at Spurs in January and fans have been eager to see the Brazilian in action.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of Saturday’s North London Derby, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino stated;
“I think Lucas will be ready to be in contention for Saturday. He’s doing well, training so hard, he’s starting to feel his legs. And yes we need to assess him tomorrow after the last training session but I hope’s he’s doing well and we can put him in contention.”
After hearing the news that their new signing could play against Arsenal, Spurs fans took to Twitter and were understandably delighted…
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Leeds United fans have been taking to Twitter to call for the club to tie down star Pablo Hernandez to a new contract.
The attacker has been one of the club’s most consistent players in a season where consistency has been a real struggle.
The Elland Road outfit started the campaign in fine form, leading the Championship table until they were undone by Millwall at The Den in the middle of September.
That 1-0 defeat sent the club spiralling down the league and the club failed to rediscover their form and saw the losses come at a more frequent rate.
The Spaniard, who is valued at £2.25m by transfermarkt.com, has been in good form during that time, having managed to contribute six goals and has provided a further eight assists for the Whites in 32 matches across all competitions.
However, those performances have not seen any movement on a potential new contract, with the 32-year-old’s current deal set to expire at the end of this season.
Fans have been voicing their concerns on Twitter and have called for the club’s hierarchy to get negotiations started sooner rather than later.
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Even the staunchest Leeds United fan would admit they were outfought and outclassed against Middlesbrough on Friday night, but Eunan O’Kane insists the squad is not short of leadership.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side went behind early after Patrick Bamford found himself free in the box to put the hosts ahead. The game sort of spiralled out of control from there, as Adama Traore put the Leeds defence to the sword and Bamford added two more to claim his hat trick.
Still, O’Kane says the squad has plenty of strong characters and will bounce back from the poor result.
“If we continue to play like that then we’re miles away”, said the Irishman. “It was a very deflated performance from us and we got what we deserved in the end, which was nothing. It’s very disappointing from our point of view and we have to be better than that. But when I look around our dressing room, I don’t feel that we have weak characters there.
“We have some very strong ones. We have to take this on the chin and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The 27 year-old midfielder has come under intense criticism for his recent performances, and Friday night was no exception.
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When O’Kane was subbed off late in the game, fans on Twitter joked they didn’t realise he was even playing, and they aren’t best pleased with his post match comments either. Some of the best twitter responses can be found below…
Everton defender Seamus Coleman has said that the players understand why the supporters expressed their frustration after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Burnley.
The Toffees took the lead at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon, but could not prevent the home side from turning things around to collect all three points.
Everton have incredibly won just one of their 15 away Premier League matches this season – suffering nine defeats in the process.
The club’s fans did not hide their frustrations when the full-time whistle was blown at Turf Moor, and speculation surrounding the future of head coach Sam Allardyce has again gathered pace.
Coleman, who is believed to be on £38,000-a-week at Goodison Park, has said that the Everton players are aware that the team’s away form is not good enough, and the right-back has promised improvement between now and the end of the season.
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Coleman told Everton’s official website:
“The fans travel all around the country supporting us and we know what it means to them. They are paying good money and it’s up to us to put in a performance for our home fans and then kick on and try to win away.
“The important thing is to win games. We understand their frustration but we need their support between now and the end of the season.
“I have no doubts we’ll get it because they’ve been fantastic and it’s up to us as players to make sure we perform.”
Everton currently sit 11th in the Premier League table – three points off eighth-placed Leicester City ahead of their home game against Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend.
Frank Lampard, speaking on Saturday night’s Match of the Day, claimed that West Ham United had ‘gone backwards’ since moving to the London Stadium.
Saturday proved to be a sad day for the Hammers with the unsavoury scenes that occurred during the 3-0 home defeat to Burnley.
It would be fair to say that Lampard is not exactly the most popular figure at West Ham following the manner of his exit in 2001, but the club’s fans, who appear to be losing faith in head coach David Moyes, wholeheartedly agreed with the 39-year-old’s comments surrounding the situation.
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Lampard played close to 200 games for West Ham before leaving to join Chelsea in 2001, and it is clear that he was saddened by the events at his former club.
West Ham have dropped to 16th position in the Premier League table, but they do have time to recover from Saturday’s shameful scenes due to the fact that they will not return to the field until March 31 at home to Southampton.
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A selection of the reaction to Lampard’s comments can be seen below:
Jordan Henderson divides opinion but Gareth Southgate again named him as England captain for the 1-0 victory over Holland on Friday night.
