England produced their two best performances of the World Cup qualifying campaign to reach Brazil and suggested they may enjoy a more successful tournament than most fans expect.
Ahead of the double-header against Montenegro and Poland, the Three Lions had only beaten San Marino and Moldova, drawing all four games against the better sides in Group H. They turned on the style when it mattered most to book their World Cup place.
A 4-1 victory over Montenegro assured Roy Hodgson’s side of a play-off place but they were determined to avoid that lottery on Tuesday night. Although it was not comfortable viewing at times, England got the 2-0 win their performance merited.
Attention now turns to the draw on December 6. England look as if they will not be seeded so can expect to be grouped with one of the world’s strongest nations.
Despite a potentially difficult draw, a repeat of their performances in the back-to-back wins should see them progress to the knockout stage.
Hodgson gambled by playing attacking line-ups featuring Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Welbeck and Andros Townsend. Those four ensured it paid off, with vibrant displays in both games.
Townsend, who won his first cap against Montenegro, was particularly impressive. His direct running style was a breath of fresh air and caused all kinds of problems. He is one of a number of exciting wingers coming through, players with the ability to hurt the opposition.
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While it would be dangerous for England to adopt the same gung-ho tactics against the top sides next summer, they must play with the same swagger and attacking intent. They are often guilty of going into their shells at major tournaments; hopefully they can take confidence from the way they performed in the crucial double-header.
BetVictor has England at 20/1 to win the World Cup, a reflection of their past performances. Hodgson’s men would need to keep everybody fit to stand a chance. However, they do have the ability to surprise a few people.
A goalscoring midfielder is something Sir Alex Ferguson has craved for the best part of the last five-years at Old Trafford. The Red Devils boss has gone to great lengths to unearth a player with a scoring streak akin to that of Paul Scholes in his pomp even suggesting that Wayne Rooney could be played deeper in the wake of Robin Van Persie’s arrival. But on Wednesday his prayers may have been answered by a player brimming whose talents were moulded closer to home. Tom Cleverley’s first senior goal in a United shirt on Wednesday has been a long time in coming but may provide the answer to Ferguson’s quandary. Cleverley has certainly started the season brightly and poses another welcome selection headache for his manager who now has a wealth of options to choose from in midfield as he continues to plot how to regain the Premier League title from rivals City.
This week on FFC is it time for Ferguson to make a decision on Anderson’s future and which Chile international is the United boss interested in signing?
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Best of FFC
Exclusive Interview with Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley
WAG Weekly – Man United ace bags himself a beauty!
Time for Sir Alex Ferguson to make a decision
An ideal transfer target for Manchester United?
A constantly undervalued asset at Old Trafford?
The Top TEN players that have emerged from their League Cup exploits
Manchester United keen on deal for Chilean
Lots of transfer interest, but is he the real deal?
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Best of WEB
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Is Nani Playing His Way Out Of United? – Red Flag Flying High
Now or never, Ando – 7Cantonas
Young guns push for place with history no longer on side – United Rant
Phil Jones: Destined To Be Another John O’Shea? – Red Flag Flying High
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“He’s a great player so he’ll add to our squad.” – The Busby Way
Marouane Fellaini Sadly Lacks The Finesse To Join United – Transfer Tavern
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Quote of the Week
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“It has been playing on my mind a little bit. I have always scored goals when I have gone on loan, so it was bugging me that I had not been doing it for my club or my country. The gaffer gave me a bit at half-time for missing the one in the first-half, so it was nice to stroke that one in. We practice those sorts of finishes a lot so when the ball came to me I knew what I was going to do. I have got the first one out of the way now. Hopefully they will all come at once.” Tom Cleverley admits his lack of goals was starting to get on his mind
Phil Jones has not had the smoothest of rides since joining Manchester United from Blackburn Rovers in 2011.
The 26-year-old was once described by legendary United boss Sir Alex Ferguson as a future England captain, but now, many feel that Jones should not even be in the squad.
This season, the centre-back has made 25 appearances in all competitions, including 23 Premier League starts.
England boss Gareth Southgate opted to include Jones in his squad for the World Cup in Russia this summer, but decided not to name Chris Smalling in the setup.
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The 28-year-old has featured 20 more times than his United teammate, but he will not be on the plane to Russia.
