A refreshed Arsenal outfit will aim to keep the pressure on leaders Manchester United when they visit West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.Arsenal’s trip to the Hawthorns comes after the Gunners fell 2-0 to United in the FA Cup quarter-finals seven days ago – the Gunners’ longest respite in over a month.Manager Arsene Wenger has often rued Arsenal’s crowded fixture schedule, not the least when he saw his title ambitions slimmed from four trophies to one following their FA Cup exit, defeat to Birmingham City in the Carling Cup final and Champions League elimination at the hands of Barcelona.But after a week of rest, the Gunners will come out determined to maintain or narrow the three-point gap that separates them from United at the top of the Premier League table.It falls to West Brom to bear the brunt of Arsenal’s renewed focus.Under the tutelage of new boss Roy Hodgson, West Brom have scrambled their way out of the drop zone with a four-match unbeaten run in the top flight.Admittedly, though, only the most recent result – a 3-1 win at Birmingham two weeks earlier – saw the Baggies take three points.With the relegation places just one point away, West Brom can ill-afford to drop points at home, but containing an Arsenal outfit that has scored a second-highest 57 times this term (six less than United) seems an improbable task.Except that it is not, as Sunderland proved in the last round.The Black Cats held Arsenal to a shock 0-0 draw at the Emirates, with Wenger again blaming the club’s crowded schedule for their lacklustre display.Given the Baggies have conceded a second-worst 54 goals this season (four less than Blackpool), it seems reasonable to expect lightning will not strike twice for unlucky West Brom.On the injury front, this game looks to have come too soon for West Brom midfielder Graeme Dorrens, whose ankle injury will likely keep him out, while team-mate Youssouf Mulumbu is struggling with a hamstring complaint and is in doubt.Wenger has a number of casualties in his squad, with captain Cesc Fabregas (hamstring) undoubtedly the biggest.Defender Johan Djourou’s season is over after he dislocated his shoulder against United, while Alex Song (knee), Theo Walcott (ankle) and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (finger) are all unavailable.
Midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu has committed his future to West Bromwich Albion after penning a new three-year contract.
The 23-year-old DR Congo international made 46 appearances and scored three goals in his debut season at the Hawthorns last term which ended in promotion back to the Premier League.
"Graham Dorrans signed a new contract three days ago and I'm delighted that another of our talented young players has committed his long-term future to the club," manager Roberto Di Matteo told the club's official website.
"Youssouf was one of about five players who played in the majority of our games last season and he played a major role in our success.
"The great thing about Youssouf is that he's a very humble guy who wants to learn.
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Various reports in Italy have linked Manchester United with a move for AC Milan centre-back Leonardo Bonucci in this summer’s transfer window.
However, according to The Sun, United will face strong competition from Bayern Munich for the 31-year-old.
Milan’s failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League has left the Italian giants in a tough situation when it comes to meeting Financial Fair Play regulations.
And as a result, Bonucci, who has won Serie A on seven separate occasions, is expected to leave the club ahead of the 2018-19 campaign.
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It would be fair to say that the Italian did not have his best season at Milan, but there is absolutely no doubting that the centre-back is a world-class operator.
The United fans have been reacting to the latest transfer speculation.
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As expected, a number have welcomed their club’s interest in Bonucci, although there are some doubts over whether the Italian, who has previously been linked with Chelsea, would be the right addition.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
The League Cup remains the only competition Arsene Wenger is yet to win in English football, but with the Gunners already incredibly far away from the Premier League’s pace-setters Manchester City, it may be the trophy the Frenchman needs to continue justifying his status as Arsenal manager – if he can couple it with Europa League or FA Cup silverware.
The Gunners face a tough test tonight, however, in the form of quarter-final opponents West Ham. Enjoying a revival under David Moyes, the Irons have kept three consecutive clean sheets, including one against Arsenal, and tasted victory twice in their last three games.
But the League Cup remains Wenger’s preferred competition to give youngsters chances to impress at first team level and one of those who has benefited most this season is prodigious midfielder Reiss Nelson – who has made eight appearances in the League Cup and the Europa League so far this term.
