After a spectacular 5-0 victory on the opening day, Fulham have lost two in a row and welcome and unbeaten West Brom Albion to Craven Cottage on Saturday.
The Cottagers were drubbed 3-0 at West Ham last time out, having previously put up a good performance losing 3-2 at Old Trafford. They have also found themselves dumped out of the League Cup by Sheffield Wednesday.
With three points from a possible nine, Martin Jol will be no doubt going out for maximum points against the Baggies.
Greek International captain Girogos Karagounis could feature, with Jol having singed the 35-year-old on a free transfer.
“I’m delighted to have signed for Fulham Football Club and I am excited by a new challenge in England and the Barclays Premier League,” the former Inter Milan and Panathinaikos midfielder said.
“I’m looking forward to working under Martin Jol and playing alongside some fantastic players at this club.”
Fellow new boy Dimitar Berbatov could also be in line for his first start for his new side, while Simon Davies, Bryan Ruiz and Kerim Frei are all expected to be in the squad.
Steve Clarke’s West Brom side have made a fantastic start to the campaign, beating Liverpool 3-0 on the opening day, before earning a dramatic point at White Hart Lane.
The Baggies claimed another Merseyside scalp during their last outing, beating Everton 2-0 at the Hawthorns.
Romelu Lukaku is hopeful of returning to the squad having sat out the Everton victory.
“Romelu’s injury was the result of a tackle and, to be honest, it was probably a 10-day injury. He just ran out of time to play against Everton,” Clarke said.
“It was natural that he would be fit and ready to play for Belgium.”
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Prediction: Fulham 2-2 West Brom
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2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo has been having a torrid time at Real Madrid recently.
Dips in form and booing from disgruntled fans has resulted in a player who doesn’t look settled or happy at his club anymore.
The problem seems to stem from the ridiculously high expectations the Bernabeu faithful have of their squad of superstars. Spoilt by an enviable level of success, Real Madrid are a club where just one season without a major trophy is akin to just surviving a relegation battle. Questions get asked and millions must be spent.
Ronaldo has, as ever, been a prolific striker scoring 31 times from 25 league appearances . Even in a season not considered to be his best the Portuguese powerhouse still makes all but one other player look pedestrian.
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That other player of course is long time rival Lionel Messi. The quiet Argentine was 12 La Liga goals behind his nemesis back in December but following the winter break now leads Ronaldo on 32.
Both Bale and Cristiano have struggled to find the net recently with the Welshman going nine games without scoring. There have even been rumours that a breakdown in relationship between the two has occurred, given credibility by Ronaldo’s negative reaction to Bale finally ending his goal drought against Levante last weekend.
According to the Daily Mirror, all of this unwanted stress has made Ronaldo consider a sensational move back to Manchester United and of course there are ridiculous sums of money being mentioned. Ronaldo originally signed for United in 2003 and enjoyed six successful years there before a big money move to Madrid.
United fans are guaranteed to show Ronaldo the love and adulation that he is missing in Spain so a return could be perfect for both the player and the struggling North Western club.
At 30, Ronaldo is still hot property and personally I think a move away from Real Madrid wouldn’t be a bad idea. After last year’s Champions League success he has won everything worth winning with the Spanish giants.
A move back to the club where he made his name and one who could desperately use his impeccable eye for goal would be the perfect way to cement his legendary status at United and a comfortable way to end his career.
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Failing that, I think he should check out America’s MLS. While the football there is nowhere near European level Ronaldo can start setting up his next chapter as a Hollywood superstar.
Manchester United manager David Moyes has hit out at referees after last night’s 2-1 Capital One first leg defeat to Sunderland stating they are “having to play the referees”.
“We’re having to play them [referees] as well as the opposition at the moment,” he told Sky Sports.
“It’s really terrible. We’re actually beginning to laugh at them.”
David Moyes was infuriated a penalty was awarded to Sunderland after Adam Johnson was clumsily challenged by Tom Cleverly, with Fabio Borini scoring from the subsequent spot kick in the 64th minute giving Sunderland a 2-1 first leg lead at the Stadium of Light.
The former Everton boss was also unimpressed with the decision to award the home side a first half free-kick after Johnny Evans clashed with Steven Fletcher that resulted in Ryan Gigg’s own goal.
“The decision for the first goal, I don’t see how it was a free-kick – that doesn’t take away our poor defending from the free-kick though,” Moyes stated.
This is Manchester United third straight loss, the first time this has occurred since 2001, after just recently being knocked out of the FA Cup at home to Swansea three nights ago.
The Red Devils are also struggling to challenge in the Premier League, trailing league leaders Arsenal by 11 points.
Moyes was prompted whether he felt he was under any pressure due to poor form, he replied: “None whatsoever. This is a two-legged game and I’m actually really looking forward to this.
“More important is how good the Manchester United supporters were, how well they supported me and how well they supported the club.”
Manchester United will hope there is no repeat of a home loss to Swansea in this Saturday’s Premier League clash at Old Trafford.