During Saturday’s FA Cup final, Jones made a costly error by fouling Eden Hazard in the box to give away a penalty at Wembley.
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The playmaker slotted home to give Chelsea a 1-0 win, which was enough to take home the trophy.
On Twitter, plenty of football fans were left questioning why Jones has been selected by England ahead of Smalling.
Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha scored one and put in a man of the match display as his side beat Leicester City 3-0 at the King Power Stadium on Saturday to move even further away from the relegation zone, and Tottenham Hotspur fans were quick to urge their club to sign the 25-year-old.
Spurs were heavily linked with a £30m move for the attacker at the end of last season, but no deal materialised and the Ivory Coast international penned a new five-year deal with the Eagles at the end of May.
The south London outfit lost their opening seven Premier League fixtures this term – of which Zaha was absent for six because of injury – but his return has been the catalyst to helping Roy Hodgson’s side move off of the bottom of the table and up to 14th position.
Tottenham supporters took to social media to have their say on his display, and while one said “I’d take Zaha at Spurs in a heartbeat”, another said “just sell Rose in January, take the 50mil and use it on Zaha”.
New Fulham boss Rene Meulensteen insists that he is shocked by Martin Jol’s sacking and that he believes that the club will avoid relegation from the Premier League.
The Dutchman’s reign in West London was brought to an end yesterday afternoon following a terrible start to the season – which was capped by a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of West Ham on Saturday.
The result left the Cottagers in the bottom three with just 10 points from 13 games and the joint worst defensive record in the top tier – 24 goals conceded.
Meulensteen is a recent arrival at Craven Cottage, with the former Manchester United coach having been brought in a matter of weeks ago to assist Jol.
But with the former Tottenham chief having been axed, he has been thrust into the hot seat and is confident that he can help Fulham avoid the drop:
“We know that Martin has been released which is a shame because I didn’t see that coming,” he is quoted by Sky Sports.
“We know what position we are in. It’s a position that Fulham don’t want to be in, the staff don’t want to be in and the players don’t want to be in.
“But this is where we are at and if I am given a responsibility of making sure that I carry out the manager’s job for the foreseeable future then we have to do our utmost to get Fulham back up the table.
“It’s a massive challenge but at the end of the day when you are faced with a challenge like this it comes down to making sure that you get the basic things right.
“You make sure that you stay mentally strong and that the fans are getting behind the team – I think that is one of the most important things.
“That’s where they belong and that’s what we need to do and if investment is needed in whatever area it is then we need to live up to that because otherwise you might be paying a very high price.”
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Can Rene Meulensteen save Fulham? Did Martin Jol deserve to be sacked?
Manchester United dispatched with Wigan at home at the weekend with a resounding 4-0 victory, but the biggest talking point to come out of the match was the debut performance of Dutch left-back Alexander Buttner, as he went on to score one and set up another before earning himself the man-of-the-match award. Simply put, will Patrice Evra be able to keep his place in the side after the emergence of a genuine and serious rival for his position?
The club were linked all summer with Everton full-back Leighton Baines but were reportedly put off by the England international’s price-tag, which was north of the £10m that they were willing to pay. When you consider that the club moved for Robin van Persie shortly afterwards for £24m, it left them with little in the bank to bring in another defender, and they surprisingly swooped for one-time Southampton transfer target Alexander Buttner, signing him from Vitesse Arnhem for a fee of £4m.
The club’s head scout in Holland, Ed van Stijn revealed shortly after the move was completed, though: “Every season (United) ask all European scouts for a list of players. They ask you to create a top five of the best players in the league for every position. I had Buttner at number three or four on my list.”
It’s fair to say that this created some undue pressure on the 23-year-old’s first appearance at the club, but he was exceptional against Wigan, even if he was at fault for seven turnovers of possession, which were conceded because of a poor first touch – a record which is currently the most by any player in a single game this season.
Ferguson first aired in public last week that he was considering resting Evra for the game against Wigan, but his words were laced with caution about what may soon become a more permanent switch: “We have to protect the future, that is sensible. Evra is 31 and Alex comes to challenge that position. But nobody has played more games than Evra over the last five years. He has played with injuries – he has guts. He has been up and down that touchline for five years. It’s 240 games he has played. Patrice has been an absolute soldier.”
