Paul Pogba arrived back at Manchester United last summer with plenty of pressure on his shoulders.At the age of just 23, the midfielder is the most expensive footballer in history having re-signed for the Red Devils from Juventus for £89m.It took him time to settle, but the France international has shown why he warranted such a big transfer fee, albeit not consistently.In last weekend’s 1-1 draw with arch rivals Liverpool, Pogba disappointed on the pitch – giving away a penalty in the first half and failing to convert a handful of goalscoring opportunities.A statistic fromÂWhoScoredÂhas shown that the midfielder has a particular aspect of his game that he needs to work on – discipline.
As the tweet shows, Pogba has been guilty of making more fouls than any other competitor in the Premier League this season.
Interestingly, though, the ex-Juventus star has only received six bookings this season and not a single red card.
There is real reason for optimism at Goodison Park this season, with Roberto Martinez’s Everton side looking like a dangerous and rounded side in their quest for a top-six Premier League finish in 2015-16.
The abilities of John Stones, James McCarthy, Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku have been well documented, while the presence of this quartet gives the Merseyside outfit a strong core to the team.
However, despite this strong run of players centrally, it may well be the right selections on the flanks that dictates just how far this team can go under Martinez.
The full-back positions have an inevitability about them when everyone is fit, with Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman two of the most respected and dangerous attacking-minded players in the division in their roles.
[ffc-gal cat=”everton” no=”5″]
However, with a plethora of options at his disposal, Martinez needs to get a settled selection on the wings if Everton are to live up to their billing.
In recent weeks, despite the number of players competing for the two wide roles, the Spanish manager has opted to field two players that have had a telling impact.
Arouna Kone’s injury concerns are finally seemingly behind him, with the Ivorian forward coming good at the Goodison Park club. A hat-trick in last week’s 6-2 demolition of Sunderland proved the former Levante man’s goal threat, but it has been other parts of his game that have most stood out.
The way in which Kone links up with lone striker Lukaku has been of note this term and on his current form it looks like the African must start for the Toffees.
On the other flank, Gerard Deulofeu has had to bide his time but is now getting a run of games in Martinez’s starting XI. The former Barcelona winger’s speed and trickery on the ball have been key elements to his game during his time in England, with the once-capped Spain international possessing the individualism to score or do something of note.
That said, Deulofeu’s delivery and eye for a killer pass has been the most remarkable thing about his performances in recent weeks, with the Spaniard creating a number of goals for team-mates in recent weeks.
The gifted attacker’s defence-splitting pass to allow Lukaku to score against West Ham on Saturday was breathtaking, in a classic example of how much Deulofeu can add to the Everton team.
The balance of the current Everton attack looks good, but one of Martinez’s challenges will be to keep a host of other options in wide areas happy – even though they are not playing.
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Steven Naismith, Kevin Mirallas, Aaron Lennon and Aiden McGeady are all in contention for a berth on the flanks, while when Baines returns there is a case to suggest Brendan Galloway could be used in midfield.
With Tom Cleverley and Steven Pienaar also set to return from injury, Everton have a plethora of wide midfield options that will create extreme competition for places.
If Martinez can get his selections right and make the most of this wealth of talent in wide positions, it could well be a really successful season for the club.
These days you would struggle to find someone that genuinely knew what was going on at Newcastle. The Premier League club have become been something of a long running farce under Mike Ashley, and to try to second guess the retail tycoon has become a bit of a fruitless task in recent months.
This last month has brought even more instability to the club with the departure of Director of Football Joe Kinnear, and the sale of star man Yohan Cabaye to PSG. Whilst Kinnear’s departure is hardly something that Alan Pardew would lose sleep over, the loss of his talismanic French midfielder would have caused the manager a few headaches.
Most of the problems at the club are self inflicted, something that makes the whole saga a lot worse in my opinion. Mike Ashley isn’t quite the idiot many would have you believe, and his regime at Newcastle is therefore a little more vindictive and calculated that it might appear. A man that has always sought total control over the club whatever the costs, his recent behaviour points towards a change in management in the not too distant future.