There are some who think that Henderson is a limited player, nothing more than an energetic runner who lacks the guile and passing range to make an impression at the highest level.
Southgate’s England are committed to short passing, taking their time on the ball and playing their way out of trouble. That might not sound like Henderson’s natural game but he appeared to cope well with those demands in Amsterdam.
He was constantly involved, having the most touches of any England player and was able to dominate proceedings alongside club team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the middle of the park.
95 per cent passing accuracy from 91 passes is hugely impressive and they are numbers worthy of comparison with any central midfielder that played across Europe this weekend.
Of course, Henderson lacks the class and consistency that some of those may offer but it is a good sign for Southgate nonetheless.
One shot and three interceptions shows that the Liverpool skipper was involved at both ends of the pitch; the demands placed on him in terms of controlling things in the centre didn’t impact too much on his ability to cover round and get involved.
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Only 16 long passes shows the commitment of Henderson – valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt – to playing the ball short and along the floor and while Henderson should face stiffer challenges this summer, the early signs are promising for Southgate.
Has Henderson done enough to be named captain on a full-time basis? Let us know your thoughts…
Any Southampton fans thinking the appointment of Mark Hughes would provide an instantaneous bounce to steer them clear of the battle of survival were brought crashing down to earth on Saturday as Saints were thumped 3-0 by relegation rivals West Ham at the London Stadium.
The Welshman’s utilisation of 4-4-2 appeared the much-needed solution to Southampton’s lack of goal threat this term and although it had the desired effect in a 2-0 win over Wigan before the international break, it backfired spectacularly in east London as the visitors failed to register a single shot on target.
Southampton still have enough games left to make amends; they have a game in hand on the rest of the bottom five and seven fixtures remaining in total, so the two-point difference between themselves and 17th place is certainly surmountable.
But the pivotal question is where Southampton go from here tactically after Hughes’ brave adoption of 4-4-2 resulted in such a humbling performance. Football FanCast outline four potential solutions…
Solution A – 4-4-2
Southampton looked miles off the pace using 4-4-2 on Saturday but the performance was so bad that it’s almost simplistic to put it down to merely the formation.
This side is clearly low in confidence and a back-to-basics approach will surely be required to turn their form around. 4-4-2 certainly falls into that remit and while it does leave Southampton more open defensively, they’ve reached a point in the season where they need to score enough goals to win games.
Having two strikers on the pitch could be key, however creativity and penetration from out wide is just as important in 4-4-2 – Dusan Tadic and Nathan Redmond didn’t offer much of that on Saturday.
Solution B – Diamond
Claude Puel’s persistent utilisation of a diamond midfield last season drew criticism but Southampton’s results were almost incomparably better than they have been so far this term.
It certainly addresses how Saints’ wide players have struggled to impact the more the season’s gone on, by simply taking them out of the side altogether and moving the creative hub to the tip of the engine room – a role that may suit the ageing Dusan Tadic far better.
It also allows the full-backs, who are good going forward, the natural space to join the attack while keeping two centre-forwards on the pitch.
Solution C – 4-2-3-1
Fans grew increasingly frustrated with Mauricio Pellegrino’s almost unwavering insistence on 4-2-3-1 but Southampton did at least look far more solid in the setup compared to last Saturday when the openness of their midfield was continually exploited by West Ham.
It always seemed a little too conservative under the Argentine but Hughes can give it a more offensive feel if he pushes Redmond and Sofiane Boufal much higher up the pitch, creating space for Tadic in the central role. The big problem, however, is how isolated the striker can become in these systems.
Charlie Austin’s hold-up play isn’t the best anyway, so he’ll definitely need support from out wide and the midfield.
Solution D – 3-4-3
Southampton briefly flirted with a three-man defence earlier this season but after losing both of their games quickly reverted back to 4-2-3-1.
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Perhaps it’s time to give the setup another try, especially with Maya Yoshida back on the mend and Saints undoubtedly requiring defensive improvements from their last performance. Ryan Bertrand and Cedric Soares have the attacking flair and industry to operate as wing-backs, while utilising Boufal and Tadic as inside forwards should at least ensure there’s some support for Austin up front.
It’s a seismic shift to experiment with at this point in the season though, and could backfire.
So, Southampton fans, which formation do you see as crucial to your side’s survival? Let us know by voting below…