Of course, it didn’t help the Frenchman’s case that he delivered another shoddy performance for France in their World Cup qualifier against Belarus and the left-back hasn’t been at his best for nearly 18 months now and the slump has alarmingly become the norm. The main cause for concern has been Evra’s positioning and judgement, which have completely left him; aspects which are supposed to improve with age and experience.
The fact that the club conceded five goals in their opening three league games only served to help confirm Ferguson’s suspicions that his defence was fragile, with Phil Jones and Chris Smalling both still on the treatment table. While the performance against Everton on the opening day may have been understandable to an extent, given that Michael Carrick had to start at centre-half, the manner in which they let both Fulham and Southampton back into the game has brought forward the need for a shake up.
The main issue concerning Evra is his age, he will be 32 at the end of this season and this could be his final as a guaranteed regular in the side. Buttner is still raw and will take time to adjust, but the return of Fabio, who for my money looks a more rounded player than Buttner at the moment, is also worth considering as we look further down the line.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s greatest managerial strength is his ruthlessness; he simply knows when to cut his losses on a player, despite all of their years of service. Evra is one of the senior members of the squad, is often vice-captain and his trophy haul of four Premier League titles and one Champions League triumph do earn him a degree of leniency, but even then, it can only last so long.
Had the club been able to afford Baines in the summer, there’s no doubt in my mind that we would have seen Evra become the deputy and relinquish his first-team place. Nevertheless, despite his troubles, Ferguson will remain loyal to Evra for the time being, knowing that he has an enthusiastic understudy capable of coming in and performing.
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Tne quality of the opposition will be taken into account and Ferguson will know that when it comes to the big crunch games, that he will likely plump for Evra over Buttner, but the first seeds of doubt may have been sown in his mind by how quickly the Dutchman settled into the side. It won’t be enough to shift Evra just yet, but it’s certainly a start.
Not since Gabriel Heinze was at Old Trafford has Evra faced this sort of challenge to his first-team starting berth and his chronic lack of form in recent times has prompted his manager to bring in an alternative this summer. You suspect that Ferguson will continue to act out of loyalty towards Evra for the time being, but that even this currency is in danger of becoming spent, particularly with the emergence of a new rival within the ranks.
Hadi Sacko is among a number of Leeds United first-team players that have been left out of the squad that has travelled to Myanmar.
The Championship outfit will take on a Myanmar national league All-Stars XI on Wednesday before facing the national team on Friday.
The trip has been widely criticised, and whilst the likes of Samuel Saiz, Rolando Vieira, Kalvin Phillips, Caleb Ekuban and Luke Ayling have made the trip, a whole host of first-team players have been omitted.
Sacko spent last season on loan at Leeds from Portuguese outfit Sporting Lisbon, and scored two Championship goals for the club before joining on a permanent deal last summer.
The 24-year-old has struggled to make his mark this term, however, failing to score or register an assist in 14 Championship appearances for the Whites.
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The Leeds supporters, who have been a frustrated bunch in recent weeks, have offered their views on the Mali international, and it seems that a number want him to be sold in this summer’s transfer window ahead of the 2018-19 campaign.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
Liverpool confirmed this weekend that captain Jordan Henderson will miss the Reds’ Boxing Day clash with Swansea, after limping off early in the match against Arsenal on Friday night.
Jurgen Klopp’s side host the Swans knowing that three points are a must if they’re to keep up their top four aspirations, currently just one point ahead of Tottenham Hotspur in the final UEFA Champions League qualification spot.
Henderson’s injury will be seen as a blow to Klopp, who sees the midfielder as an important part of his starting eleven having already played 23 matches for the club this season.
However, Liverpool fans are less bothered by the injury, believing it’s a chance for a more dynamic, forward thinking player to come into the team and stake a claim for regular football.
Supporters delivered a harsh response to the news on Twitter this weekend, with many suggesting the injury is good news with regards to Boxing Day’s team selection.
David Moyes would have been naïve to believe he would be afforded an easy ride in the first few weeks of his new job at Manchester United. The world of football slows down for no man, and this is exacerbated when you are taking over the reigns from one of the most successful managers in history. Juggling the status-quo and the establishment of a new era for the Premier League club, Moyes must get a hold of things quickly if he is to succeed.
