During a crucial time of the season, some football fans would arguably prefer there not to be an international break.
Supporters worry that their key players could suffer injuries, which would potentially affect how the rest of their campaign pans out.
On this occasion, Aston Villa fans are pleased that a member of their team has been called up to represent England.
Callum O’Hare is one of three Villa youngsters, including Keinan Davis and Easah Suliman to make it into the Under-20 squad for next week’s fixtures.
The 19-year-old has made eight appearances for the Villa first team this season, but his starts have been restricted to cup competitions.
In the Championship, O’Hare has come off the bench four times and he created an assist in the club’s 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday at Villa Park in November.
The midfielder still has plenty of development left to make, but in reaction to the teenager’s call-up, plenty of fans made it clear that they want him to get more minutes in the first team.
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O’Hare has not played in Steve Bruce’s side since early January.
According to reports in The Sun on Sunday, Southampton are lining up a summer move to appoint Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner as their new manager despite hiring Mark Hughes just over a fortnight ago, and Saints fans have been quick to react to the rumour.
The Sun on Sunday says that the 46-year-old German is likely to leave the Yorkshire outfit at the end of the season whether they stay in the Premier League or not, and the south coast outfit are keen on him.
They brought in Hughes, who has been heavily praised by midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, until the end of the campaign following the sacking of Mauricio Pellegrino earlier this month, and the 54-year-old Welshman has been tasked with leading the club – who currently lie in 18th position and two points adrift of West Ham United above them – to safety.
Southampton supporters have taken to social media to give their thoughts on Wagner arriving at St Mary’s this summer, and while one said “no thanks”, another said “stick with Hughes”.
Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…
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In the modern cash-rich Premier League, the most basic of maths dictates that all of the top flight’s big six cannot simultaneously enjoy successful seasons.
Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool all look to progress every season and please their fanbase but the simple reality is this.
There are six teams in pursuit of four Champions League qualification spots and it is Europe’s elite competition, along with the FA Cup, the Premier League and the EFL Cup that traditionally make up the four trophies available to them.
That means that, every season, two sides face the prospect of missing out on lucrative qualification for the Champions League and at least two will have to deal with a trophyless season. The dominance of City this season means it will be more this time around.
This means that, paradoxically, as spending has increased and therefore the level of success demanded by fans has as well, the threshold for what qualifies as a good season has actually become lower.
This is where we come to Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman used to be crucified for ensuring his sides finish in the top four every season – which they managed to do until coming fifth last time around – and he has won three of the last four FA Cups.
Top four and a trophy was derided as an acceptance of mediocrity but now it represents a good season for many of the Premier League’s top sides. Man United would take it this season, as would Liverpool and Spurs.
Chelsea can only, realistically, get the trophy – the FA Cup, while Arsenal have the opportunity to, effectively, clinch both in one swoop – by winning the Europa League.
Back in 2012, Wenger was mocked for stating at the Arsenal AGM that coming fourth was like winning a trophy. His exact words were:
Even Jose Mourinho, who branded Wenger a “specialist in failure” made full use of Europe’s secondary competition to bolster his and United’s European record and return to the top table last season and Wenger could well do the same this time around.
If English sides win the Europa League for two seasons running, it could genuinely turn into a period of sustained dominance from these shores.
The aforementioned six elite sides are being forced to look elsewhere for a route into the Champions League and for silverware and the Europa League – so often derided in this country – provides both.
Wenger placed the fourth-place trophy in third on his list and there is a genuine argument to be made that it is that important for the side or sides who miss out on the top four the previous season.
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The Frenchman has come under unprecedented scrutiny this season but he could well end the campaign by delivering what he has come to value above all else – Champions League qualification – alongside silverware, which is what the fans demand.
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The race to the top four has always felt like a phoney war, engineered to sustain mild entertainment in the absence of a genuine title fight since 2012.
Finishing in the top four is a relief but celebrating it still feels wrong and always will, no matter how financially important the Champions League becomes.
Qualification via the Europa League provides the excitement of a cup run, the opportunity for fans to travel to follow each passing stage, where belief and anxiety grow in equal measure.
Of course, the very presence of any of the top six in the competition is a manifestation of a previous failing but it also presents a huge opportunity to rectify that shortcoming in emphatic fashion.
Wenger is so often accused of being left behind by the modern football landscape but on this one, he was six years ahead of the curve. The current state of affairs renders the Europa League his mythical fifth trophy.
Manchester City and their Premier League rivals are expected to do business this summer as they try to shape their squads for next season.
Pep Guardiola’s side are expected to end the current campaign as title champions as they currently have a 13-point lead at the top of the table with six games left to play.
The team have blasted away the opposition on the domestic front, but once again they have fallen short in Europe.
Across two legs, City were beaten 5-1 by Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The elimination is still a little raw, but the media have moved on to focus on potential transfer activity.
According to The Mirror, West Bromwich Albion defender Jonny Evans is keen to sign for the champions elect.
The publication claims that City wanted the Irishman in January, but they were £2m short of the Baggies’ price tag.