Some may argue that I’m putting two and two together here and making five, but the reality is that Mike Ashley is doing everything in his power to make Alan Pardew’s position totally unworkable. The sale of star players is a necessity for most teams outside of the top four; the real aberration was the inability to bring in a replacement before the window slammed shut. Clement Grenier was the name being touted, but when it came down to it Ashley failed to back his manager when he needed him most.
Pardew is having to hold together a side that on the face of it just doesn’t look fit for purpose, thanks in part to the lack of transfer support from Ashley’s partner in crime Joe Kinnear. Derby day heartache may be painful for those that love Newcastle, but their current league standing is nothing short of miraculous given the problems the club has had.
Joe Kinnear’s departure marks the end of two failed transfer windows, and a period of bizarre media gaffes and amateurish boardroom behaviour. Call me a conspiracy theorist but Kinnear has done exactly what he was meant to do, and that was to unsettle Pardew and make his footballing life a living hell.
Some may wonder why Ashley doesn’t just sack Pardew, why go to all these lengths to force him out? The best part of the comedy at Newcastle is that Alan Pardew is perhaps the most secure man in the Premier League, at least contractually. As reward for a successful 2011-12 campaign the Englishman put pen to paper on an astonishing 8-year deal that tied him to the club for the long term.
To sack Pardew would cost Ashley and absolute fortune, something that the owner just isn’t willing or able to do. The only way to change manager from his point of view is to force the last one to fall on his sword, and so far he has done everything in his power to make that happen.
Even if Ashley gets his was and Pardew leaves, would anyone really want to work under this man? Mike Ashley may be a successful retail tycoon, but his handling of footballing business is borderline hilarious. Whether you love him or hate him, I cannot see anyone better or even mentally fit becoming part of Ashley’s team at Newcastle United.
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Whether you think Ashley is this manipulative totalitarian or simply a footballing lunatic, it is fast becoming clear that Pardew’s time on Tyneside is numbered. A job that is becoming untenable for even the most resilient of managers, it is clear that the passage is being cleared for Pardew’s departure.
striker Jermain Defoe has admitted that he is loving life at the club under boss Andre Villas-Boas.
The England international has had an up-and-down time at the White Hart Lane side, with former coach Harry Redknapp using the forward sparingly last season.
Defoe has admitted in the past that he has considered leaving the club due to the amount of time he spent on the bench, but the diminutive marksman has been given a run of games in the team this season.
The attacker has revealed that Villas-Boas adopts a contrasting approach to each game, and that the players are happy under the Portuguese tactician.
“What I like about him is every game has a different approach,” Defoe is quoted as saying in The Sun.
“You know exactly how we’ve got to play when we’ve got the ball and not got the ball. Every player knows their jobs and if you speak to any of the boys, he has been fantastic.”
Defoe featured for England in Warsaw in midweek on a heavy pitch, and the forward is hoping that the game will not take its toll when he returns to club action this weekend.
“It was quite heavy out there on your legs but hopefully I’ll feel all right at the weekend.
“They are tough opponents and it was always going to be a difficult game even if the pitch was good.
“I don’t want to make excuses because both teams had to play on the pitch and maybe it was a fair result in the end,” he concluded.
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Defoe is expected to feature for Spurs against Chelsea on Saturday.
Last weekend, in his post-match interview as seen on Match of the Day, Mick McCarthy confirmed that Emmanuel Frimpong was joining Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan until the end of the season, in a deal that the Wolves boss described as, “fantastic” adding that he was, “delighted because he’s a terrific young player.” For Emmanuel Frimpong it will provide the much-needed Premier League experience that has so far been limited to 3 starts, most recently in the 2-1 away victory over Aston Villa , and two sub appearances.
Sent off on his full home debut, in a 2-0 loss to Liverpool , Emmanuel Frimpong immediately grabbed the attention of the viewing public with a “spirited and tenacious” performance, as Arsene Wenger’s interviewer put it, with the Frenchman choosing to put his sending off for a wild challenge on Liverpool midfielder Lucas, down to “a lack of experience” and a “big heart.” His performance up until the sending off was “impressive” according to Phil McNulty, but his sending off marked a change in momentum, with Liverpool breaking down a resilient Arsenal midfield, now a man short, and scoring twice to record a 2-0 win at The Emirates.