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Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia is concerned that Manchester City could still come back and win the title from under the Red Devil’s noses, the Independent report.
City won the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on Monday night and moved 12 points behind their rivals to put themselves in a similar position to the one they were in last season.
The Champions came from eight points adrift to secure their first Premier League title in stunning fashion on the last day of the season and it will take similar heroics to even make United sweat this time around.
United can pull further clear this weekend as they travel to Stoke City on Sunday and City have their FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at the same time.
Valencia has admitted that United are worried about repeating what happened last season and they want to wrap up the title as soon as possible.
“We’re a little worried,” Valencia told Ecuadorian radio station Sonorama.
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“Last year, we were eight points with six games to go and we lost the league. Now it is 12 points and seven games, and we don’t want it to happen again.”
Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes will join David Moyes’ new Old Trafford backroom team when the Scot is confirmed as the next United boss.
The veteran United duo, 39 and 38 respectively, are set to stay on in coaching capacities when Moyes takes over from Sir Alex Ferguson at the end of the season.
The news of Moyes’ appointment is yet to be officially confirmed by the club, but United ambassador Peter Schmeichel added his voice to the widely-held belief that the Everton manager is the board’s choice to come in.
Several other newspaper and media outlets are in agreement that Moyes is the man to replace 13-time Premier League and double European Champions League winner Ferguson, 71.
Moyes, 50, left Everton’s Finch Farm training ground shortly after midday today and was said to be in transit to London ahead of a spying mission at tonight’s Tottenham v Chelsea game.
Everton, however, are publicly stating their lack of knowledge of any such appointment.
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Former Liverpool hero Luis Suarez has revealed in his autobiography that if he slipped like Steven Gerrard against Chelsea – giving the Premier League title away to Man City last season – he would have considered retiring, Daily Star reports.
The Reds were almighty close to winning their first league title in 24 years, but right before the stroke of half-time against Chelsea, Gerrard slipped, allowing Blues striker Demba Ba to score and ultimately win the game.
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It proved to be the killing blow in the Anfield club’s chances of winning the Premier League and Suarez, who was their top scorer with 31 goals before joining Barcelona, said retirement would have been an option if he was in Gerrard’s boots.
He said: “If I had been in Stevie’s shoes, I don’t know if I would have been able to carry on playing.
“Emotionally, it must have been very, very hard.
“In the previous weeks, so much had been said about him, the expectation had built so much, the talk had been about him leading Liverpool, his club, to a first title in over 20 years, on the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, in which his cousin had died, and then that happens.
“The captain, the former youth-teamer, the one-club man, a Scouser born and bred, and he was the unlucky one to make a crucial mistake.
“He still hadn’t won the league title. Stevie had started to believe, we all had. And now it had been virtually taken away from him and like that, with him slipping against Chelsea.
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“I’m convinced that if Chelsea had not scored like that, they would not have scored at all. And once you are a goal down against them, it’s virtually impossible.”
Former Everton striker Kevin Campbell has branded the arrival of Cenk Tosun ‘a great piece of business’ for the Toffees.
Tosun joined Everton from Besiktas earlier this month off the back of scoring 14 times in 24 appearances for the Turkish club in the first half of the 2017-18 campaign.
The 26-year-old made his Everton bow against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, and despite his new team suffering a 4-0 defeat, the forward showed glimpses of his talent.
Campbell was the last player to move to Everton from Turkish football, with the now 47-year-old switching from Trabzonspor in March 1999.
The former striker has hailed the capture of Tosun, insisting that the Turkish international will be a star for the Merseyside club once he has fully settled.
Campbell told Everton’s official website:
“It is a great piece of business for Everton to bring in somebody of international quality. Tosun is a good player, a strong player. He is blessed with good technique and knows where the goal is.
“The quicker we can get him settled in the better. He might need a couple of games to adapt but he is a top-quality striker.”
Everton, who have lost each of their last three in the Premier League, will be looking to put three points on the board when they host West Bromwich Albion this weekend.
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Aside from displaying a few brief glimpses of quality in his debut season at Old Trafford, Manchester United’s Adnan Januzaj has not done much to set the English game alight. There was a great deal of initial hype and sensation when the young Belgian first set foot on pitches in the Premier League, yet as is usually the case with these up and coming unproven talents in the modern game, such a reaction was seemingly made far too prematurely.
Obviously at just 20-years-old, to write the attacking midfielder off now would be very silly. He still has a long way to go in discovering his very best form after all – even if his future ultimately lies beyond the ever testing realms of Old Trafford next season.
With that in mind, Roberto Martinez and Everton certainly go down as strong admirers of the no. 11’s talents, but as some reports are linking the Toffees with an incredible £20 million move for the youngster, certain questions just have to be raised.
So then, is this just another case of a young emerging star being dangerously over-valued before he has even had the chance to truly make a name for himself, or will Adnan Januzaj one day be worth the lofty sum Manchester United are reportedly asking for?