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Now that West Brom are destined for the Championship, Evans is likely to move on, but City fans are praying that the former Manchester United player does not turn up at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola went in pursuit of a three-goal comeback against Liverpool, citing the need to play a perfect game but in actual fact failing to win even on the night.
They went down 2-1 to the Reds, making it three defeats on the bounce for Manchester City, who must now wait to lift the Premier League title and find themselves prematurely eliminated from the Champions League.
That title will is still inevitable, but the Spaniard is surely keen for his side to avoid making it four straight losses but the fixtures his side face show no signs of getting any easier.
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Next up is a trip to Wembley to face a Tottenham side in hot pursuit of Manchester United in second place on Saturday night and Guardiola has a decision to make about whether to play Sergio Aguero.
The Argentine – valued at £67.5m by Transfermarkt – did not start the matches against Liverpool or Manchester United so that’s why we’re asking you whether he should be recalled to the City lineup for this one.
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Let us know by voting in the poll below and keep your eyes peeled for the results, which will be published on the day of the game…
Tottenham fans have been discussing the futures of their loaned out players, and it seems most fans want a major squad overhaul.
Though it was certainly started by Chelsea, more and more big teams seem to be following the new trend on young players, which is to snap up any player with a bit of talent, loan them out and hope for the best.
Of course, this is not the case for all of Tottenham’s loaned out players, but fans are all agreeing that the future is pretty bleak for the likes of Marcus Peters, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Vincent Janssen.
Nkoudou has hardly played since his loan move to Burnley, and Janssen has struggled with injuries in Turkey.
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Marcus Peters returned from his spell with Norwich under mysterious circumstances, and Josh Onomah is certainly not making any friends at Villa, as the 20 year-old was jeered off the pitch by his own fans back in February.
Cameron Carter-Vickers is wanted permanently by Ipswich, though the arrival of a new manager there could change things.
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Tottenham fans are getting fed up of Daniel Levy’s transfer strategies, and it seems they would much rather bring in fresh faces than rely on the players currently loaned out.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
With 88 goals and 40 assists between them this season, few forward lines in Europe have matched the incredible potency of Liverpool’s front three. It might seem audacious if not intentionally incendiary then, to suggest that Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane need breaking up this summer. But if the Reds want to advance to the next level and really push Manchester City for the 2018/19 Premier League title, that’s the kind of tough decision Jurgen Klopp will have to make.
It’s not so much a question of efficiency; Mane, Firmino and Salah compliment each other incredibly well, while fitting perfectly into an attacking system that has transformed Liverpool into Champions League finalists and arguably the second-best side in England. Rather, it’s a question of the lack of support and depth Liverpool have in those positions, and the need to dramatically bolster the squad for next season.
While there is a significant gap between the starting XI and the second XI at every Premier League club, Liverpool’s feels particularly severe. Following Philippe Coutinho’s departure to Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge’s loan move to West Brom, Klopp’s best backup options for any of Liverpool’s forward berths are Dominic Solanke and Danny Ings. The former is 20 years of age and continues to await his first Liverpool goal since signing from Chelsea last summer; the latter is still overcoming a long-term injury but even when at his fittest, probably isn’t quite at Liverpool’s level anyway – at least, not at the level of Salah, Firmino and Mane.
There are two ways to approach that shortage, a shortage that has limited Liverpool’s capacity to sustain a title challenge and compete in the domestic cups this season. The obvious one is to sign players specifically for Liverpool’s bench, but that nearly always comes with its own set of problems; the signings never receive enough game-time to really gel themselves into the team, provided they can be convinced to move for a mere bench role in the first place, and accordingly rarely produce to the full levels they’re capable of.
The alternative is to upgrade on a current member of the starting XI, who in turn finds himself bumped down the pecking order. Whereas Salah’s form has made him probably the least droppable player in Europe right now and Firmino’s unorthodox take on the centre-forward role has become such an intrinsic cog in the way Liverpool attack, Mane unfortunately finds himself as the most expendable member of Liverpool’s front three – and in truth, probably the least talented.
That may seem harsh considering Mane’s Liverpool career has been incredibly successful to this point. He was the Players’ and Fans’ Player of the Year at Anfield last season and Liverpool didn’t actually win a game without the Senegalese attacker until April, highlighting how important a figure he’d become during a stunning debut campaign. But Mane’s influence has waned this season, the gap in Liverpool’s win rate when he’s absent reducing to just 4%, and Salah’s stunning form has shown the subtle yet key difference between a top-class attacker and a world-class one.
Mane unfortunately belongs in the former category, because compared to Salah there are notable inconsistencies to his game – particularly in front of goal. While there’s been much talk about the Egyptian missing 21 big chances this season (as defined by the Premier League’s website) after suffering another against Stoke City on Saturday, Mane’s actually missed more big chances than scored goals in the Premier League this term – eleven compared to ten.
Some might even suggest there’s been a Raheem-Sterling-esque rashness to his finishing at times, and the 1-1 draw with Everton, when Mane missed a glorious chance before half time, particularly evokes painful memories. He also missed two huge opportunities against Roma in the Champions League semi-final at Anfield, only for Salah to save his blushes a few moments later.