However, the combative midfielder is only 19-years old and much like Alex Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin , Frimpong’s contemporaries, the Ghanaian England youth international was chucked in at the deep end, blooded in the harshest of ways against the best the Premier League has to offer. It did the youngster no harm, however, and since his red-blooded debut, he has gone on to start in two games that led to victory against Swansea and Aston Villa. An abundance of midfield players, a luxury that couldn’t have been further from the truth when the midfielder made his debut, has seen Arsene Wenger use 11 midfielders so far in the Premier League this season, and with Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby close to returning, the Frenchman has chosen to send out Frimpong in a team where weekly “spirited and tenacious” performances will be needed.
Much like previous loans of Arsenal’s, such as Wilshere’s to Bolton and Alex Song ’s to Charlton , The Professor has sent a central midfielder to a club that will be battling week-in-week-out for points, and it’ll be here where Frimpong’s style, “he is a fighter and he is a winner” (Arsene Wenger told Arsenal.com) will be honed and channeled into the performances regularly churned out by Arsenal’s current #1 holding midfielder, Alex Song .
Song is held in high regard by Arsenal fans and coaches at the club alike, “He is one of the players who surprised everybody. You wouldn’t expect what he delivers at the moment,” said Wenger, “He had periods when he had doubts in his mind, when people would say he was a bad buy or things like that. When you are a young boy that is difficult to take, but he’s got over that.
[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’left’]
He went through some difficult periods.” Arsenal fans are no longer criticising the purchase of Alex Song, who having broken through at the age of 21 making 48 appearances in Arsenal’s midfield, is now attracting interest from some of Europe’s finest with a £15m fee circulating around his bleach blond head.
Emmanuel Frimpong is hoping to emulate the successes of the Cameroonian international, “that’s what I want to be doing in a few years,” said Frimpong in 2009, before he endured a dogged 18-months of successive injuries culminating in a 9-month lay off due to a damaged anterior cruciate ligament, “ in the last couple of years Alex has showed everyone what he can do. He went on loan to Charlton and came back stronger. Everyone wondered if he would be a good player for Arsenal , whether he would establish himself in the first team, and I think he has proved that. He is playing really well at the moment.” Now, it is Frimpong that hopes to go out on loan and come back stronger.
Wolves fans can expect to reap the rewards that the last team to feature Frimpong regularly did: Arsenal’s u-18s during their 2009 FA Youth Cup run, which ended in triumph over Liverpool with a heavy 6-2 scoreline, in which Frimpong featured throughout the tournament but went off injured 20 minutes in during the first leg of the final. Steve Bould, who took the u-18′s on their march to FA Cup success, was “delighted” with Frimpong’s offering during the competition and the main focus was to harness the undoubted talent of the Ghanaian.
The midfielder, who is nine days younger than England international Jack Wilshere , regularly produced displays of superb shifts, acting as the engine in the team alongside Coquelin , who featured in the Arsenal team that beat Aston Villa on December 21st next to his midfield partner through the age ranks. The 19-year old can be expected to churn out tireless performances in the Orange shirt of Wolves, doused with “ferocious long-range efforts” and match-winning defensive displays, which Frimpong highlights as his main strength, “I enjoy making tackles more than anything because it helps the team to regain the ball and of course that is when [Arsenal] are dangerous,” and hopefully Steven Fletcher can be the danger that Van Persie is when Frimpong wins the ball, “Obviously when [a team] go behind it is always hard to come back but we know that we are always capable of doing so, [it] shows character.”
Now it is time for Frimpong to inject some much needed “character” into a Wolves team, that are without Jamie O’Hara and, yet again, have a relegation battle on their hands for the second half of the season. For Wolves, this may just be their most important signing in their quest for another season in the Premier League.
