All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

West Ham’s dismal start to the season continued on Wednesday evening as the Hammers were dumped out of the Carabao Cup on penalties by Blackburn Rovers.

It has been a troubled campaign for the Irons who promised so much after their recent successes.

Indeed, they reached the semi-finals of the Europa League last term and finished seventh in the Premier League.

That saw them enter the UEFA Conference League, a competition that has brought about their only success in 2022/23.

While David Moyes’ side have progressed to the knockout stages of that tournament, they sit 15th in the top flight, just two points above the relegation places and have now spurned a realistic chance of silverware.

It was Angelo Ogbonna who cost the Hammers during that shootout, with the Italian’s penalty crashing against the crossbar as the Championship side reached the next round.

It was rather typical of their campaign that one of their recent transfer targets, Ben Brereton-Diaz scored, and on this evidence, they could do with his bullish nature and firepower.

A lack of in-form offensive options isn’t the only problem for Moyes, however, with issues occurring in midfield.

Declan Rice has been his ever-reliable self this term but there is a sense that the club’s Scottish tactician is unable to find him the perfect partner.

Rice sat out on this occasion, with Irishman Conor Coventry being handed a rare start instead.

It was just the 22-year-old’s fourth start of the campaign but he showed exactly why he has been limited to such irregular patterns of game time.

Against Championship opposition, this was the perfect time for the young midfielder to stake his claim but instead, he achieved quite the opposite, putting in a performance that demonstrated to his manager that he simply isn’t good enough for first-team life at this level.

At 22, Coventry should be making more of a regular impact now but his career looks destined to head in the way of a certain Josh Cullen. Another talented midfielder on the books of West Ham, he was afforded very few minutes in east London and as such, left in 2020, where he joined Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht.

The 26-year-old is still with Kompany, albeit at his new employer, Burnley. Sitting in the second tier, it’s indicative of the level he’s at, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Coventry’s career headed in the same direction.

Against Rovers, Coventry was poor in possession of the ball, completing just 76% of his passes, a figure that was way behind his success rate of 90% in the Conference League.

As Football.London’s Jonty Colman put it, the young ace was “quite a way off his best”, as he spurned a fabulous chance to impress supporters.

On top of that, the Hammers academy graduate lost 50% of his defensive duels and gave away the ball every six minutes, a damning statistic for usually such a technically sound young player.

With just one key pass and a solitary shot to his name, he did little to influence the game in the final third either.

As West Ham bowed out of the competition, Moyes will no doubt be left frustrated, but surely not as frustrated as Coventry who undoubtedly wasted a large opportunity.

Sunderland have a talented crop of young players in and around the first-team set up this season and the future is looking bright at the Stadium of Light.

The likes of Daniel Neil, Edouard Michut, Jewison Bennette, Anthony Patterson, and Jack Clarke are all up-and-coming players who will be hoping to fulfil their potential in the years to come.

However, the Black Cats have not always had the best of luck with promising young gems. One player who left before he could make his mark in the first team was wing-back Bali Mumba and that is a shame, in hindsight, as he would be perfect for Tony Mowbray in 2022.

During the 2018/19 campaign, then-manager Jack Ross played the academy product in four League One matches and named him in the starting line-up twice after seemingly being impressed by his displays in the youth side.

The Scottish boss was the first head coach to hand the dynamo a league start, as he had only played three minutes of Championship action prior to that season.

However, Phil Parkinson then arrived in the dugout to replace Ross and did not hand the youngster a single appearance in the first team during the 2019/20 campaign, which led to the gem’s exit from Wearside.

He was sold to Championship side Norwich City for a reported fee of £350k, as he entered the final year of his contract at the Stadium of Light, in the summer of 2020.

Mumba won the second division title with the Canaries and made one appearance in the Premier League the following campaign before being loaned out to Peterborough, where he played 13 times.

The full-back, who journalist Josh Bunting dubbed “magnificent” was then sent out on loan to Plymouth Argyle in League One this season and he has been in terrific form for the club so far, averaging a SofaScore rating of 7.01 across 17 appearances.