At this stage in proceedings, the answer arrives as a pretty simple one…
No, Januzaj is simply worth nowhere near the amount certain papers have being touting of late. He may have done well to establish his name in the Premier League at such a young age, his involvement in the Belgian national set-up certainly seems impressive, and his overall technique and style out on the pitch definitely suggests that he has something to offer – but ultimately £20 million is just a ridiculous asking price, if true.
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In the grand scheme of things, this is a player who Louis van Gaal has seemingly forgotten all about this season. He has failed to truly assert himself under Manchester United’s new Dutch boss so far throughout 2014/15, making fewer than ten league starts across the entire campaign and subsequently falling short in the goal-scoring department as a result.
However, such a negative turn of events for the player in question doesn’t mean that Januzaj couldn’t find his feet at a club such as Everton next term. The midfielder certainly goes about his business with an elegant nature on the ball, he has shown in seasons past that he has it in him to score some nice goals every now and then – and although 2014/15 has so far been a campaign to forget for the youngster – at 20-years-old a bright future still potentially lies ahead of the current Manchester United man.
All of which would indicate that Adnan Januzaj would fit in perfectly at Goodison Park next season, among a group of players that also remain technically gifted on the whole, if not entirely proven at the highest level in the Premier League.
Having said that though, if Roberto Martinez’ side are forced to pay out anything over £10 million for their reported transfer target, the Red Devils would certainly be walking away from the deal in a very pleasing position. The Belgian international simply hasn’t done anything meaningful enough to be worthy of such hype, and as this is a player who has picked up more bookings for diving than he has goals this season, it remains hard to view the potentially exciting Januzaj in anything other than a negative light.
Yet these days all it seems to take is a string of half decent games for any up and coming young player to be credited as the next big name of the future. Gone are the days when ‘one season wonders’ would have to consistently prove themselves after their much talked about honeymoon periods. Pundits and fans alike are all too quick to draw comparisons with truly world class players before they have really seen enough to gauge the extent of talent on offer from the likes of Adnan Januzaj.
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As PSG were also reportedly in for the young Manchester United talent in January however, perhaps Everton will be left with no other choice than to stump up the cash for the no. 11 if Roberto Martinez and co. eventually decide that Januzaj is their man.
With high profile deals like this one often proving too much to handle for the young stars of the Premier League in the end though, maybe a degree of caution must be taken before such drastic steps are ultimately taken.
Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin posted on his official Twitter account following his side’s 3-2 win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Thursday night, and Gunners fans were quick to react.
The Spaniard has been playing as a right-back in recent times but he was pushed forward into a wing-back role in a 3-4-2-1 formation against the Eagles, with the north London outfit taking an early lead though Shkodran Mustafi.
A second-half brace from Alexis Sanchez wrapped up the points for the visitors, but they were made to sweat when James Tomkins scored in the 89th minute to set up a nervy finish.
Bellerin has struggled to replicate the form he has shown in the past this season, and he failed to make too much of an impact at both ends of the pitch against Palace.
Arsenal supporters took to social media to give their thoughts to the 22-year-old, and while one said “step up your game”, another said “you’re the weak point of the team”.
The not so prolific striker took to Twitter on Sunday, in support of Manchester City in their clash with local rivals Manchester United. City were first to score within eight minutes, with Aguero’s goal. As City celebrated their lead over the Red Devils, Mario Balotelli tweeted the scoreline, followed by “Stand up and shut up.”
But, the key thing to note here, is that Mario Balotelli is not a Manchester City player. Nor has he been for years. Balotelli failed to tweet the final scoreline, with Manchester United pulling the game back to win 4-2 on a deserved performance.
When is Mario Balotelli going to learn how to use social media effectively? This is not the first time he has looked foolish online. He came under fire for a picture he posted on Instagram of Super Mario of the Mario Brothers (as it is related to his nickname, supposedly), yet did not read the text that came with it. It states “Don’t be racist! Be like Mario”, stating the different nationalities that come into play with the games character. Yet at the bottom of the picture, states derogatory remarks about other cultures and races. With Mario Balotelli’s unfortunate run-ins with racism during his career, this was his dumbest move yet. The post has since been deleted, and Mario Balotelli has apologised for the post.
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Mario also posted a photo of himself on Instagram, praising his team, with a thermometer in his hand. This is clearly to prove he was in fact ill, which is why he had been withdrawn from the squad. But Balotelli could not foresee the memes that would make fun of him – surprisingly. There were photos that stated he was pregnant, amongst others.
It is becoming clear that Mario Balotelli is not learning his lessons when it comes to using social media. It will be no surprise that Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will not be happy with the Manchester City-supporting tweet. A loss for Manchester City realistically is what Liverpool would have wanted, in order to close the current gap between the sides.
Balotelli needs some guidance with what can and cannot be posted online. Do not post in favour of a rival club. Especially when that club score early on, because that is asking for trouble.
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