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Liverpool are their own worst enemies in the Premier League this season.
Arne Slot’s side’s revival continues, with Wolverhampton Wanderers beaten at Anfield. But once again, the Reds supporters have been treated some gut-wrenching viewing in the closing stages, under the cosh after conceding another set-piece.
Liverpool are back into the top four, with Ryan Gravenberch opening the scoring before Florian Wirtz connected with the in-form Hugo Ekitike before the break.
How Wirtz needed that one. The German playmaker is beginning to grow into his skin on Merseyside, and he has finally broken his duck.
How Florian Wirtz has come alive at Liverpool
Liverpool paid Bayer Leverkusen £116m for Wirtz’s signature this summer. It was the all-time British record before Alexander Isak moved to the club on deadline day.
Wirtz, 22, has been one of the most criticised Premier League players this season. The spotlight has been blinding at times. But now he has scored, rubber-stamping what has quietly been an impressive run of form for the German international.
Having assisted Ekitike last week, the striker returned the favour against Wolves, who remain at the foot of the table on just two points. He won 11 duels and completed eight dribbles, as per Sofascore, head and shoulders above his peers and opponents.
Wirtz is coming alive, and it’s important to remember Liverpool have been abject and imbalanced this year, far below the expected standard.
He has a future at Liverpool, alright, but the same sadly can’t be said for all of the Reds, with one of Wirtz’s attacking teammates heading in the other direction against doomed Wolves.
FSG must now sell Liverpool flop
Liverpool have a talented crop of forwards, and Federico Chiesa has found regular minutes hard to come by since joining from Juventus for a cut-price £12.5m fee in 2024.
His fortunes have improved since the summer, but he has equally been kept on the fringes, albeit playing more of a part than in last year’s title-winning team.
Injuries and absences opened the door for a rare Premier League start against Wolves, but the £150k-per-week Italian failed to grasp it.
The Liverpool Echo summed it up: while Chiesa played a part in Gravenberch’s opening goal, he was largely ineffective down the right wing, minimally involved and lacking the vim and vigour that was required to catch Slot’s eye. He was branded with a match-low 5/10 score.
Chiesa’s Game in Numbers
Match Stats
#
Minutes played
61′
Goals
0
Assists
0
Touches
23
Shots (on target)
0 (0)
Accurate passes
10/16 (63%)
Chances created
0
Crosses
0/2
Dribbles
0/1
Recoveries
2
Tackles
0/0
Ground duels
0/3
Data via Sofascore
Chiesa has found opportunities few and far between at Liverpool, with this his first Premier League start at Anfield. He lost all three of his ground duels, and he didn’t complete a dribble.
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Perhaps that was a chance he could not allow to pass him by, and yet it has, carrying off into the bracing wind the prospect of regular starting berths over the next several weeks. It is worth remembering Dominik Szoboszlai missed out on Saturday due to suspension.
With rumours of interest surfacing from his homeland in recent months, FSG might conclude that Chiesa should be sold after his season-and-a-half in Liverpool. When Mohamed Salah returns from AFCON, his playing time will be further reduced, especially as Slot has shown a willingness to field Jeremie Frimpong in an advanced berth.
‘Fede’ has shown himself to have a Midas touch in front of goal this season, scoring twice off the bench in the Premier League. But he’s perhaps better off as an impact substitute.
Maybe Slot knows a thing about management after all. If Liverpool act on their interest in a new winger, it could prompt Chiesa’s sale. That might be the best move for all parties, should the Italian want to play regular football throughout the rest of his prime years.
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It’s finally time, after a long summer, West Ham United are back in competitive action this afternoon.
Graham Potter’s side kickstart their Premier League campaign with a game away to the recently promoted Sunderland.
On paper, it’s a game that the Hammers should be winning comfortably, but as we all know, it’s never that simple, and the Black Cats have made some brilliant additions to their team this summer, most notably in former Arsenal star Granit Xhaka.
The Swiss international is still a top player, and in an interesting development, the Irons are now being linked with someone who’d be their own version of him.