For reference, that is a higher rating than current full-back/wing-backs Lynden Gooch (6.77), Dennis Cirkin (6.76), Trai Hume (6.73), and Niall Huggins (6.70) managed in the third tier for the Black Cats last season.

Mumba has racked up three goals and seven assists in his 17 league outings for Plymouth as he has caught the eye whilst playing as a left wing-back, although he is also capable of playing on either flank in a back four or five, and can play in central midfield.

Therefore, the 21-year-old, who has been described as a “baller” by Yannick Bolasie, would be brilliant for Mowbray in the current Championship season.

The Sunderland head coach has switched between a four and five-back formation throughout the campaign and Mumba’s versatility, along with the outstanding quality he has shown ahead of the current options in those areas, make him a perfect fit for a dynamic tactical set-up.

What could have been…

We’re only one game into the World Cup but one Leeds United star is already receiving a ton of praise.

“He has the heart of a lion,” said United States centre-back Aaron Long of midfielder Tyler Adams – who is set to be the skipper of the USMNT in Qatar.

“I think he shows that everywhere he goes. He is a key, key part of this team for what he brings on the field and what he brings off the field. He is an amazing guy and an amazing player,” via FOX Sports.

Leader. Powerhouse. Captain.

You’ll struggle to run out of superlatives to describe the 23-year-old and that only goes to show just how good business it was to sign him during the summer transfer window.

No one could have predicted his impact, particularly given the sheer magnitude of the job at hand in replacing Kalvin Phillips at the base of the engine room.

He has, arguably, been the signing of the summer at Elland Road.

The American’s performances for the inconsistent Yorkshiremen have already seen interest in his signature from the bigger teams in England, including Manchester United.

WhoScored currently ranks Adams as Jesse Marsch’s eighth-best performer of players to have started ten or more matches but that doesn’t paint the full picture.

He leads the squad for tackles with a whopping four per game, whilst he ranks third for key passes per game (1.2) and some of Leeds’ top performances have come when he’s excelled, such as against Chelsea earlier in the season.

Leeds stunned the London side with a 3-0 victory, and Adams was lauded as the “engine” and a “monster” for his involvement.

The USMNT enforcer only cost director of football Victor Orta and chairman Andrea Radrizzani £20m, over half of what they sold Phillips to defending champions Manchester City for.

With his stock set to rise at the World Cup, given just how crucial he appears to be for USA, it’s clear that Leeds have hit the jackpot with the signing of Adams.

AND in other news, Orta could finally ditch Leeds’ £13m flop in Jan swoop for 19 y/o “exciting prospect”…

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is said to be “obsessed by Newcastle United” in a big-behind scenes update made by “sources” close to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Seventh season syndrome

In what is Klopp’s seventh season in charge of Liverpool, an old pattern is beginning to emerge amidst the Reds’ stuttering start to the season.

In his first role as a manager at Mainz, the German boss asserted them as a solid Bundesliga outfit with the side finishing as high as 11th in their first season after promotion.

But, it was in his penultimate season that his side suffered relegation, with Klopp failing to earn promotion back to Germany’s promised land, finishing fourth. He resigned at the end of this season.

With Borussia Dortmund, after achieving back-t0-back Bundesliga success with the side and narrowly losing out to Bayern Munich in the first ever all-German Champions League final just a year later, Klopp struggled to push the side on, with his seventh season seeing BVB finish 25 points behind Bayern, in what was a drastically poor showing of their title defence.

Liverpool fans may well be seeing the curse reside once more in what has been a hit and miss season so far.

The Latest: Klopp is “obsessed”

According to a report from Football Insider, “sources” close to the outlet understand that Klopp is “obsessed by Newcastle United”, with the Liverpool boss reportedly asking people about the Magpies’ plans and what they will do next.

The level of interest shown by the German boss has led to whispers that Klopp wants the job when his time at Liverpool comes to an end.