The first few weeks for David Moyes at United have been something of a roller coaster already. I can only liken it to a teenager being given the keys to his dads bright red Ferrari. Previously used to his own beat up Clio, of which he had total control over its simplistic inner-workings. The new motor offers up unparalleled complexities and the poor kid is apprehensive to do anything of note apart from messing about with a few of the dials. Thus far Moyes seems cautious to make any big calls and decisions.
On the transfer front this is perhaps unsurprising. Previously used to a shoestring budget at Everton, Moyes is being opened up to a world of riches that he could only have dreamt about. Spending a decade looking at making low end transfer steals cannot prepare you for the deals he must make at United. This explains why the usually decisive Scot has favoured talking about transfers and speculating rather than appearing an integral part of any deal. Speaking on United’s pre season tour to Asia he appeared distant from any negotiation:
“I think a point does come. But when you are interested in good players you want to give it every opportunity to materialise.”
“I will hope things will continue to move forward. I can only tell you Ed Woodward is working hard to try to make the deals happen. We hope some of them will fall into place shortly.”
Now don’t get me wrong in this day and age it is not usually the job of a manager to directly negotiate deals for players. However, what would be expected is that the manager is key to any decision regarding player recruitment. Currently there is a strange pattern emerging where Moyes appears to be totally removed from any transfer deal, happy to talk and speculate rather than get anything done.
Do United not trust him yet, or does he not trust himself? Clearly the transition from Everton was never going to be easy, but the Scot really does need to assert his authority quickly within the club.
He appears to be a rabbit in the headlights not only in terms of incoming players but also outgoing. The Rooney saga spiralled from his description of the player as being “second choice”. He of course followed this with talk of the value of Rooney to the club and how important he will be next year (something which many people have glossed over). Still for someone who rarely gives much away in press conferences, this represented something of an unnecessary gaffe by the new manager. He moved quickly to diffuse the situation by assuring that Rooney is not for sale. Speaking at a news conference in Sydney, the United boss said regarding Rooney:
“The club’s position has not changed.”
This is an example of how the Scot is already finding it hard going to fill the shoes left by Sir Alex. Rarely indecisive at Everton, he now appears apprehensive in his media handling and this should already be a worry for United fans.
It would be unfair to judge a new manager only a few weeks into the job, especially since they are yet to play a competitive game. Indeed I would echo the words of the departed Sir Alex when he urged fans to offer their unwavering support to the Scot. It is easy to forget what a difficult start he had to his now extraordinary reign at the club. However, Moyes seems overly nervous upon taking over the helm. Speaking to the Guardian, he was happy to openly admit to butterflies:
“Yeah, that comes with the excitement of the job. It’s more to do with the magnitude of Manchester United and following arguably the greatest manager that football has ever known”
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Butterflies are one thing, but to appear in fear of the task ahead should be something quickly removed from the mind of the Scot. Moyes never appeared to be a manager short on self-confidence, but his start at United seems to suggest the contrary.
David Moyes is an excellent manager, he has proved this previously and he will no doubt do it again. He needs to approach the United job believing that he is the man to take United on to the next level. To do this he needs to start being assertive in the way he approaches the media, his squad and new transfers. There was never going to be a honeymoon period for Moyes at United. Instead of playing around with his new Ferrari in the drive, he needs to kick it into gear and take it out onto the open road.
Do you think Moyes needs to show more confidence at United?
Andre Villas-Boas’ troubled start to life at Tottenham continues as he is forced to recall axed captain, Michael Dawson to the side. The Sun reports.
Dawson almost completed a move across London to QPR in the summer, but the deal broke down as Younes Kaboul was ruled out for four months after undergoing knee surgery.
He has since been left out of all of the first three games, but looks set to be called in to bolster the Spurs defence.
Villas-Boas said: “We have chatted. Younes’ operation means he’s out and it is up to Michael to compete. I’m sure he will come good.”
Villas-Boas is attempting a mass overhaul at Spurs, but the North Londoners have made an unconvincing start to the season- collecting two points from the first three games and twice squandering leads at home to West Brom and Norwich.
He has also reportedly upset new £8million goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris after claiming the French international will have to battle it out with Brad Friedel for the number one jersey.
According to his national team manager, Didier Deschamps, the comments have not gone down well with the player, who feels he needs to be the undisputed number one at Tottenham to continue playing regularly for France.
But there could be some good news for the Portuguese, after the club appealed to the FA to overturn Tom Huddlestone’s red card in the match against Norwich.
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