Of course, Mane brings much more to the team than just goals. Seven assists is a strong contribution, and his sheer energy is an important aspect of this often merciless front line. When he’s not finding the net himself, he’s using his speed to create space for others or his athleticism to win the ball back in dangerous areas by pressing high.
But that’s precisely why this discussion is about making Mane more of a rotation option, rather than axing him completely. After all, he’s clearly perfect for Klopp’s system and is probably Liverpool’s most versatile forward, capable of playing on both wings or as a central attacker, and that – coupled with how well-bedded into the team he is already – only adds to the argument that he’ll probably be more effective from the bench than any forward Liverpool sign this summer with the intention of making him their go-to substitute.
However, there is one obvious problem with this suggestion – who can Liverpool actually sign this summer that would be a clear improvement on Mane, yet still suits the Reds’ attacking structure to a similar degree. Such options aren’t exactly in copious supply, because we’re now talking about the absolute elite end of the transfer market, but if Liverpool intend to compete with City next season – champions currently 21 points ahead of them in the Premier League table – that’s the calibre of player that needs to arrive at Anfield in the coming transfer window.
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Perhaps that requires a second attempt to sign Kylian Mbappe, should Financial Fair Play force PSG into a sale, an audacious bid for Juventus star Paulo Dybala, or a move for a more proven Premier League talent like Chelsea’s Willian or Tottenham’s Heung-min Son. It will be a huge move on Liverpool’s part, but the £75million deal for Virgil van Dijk proved Klopp is willing to set unprecedented transfer fees to sign the right players and if a Mane upgrade becomes available to the Reds this summer, the Anfield gaffer must take that chance to continue moving this frighteningly exciting attacking team forward.
Do Liverpool need to sign an upgrade on Mane? Let us know by voting below…
Middlesbrough have it all to do in their English Championship play-off semi-final after a defeat at home to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Losing the match 1-0, Tony Pulis’ side now need a mammoth performance to turn things around at Villa Park on Tuesday night, with a place at Wembley and promotion to the Premier League at stake.
Fans were left disappointed with not just the result but also the general display from their side, singling out the likes of Adama Traore for a particularly poor performance.
Traore has scored five goals and created 10 assists this season but was unable to cope with the defensive efforts of Alan Hutton on Saturday, failing to have much of an effect on the game in the final third.
Supporters are now desperate for him to improve for the mid-week second leg, believing he does have the ability on his day to produce something special for Boro.
West Ham fans are absolutely crucifying Harry Redknapp, after the veteran manager bashed Manuel Pellegrini’s appointment at West Ham.
David Moyes did exactly what he was brought in to do at West Ham, as the Scotsman eventually steered the club away from relegation with late wins against Leicester and Everton.
What drove a wedge between the Scotsman and the Hammers’ fans was his tactics more so than the results, and fans are ecstatic with the signing of Manuel Pellegrini, as the ex-Manchester City man has promised to bring attacking football back to East London.
Pellegrini was one of the favourites for the job from the moment Moyes left, rivalled by the likes of Paulo Fonseca, Rafael Benitez and Marco Silva, but Harry Redknapp thinks the Hammers made the wrong choice.
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“No disrespect to Pellegrini but winning a Premier League with that squad he had at Manchester City, there’s every chance you’ve got of winning the Premier League,” the 71 year-old told the BBC.
“I don’t see it as an exciting appointment, I’ve got to be honest… West Ham’s a fantastic club, but see if they can poach Eddie Howe or Sean Dyche. There’s some great young managers in the country who, if given the opportunity, could do the job, but they don’t get the opportunities.”
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Dyche has of course done a fabulous job getting Burnley a spot in the Europa League, but his style of football is quite literally the complete opposite of what West Ham fans have been crying out for.
Fans have been reacting to the comments from Redknapp, who managed West Ham from 1994 and 2001, and some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
Leeds fans made a pretty surprising suggestion to replace Paul Heckingbottom this week, so should Leeds swoop for Sam Allardyce this summer?
When Everton sacked Sam Allardyce earlier this week, the news was met with an intense debate on style vs. outcome, performances vs. results, entertainment vs. points.
It’s pretty clear where Leeds fans side on the debate, as their immediate reaction to the news Allardyce would leave Goodison Park was to call for him to take over at Elland Road.
Paul Heckingbottom replaced Thomas Christiansen in February, and the ex-Barnsley man has won just four matches during his short tenure, five if you include the bizarre post-season trip to Myanmar.
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Heckingbottom has tried to implement an entertaining style of place at Elland Road, but quite simply he has failed to do so, and is failing to deliver both performances and results.
Leeds fans no longer care about performances though, all they want is a legitimate chance at promotion, and Big Sam could be just the man to do it.
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The ex-England boss brought Everton from a relegation scrap up to 8th, and if he could have a similar impact on the results at Leeds, who cares if it’s not pretty?
So, Leeds fans, would you swoop to grab Sam Allardyce this summer? Let us know by voting in the poll below…