As per the same piece, this has been fuelled further by the 55-year-old’s admission that no other teams could compete with the financial might of Manchester City, Newcastle United and Paris Saint-Germain, with all three sides owned by Gulf states.

The Verdict: Big behind-scenes whispers

The claims surrounding Klopp’s alleged interest in Newcastle is ground-breaking in many ways.

If Newcastle are to replicate the model that Manchester City put in place, they will get the most out of Eddie Howe’s services, before ‘upgrading’ to a manager who has a serial-winning history.

£307k-per-week managerial great, Klopp, could well serve as that upgrade, though that is dependent on Howe’s progress over the next couple of seasons.

Either way, these are big behind-scenes whispers that have emerged.

Crystal Palace have just two players at the World Cup in Qatar and it has already been confirmed that Joachim Andersen will be returning to Selhurst Park far earlier than expected.

Denmark were expected to have a strong tournament given they reached the semi-final of the European Championships in 2021 and have been in superb form.

Kasper Hjulmand’s side won nine of their 10 qualifying fixtures, conceding just three goals and scoring 30, so it seemed likely that they would at least reach the knockout stages in Qatar.

However, they would draw their opening game 0-0 with Tunisia before losing 2-1 to France, which meant that Thursday’s game against Australia became a must-win if they wanted to progress.

The Danes would surprisingly lose 1-0 to crash out of the World Cup bottom of Group D after collecting just one point, and Andersen will definitely be disappointed with his performance against the Socceroos.

As per Sofascore, the Palace centre-back would earn a poor 6.6/10 rating for his display, with only three players in Denmark’s starting squad rated lower.

The former Fulham man is usually so assured with his passing but he was well off it against Graham Arnold’s side on Thursday, as he registered a disappointing 76% pass accuracy after finding a teammate with just 94 of his 123 attempted passes.

Andersen would lose possession a remarkable 32 times, which was comfortably the most of any player on the pitch, which suggests that he was certainly a big factor in their surprise defeat.

The 26-year-old was clearly forced to resort to long balls as Denmark desperately tried to rescue their World Cup, as he played 26 long balls in total, of which just 11 were accurate, which was clearly a big problem for the Danes as they failed to find a way past a resolute Australia defence.

In the Premier League this season, Andersen has averaged just 6.6 long balls and an 81% pass success rate per game, so he was clearly not on top of his game in Qatar, and will be hugely disappointed to be coming home early.

The silver lining for Crystal Palace is they will have a player who is extremely “important” to Patrick Vieira back in plenty of time for the Premier League’s resumption after Christmas.

Liverpool are reportedly interested in signing Sheffield United midfielder Sander Berge. 

The Lowdown: Liverpool’s previous interest in Berge

The Merseyside club have been linked with a move for the Blades midfielder in the past, most recently during the previous summer transfer window.

This season has seen the Norwegian, who had a £25m price tag reportedly put on him last summer, score three goals and deliver three assists in 12 Championship appearances.

Now that the January transfer window is around the corner, the Reds have reportedly reignited their interest in the player.

The Latest: Liverpool eyeing Sander Berge

According to a recent report from Jeunes Footeux, Liverpool, and fellow Premier League side Chelsea, have been keeping their eye on Berge for several months.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-35/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”] 

The report also adds that the two sides could make moves to sign the 6 foot 5 midfielder during the January transfer window and exactly why – as Liverpool ‘anticipate the departures’ of both Naby Keita (end of contract) and Arthur Melo (end of loan).

The Verdict: A useful signing for Liverpool

In addition to his goals and assists this season, Berge has also racked up the highest passing accuracy percentage (81.7%) out of any Blades player that has attempted more than two passes in the league.

The 24-year-old, who has been praised for his “outstanding” attitude in the past by Chris Wilder, has also racked up the fourth-highest number of shot-creating actions (41) and goal-creating actions (5) at the Yorkshire club, as well as the second-highest total of successful dribbles (20).

This showcases how much of an attack-minded midfielder he is and what he’d be able to offer Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Having already experienced life in the Premier League and English football, this could make it easier for the Norwegian to settle into Liverpool if he does end up at Anfield in January.