West Ham target their own Xhaka
While it has not necessarily been an exciting window this summer, West Ham have made a few smart additions to the team.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
Mads Hermanses impressed for Leicester City last season, Kyle Walker-Peters is a proven Premier League performer, and El Hadji Malick Diouf impressed in pre-season.
Moreover, it looks like the Hammers want to do more business before the window closes and are now targeting someone who could be their own Xhaka.
At least that’s according to a recent report from journalist Graeme Bailey, who has revealed that West Ham are interested in Aleix García.
The journalist claims that the Bayer Leverkusen star is someone “they quite like” and that, in good news, no other teams seem to be in for him at the moment.
It’s not clear just how much Garcia would cost the Hammers, but he joined the German side for around £15m.
If he’s available for around that much today, it would represent some incredible business, especially as he could be their own Xhaka.
How Garcia compares to Xhaka
In this instance, the comparison stems primarily from FBref, which looked at players in similar positions across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League before concluding that Xhaka has been the eighth most similar midfielder to Garcia over the last 365 days.
The best way to gain a better understanding of how such a conclusion was reached is by taking a look under the hood, at the underlying numbers in which the pair ranked closest.
In this case, these include metrics such as progressive carries, passing accuracy, shot and goal-creating actions, blocks, live passes and more, all per 90.
Garcia & Xhaka
Statistics per 90
Garcia
Xhaka
Progressive Carries
1.67
1.31
Progressive Passes Received
2.90
2.24
Passing Accuracy
87.2%
89.7%
Expected Assists
0.23
0.16
Live Passes
78.4
83.9
Shot-Creating Actions
3.71
3.74
Goal-Creating Actions
0.62
0.56
Blocks
0.74
0.93
Clearances
1.48
1.62
Successful Take-Ons
0.25
0.22
All Stats via FBref for the 24/25 League Campaign
In other words, like the Swiss international, Garcia is an all-action midfielder who can more than help out when it comes to the attacking side of the game, but is also more than happy to dig in and do the dirty work when his team need him to.
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However, the pair don’t just share statistical similarities, as they actually played with one another at Leverkusen, and if the former Girona star does move this summer, then he’d likely be following his former teammate to the Premier League.
Aleix Garcia comes off the pitch for Florian Wirtz at Bayer Leverkusen.
Finally, another strength that the “technically gifted” Spaniard, as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, shares with the former Gunners ace is his ability to play in multiple midfield roles, from the six to a box-crashing eight and, on occasion, further up the pitch than that.
Ultimately, while this would be a surprising move, it’s one West Ham should be all over, as Garcia looks like just the player to come in and improve their midfield, just like Xhaka will for Sunderland.
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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is now driving a move for an “exciting” £67m forward, who has been advised to move to Old Trafford by Cristiano Ronaldo, according to reports.
Man Utd keen to bolster attacking options
The stalemate in the Manchester derby will only have underlined the need for Man United to bolster their attacking options in the summer transfer window, and they are now stepping up their pursuit of a new striker.
One striker who Amorim knows very well is Sporting CP star Viktor Gyokeres, and a £64m bid has reportedly been lodged for the Sweden international, who is also attracting interest from the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea.
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Matheus Cunha is the latest forward to be linked with a move to Old Trafford, with the Red Devils making contact over a deal for the Brazilian, while they are also keen to bolster their options in wide areas.
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There have been recent reports United could even make an audacious £172m move for Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr, should they qualify for next season’s Champions League via a Europa League triumph.
However, a move for Vinicius does not seem particularly likely, and a report from GiveMeSport has revealed that Sporting CP’s Trincao, who could be more of a realistic target, is now being pursued by Man Utd.
Amorim is driving the move for his former winger, who is also able to play through the middle, which could make him a solid alternative option to Cunha, should the Red Devils miss out on the Wolves star.
Sporting CP's FranciscoTrincaocelebrates
The Portuguese forward has a release clause of £67m included in his contract, which means he will not come cheap, but he is deemed more likely to move to Old Trafford than teammate Gyokeres.
Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot have recommended the move to their compatriot, although it remains to be seen whether his head is turned by his international teammates.
"Exciting" Trincao performing well in Portugal
The 25-year-old didn’t set the world alight during his time with Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring just three goals for the Old Gold, but his impressive performances in Portugal over the past few seasons indicate he deserves a second chance in the Premier League.
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This term, the former Wolves man has amassed eight goals and 12 assists in 28 Liga Portugal games, in what is on course to be his most prolific season to date.
The Portugal international also impressed for his country during their recent UEFA Nations League clash against Denmark, bagging a brace as his side prevailed 5-2 after extra-time.
Lauded as a “really exciting player” by former Wolves technical director Scott Sellars, Trincao has proven he could be a top signing for Man United, but Cunha should remain their primary target, given that the Brazil international is proven in the Premier League.
Well, as should be expected by this point, Tottenham Hotspur followed up their sensational win away to Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday with a dismal draw against Roma in the Europa League last night.
Ange Postecoglou has done very well in his year and a half at the club, helping to turn them into one of the most exciting teams in Europe, but he hasn’t been able to quash the inconsistent streak that seems ever-present within the club.
However, the North Londoners had enough chances to win the game last night, so it would be unfair to pin the draw on anyone other than the players.
Spurs’ recent results
Competition
Opponent
Result
Europa League
AS Roma (H)
2-2 (D)
Premier League
Man City (A)
4-0 (W)
Premier League
Ipswich (H)
2-1 (L)
Europa League
Galatasaray (A)
3-2 (L)
Premier League
Aston Villa (H)
4-1 (W)
Via Sky Sports
In particular, there was one regular starter who was notably poor on the night and should probably be dropped for Sunday’s clash with Fulham.
Spurs' poor performers
So, before we get to the offender in question, it’s worth looking at some of the other disappointing displays from last night, starting with club-record signing Dominic Solanke.
Now, it’s true that the former Bournemouth ace didn’t make a mistake that cost his team a goal. However, he missed more than his fair share of chances that could have taken them out of sight of the Giallorossi, somehow failing to score once from an expected goals figure of 1.13, which saw Spurs writer Alasdair Gold award him a 6/10 match rating.
Likewise, while Son Heung-min scored the penalty in the first half, he was painfully ineffective for most of the game, either taking weak and inaccurate shots when he shouldn’t have or failing to pass to his teammates when he should have, resulting in a 6/10 from Gold.
In the midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur looked tired early on in the second half, and while he put in some decent tackles here and there, he failed to assert himself in the middle of the park, once again leading to a 6/10 rating from the football.london journalist.
However, while all three of the above were underwhelming against the Serie A giants, one of their teammates managed to put in a display that was even worse.
The Spurs starter Postecoglou should drop
So, while the likes of Radu Dragusin and even Brennan Johnson struggled at points last night, the starter who put in arguably the worst performance of all and should, therefore, be dropped was Pedro Porro.
Yes, the Lilywhites’ talented full-back, who is usually so effective for the club in attack and, at the very least, reliable in defence, was neither last night.
The Spaniard’s best moment came when he hit the woodwork from a free-kick in the second half but as Gold highlights, he ‘almost gifted Dovbyk a late equaliser’ and was ‘nowhere near Angelino’s cross for the leveller,’ which was unsurprisingly enough to warrant a paltry 5/10 match rating.
While that could be construed as harsh, it is an opinion backed up by the Spaniard’s statistics on the night.
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For example, in his 95 minutes of action, the former Sporting CP ace was dribbled past twice, made an error that led to a shot, lost 100% of his aerial duels, lost the ball a staggering 23 times, misplaced 66% of his crosses, failed in 100% of his dribbles and maintained a passing accuracy of just 73%.
Porro’s game in numbers
Minutes
95′
Dribbled Past
2
Errors Leading to a Shot
1
Aerial Duels (Won)
2 (0)
Lost Possession
23
Crosses (Accurate)
3 (1)
Dribbles (Successful)
1 (0)
Passing Accuracy
44/60 (73%)
Shots on Target
2
Tackles
6
All Stats via Sofascore
Now, while he did manage to take two shots on target and make several tackles during the game, his mistakes were too numerous to ignore.