Bearing in mind how Liverpool have a significant number of central-midfielders in their squad in and around the age of 30, bringing in Berge could be a smart long-term investment for the Merseyside club to make based on his age.

Manchester United are currently plotting possible replacements for Cristiano Ronaldo, with Lille’s Jonathan David having emerged as a potential centre-forward option for Erik ten Hag.

What’s the word?

The former Ajax boss has only recently confirmed his desire to land a new striking recruit following the departure of the aforementioned Ronaldo, with the Canada international believed to be a “candidate” to fill the void, according to reports in Germany.

The suggestion is that the former Genk man – who made the move to France back in the summer of 2020 – would command a fee of around €50m (£43m) were the Old Trafford outfit to make a move in January, with the 22-year-old having also been linked with both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in recent times.

Transfer insider Dean Jones – speaking to GIVEMESPORT – has now provided his thoughts on that rumoured interest in the youngster from the Red Devils, with the journalist stating that he could well prove a better fit over other reported targets such as Marcus Thuram and Memphis Depay.

The respected source stated: “I see Thuram and Depay as short-term fixes, but if they were to go for Jonathan David that’s not a short-term fix – that’s a vision for the future.

“That’s putting your faith in someone to be a goalscorer so that would be a very different signing for me.”

Martial upgrade

It is not the Ronaldo situation alone that has sparked the need for a new acquisition, with United already craving a reliable goalscoring presence due to the persistent injury woes of Anthony Martial, with the Frenchman having made just seven appearances in all competitions this season.

Although the 27-year-old has impressed when he has been available, with four goals and two assists to his name across all fronts, the former Monaco man has yet to convince he can deliver the goods on a consistent basis, having scored only five Premier League goals across the last two campaigns combined, prior to the start of this season.

While the 30-cap gem enjoyed a profitable 2019/20 campaign in which he scored 17 goals in the top flight, the £36m addition has only twice reached double figures other than that for league goals since his arrival back in 2015.

It could well be said that Martial has had more than enough chances to prove himself over the last seven years or so, with an upgrade potentially what is needed if Ten Hag’s men are to clinch Champions League qualification this season.

Turning to David, who was dubbed “one of the best strikers in the world” by radio host Tony Marinaro, would no doubt be a notable solution to that problem, with the Brooklyn-born menace having scored 41 goals in just 111 games for the Ligue 1 outfit, after previously netting 37 times in 83 games during his spell in Belgium.

That tally of 78 club career goals is only marginally less than that of Martial’s (99) despite the 5 foot 9 ace still being in his early twenties, with the electric “phenomenon” – as described by former coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck – having proven himself a truly clinical presence despite his relative youth.

One of those “silent assassins” and a player with a “killer instinct” – in the words of national boss John Herdman – the highly-rated asset also boasts a haul of 22 goals and 13 assists in just 38 games for his country to further illustrate his finishing prowess.

With Martial having simply too often proven unreliable and been unable to enjoy a clean bill of health, the addition of David would no doubt be a suitable upgrade in the New Year for United.

Despite West Ham United splashing out £35.5m in the summer to sign Gianluca Scamacca, the east London club have scored just 12 goals in the Premier League so far this season.

The Italian striker hasn’t exactly settled at the London Stadium, scoring just two league goals before the World Cup break, and with this in mind, David Moyes might turn to the January transfer market for other solutions.

Indeed, the Irons have been linked with a move for Coventry City striker Viktor Gyokeres, and with the Championship club in a precarious financial situation, Moyes may be able to land the 24-year-old for a bargain price.

Gyokeres has already scored nine times in the league this season, which is more than any other West Ham player has managed in the top flight, and Hammers urgently need someone who can provide an attacking spark.

The Sweden international could be the ideal option for Moyes, especially with his physical attributes – according to FBRef’s similar player model, Gyokeres is the first-most comparable player to Brazilian powerhouse Hulk.