As such, the manager should seriously consider dropping him for Fulham, especially when he can call upon Djed Spence, who needs game time badly, or even Archie Gray, whom Gold awarded a 7/10 for his display in the unfamiliar position of left-back last night.
Ultimately, nobody will dispute the sensational innate talent that Porro possesses, but last night was a particularly dire display from the full-back, and with players lining up behind him, Postecoglou should drop him to the bench on Sunday.
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It was a Premier League campaign of ups and downs for Tottenham Hotspur last season, and while missing out on the Champions League was disappointing, qualifying for the Europa League should still be considered a success.
However, with a year under his belt, Ange Postecoglou must take the Lilywhites one step further in 2024/25 and return them to Europe's elite competition.
To do that, the Australian will need Daniel Levy and Co to supply him with some talented players in the remaining weeks of the transfer window, specifically a striker.
Kieffer Moore and Dominic Solanke celebrate for Bournemouth.
Now, the North Londoners have recently been linked with Bournemouth's Dominic Solanke, and while he'd be a good signing, the latest striker touted for a move to the club would be even better.
Tottenham Hotspurs' striker search
According to a recent report from respected journalist Alasdair Gold, Tottenham are in the market for a new striker this summer, and Viktor Gyokeres is one of the players they have looked at.
Gold does mention a potential price for the Swedish international, but recent reports have claimed that Sporting CP are looking for a fee in the region of €80m, which converts to about £67m.
The other issue for the Lilywhites is that the former Coventry City ace has seemingly caught the attention of several topflight clubs, such as Arsenal and Liverpool.
Viktor Gyokeres in action for Sporting
That said, while signing Gyokeres would likely prove challenging and costly, his incredible ability would dramatically strengthen Spurs, and he'd be a better signing than Solanke.
How Gyokeres compares to Solanke
Okay, so the first thing to say is that given Spurs need for an out-and-out number nine this summer, signing either Solanke or Gyokeres would be a good idea and probably see their return of goals increase next season, but when it comes down to comparing the two stars, there is only one winner.
Dominic Solanke celebrates a goal for Bournemouth.
For example, in his 42 appearances last season, the Bournemouth ace scored 21 goals and provided four assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.68 games, and while that's undeniably impressive, it does not hold a candle to the Swede's output.
In his 50 appearances for Sporting last season, he scored a whopping 43 goals and provided 15 assists for good measure, equating to an outrageous average of a goal involvement every 0.86 games, or 1.16 goal involvements per match.
Sporting CP strikerViktor Gyokeres.
Unfortunately for the Englishman, this one-sided comparison continues when we look at their underlying numbers. For example, while the Cherries ace comes out ahead for progressive passes and aerial duels won per 90, that's it.
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In contrast, the Swedish "powerhouse", as dubbed by data analyst Ben Mattinson, emerges victorious in every other relevant metric, such as non-penalty expected goals plus assists, actual non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive carries, shots and shots on target, shot and goal-creating actions and successful take-ons, all per 90.
Gyokeres vs Solanke
Stats per 90
Gyokeres
Solanke
Non-Penalty Expected Goals + Assists
0.82
0.55
Non-Penalty Goals + Assists
1.05
0.54
Progressive Passes
1.57
1.63
Progressive Carries
3.52
1.41
Shots
3.37
2.87
Shots on Target
1.64
0.95
Shot-Creating Actions
4.08
2.14
Goal-Creating Actions
0.65
0.16
Successful Take-Ons
2.10
0.16
Aerial Duels Won
1.91
2.63
All Stats via FBref for 23/24 League Season
Ultimately, signing Solanke would likely see Spurs improve in attack next season.
However, if Levy and Co want to utterly transform the club's frontline and give themselves the best chance of qualifying for the Champions League, they should do all they can to bring Gyokeres to N17 this summer – he would be a game-changer.
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The incredibly talented PL star would be an excellent signing.