This season, the two strikers have registered similar statistics when it comes to shots on target (both 24), goal-creating actions (8 to 6), shot-creating actions per match (4.22 to 3.48), and goals scored (12 to 9).

Being compared to a player such as Hulk – who has scored an impressive 369 goals throughout his career – shows that Gyokeres is firmly heading in the right direction, and the Premier League is the next logical move for him.

Coventry manager Mark Robins has lavished praise on the player, saying: “He has some unbelievable ability – power, technique. He has got everything in his locker and that desire and hunger to score goals, and he’s also got a really angry side as well…”.

Judging by these comments, Moyes could land himself a striker in Gyokeres who can succeed at the highest level; and with his current attacking options not exactly setting the world on fire, a January move for the Swedish striker would be most welcome for West Ham.

Man United boss Erik ten Hag has personally made contact with the representatives of Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Red Devils links…

The midfielder is no stranger to United transfer links with the Old Trafford’s side interest dating back all the way to summer window.

Their interest in de Jong failed to materialise, though, as the £232,000-per-week star instead opted to remain in Catalonia.

Ten Hag is reportedly still a big admirer of the Dutchman after his real interest earlier on in 2022 and the Premier League giants haven’t given up on his possible signing in the new year.

The Latest: Man United ‘prepared to try again’ for de Jong…

According to 90min, the Red Devils are now ‘prepared to try again’ for the 25-year-old as they eye a move – with their manager personally leading a pursuit.

It’s claimed that ten Hag has personally ‘confirmed’ to de Jong’s representatives that he is still very much interested in de Jong if the player decides to leave Barca in 2023.

Christian Eriksen’s arrival in the summer hasn’t deterred United’s interest and it is believed that Man United are very much still in the running for his signature.

The Verdict: Make another move?

De Jong was subject to one of the more unsuccessful transfer attempts as United failed with multiple approaches, yet the midfielder’s quality indicates he may be worth another effort.

Called a ‘beast’ by Barca boss Xavi, the Spaniard has also reiterated de Jong’s importance to the Camp Nou side, so supporters could expect another battle to bring him to Manchester.

Glasgow Rangers manager Michael Beale has had an impressive start to life in Glasgow, recording four straight victories since the resumption of the Premiership season two weeks ago and this has surely boosted the confidence ahead of a momentous Old Firm derby on Monday afternoon.

Beale will find out exactly what his side are really made of when Celtic arrive at Ibrox for the traditional new year derby and a victory for them will almost certainly end the club’s title ambitions this season.

There is plenty of work to be done, both on and off the pitch ahead of a crucial 2023 and the Englishman does have an advantage in that he coached a few members of the squad during his spell as first-team coach under Steven Gerrard between 2018-2021.

January will see a few players move from the Ibrox side along with a couple of incoming transfers as the manager tries to rejuvenate his squad, however one player he must keep faith in is Kemar Roofe.

Beale must keep faith with Roofe

On the surface, it’s hard to immediately justify this claim, especially considering he has missed 56 games through injury in just over two years at the club.

In the same time period, the 29-year-old has scored 34 goals for the Light Blues in 74 matches and has underlined his credentials by scoring against the likes of Celtic plus in big European matches, such as the Europa League quarter-final tie against Braga last season, where he netted an injury time winner.

Roofe was arguably at his best under Gerrard during his first season in Glasgow as the club won the 2020/2021 Scottish title undefeated.

The forward averaged a rating of 7.12 across his 24 matches that season, scoring 14 goals and grabbing three assists, playing an integral part in a team that dominated the league.

He even scored ten league goals last term, despite playing just 21 matches and when he is fit, he is arguably one of the club’s finest attacking players.

Gerrard enjoyed having the former Leeds United frontman in his team, enjoying his ability to work well in any formation and his incredible work rate, which led to the Englishman to dub him the “Duracell Bunny” and Beale will be aiming to have him showcase these abilities as soon as possible.

The £26k-per-week star still has 18 months remaining on his current contract, and if he wants an extension, he will need to get fit and return to the form he showed two years ago when Beale was also at the club.