So, Arsenal fans, would you give the 18-year-old another runout tonight against the Irons? Let us know by voting below…
Sorry folks this poll is now closed!
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Manchester United don’t want to be that club, the one who sit at a table with an itchy trigger finger and make wholesale changes at management level after a handful of poor results. It hasn’t come to that point yet for those with a clear mind, and to further fly in the face of modern football’s win-now-or-else attitude, David Moyes can only fairly be assessed as Manchester United manager after at least a full season.
But that doesn’t mean the United boss doesn’t have questions to answer. Once again, his side looked devoid of belief, ingenuity and superiority against West Brom on the weekend – one of the Premier League’s ‘easier’ games, at least on paper. One side of the debate owes to how good Steve Clarke’s side have been over the past 12 months, yet the point is that once again, no matter the opposition, Man United looked far from impressive, or even competent.
Moyes has labelled his side as one not quite good enough, specifically ahead of this Champions League week. The Manchester United team are lacking “five or six world-class players.” That isn’t really lost on anyone, so why not address that problem in the summer instead of using it as a get-out clause when trouble arises? Thiago Alcantara may not have been deemed “world class” by the United manager, but he’s far better than what the team currently have in midfield. His contribution would have been undoubtedly greater than that of Anderson on the weekend.
As again, it’s too soon to question whether Moyes is the right man for the job, but that doesn’t mean that particular debate won’t be brought up. He should be feeling the pressure, and the pressure of a big club with lofty expectations isn’t limited to just newcomers to the big time; it is part of the job. So you have to ask, why hasn’t Moyes done more to give himself a better chance of survival, both in the short and long term?
Moyes may have brought up the topic of fixture congestion, and he isn’t the first manager at a big club to do so. But the sense was that he was feeling the weight of the heavy schedule at his own door, rather than echoing what his team were feeling. After all, this is a largely unchanged United team who are more than learned in the expectations of a Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday schedule. If anything, the only change of note that was made has added to the depth at Old Trafford, rather than decreased the squad size.
In addition, Moyes understands what’s expected of him from English football. That, in a way, was his strong card to be held against names like Pep Guardiola, who are alien to the demands of the English football calendar.
The rotation policy is one we’ve seen so often over the years from Ferguson, and in terms of numbers, there is little that can be said of the current United squad. Why then opt to play Rio Ferdinand so often when it’s clear he’s declining as a footballer and should be used sparingly? The United defence has been poor, notably in the loss at Manchester City, but is that owed to the quality of personnel, or in the fatigue of key individuals?
Moyes finally started Kagawa, though from the flanks, and would be wise to lean on the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder as a means to push on and add some flair and cutting edge in the final third. Of course, Moyes may choose to keep him on the bench, but what have any of the other wide players done to warrant that decision?
A thought, and it is a hollow hope in a way, is that Moyes often started the league campaign slowly at Everton. There’s no doubt that this United team are good enough to be among the top three at the end of the season, but it’s a matter of how quickly Moyes can adapt to the demands of a big club.
It’s not quite at the stage where the panic button needs to be hit – far from it in fact. But alterations do need to be made for Moyes to prove that, come the end of the season, he was the right successor to Alex Ferguson.
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Is Moyes starting to feel the pressure as Man United manager?
It’s been something of a difficult week for Wales, as Chris Coleman’s men suffered consecutive defeats at the start of their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.
After losing at home against Belgium at the weekend, Wales were then destroyed 6-1 in their mid-week trip to Serbia.
This is despite Wales having some talented players in their squad, including pictured Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey and Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale, with the latter scoring a sensational free-kick in Wales’s defeat.
Here are Bale and the Wales captain after the Spurs star slammed home his goal, but can you come up with a funny caption for this picture?
Leave your suggestions in the comments section below…
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This week you can win a copy of the talkSPORT Book of Premier League Legends!
In this wonderful celebration of all that is best about the world’s greatest football league, talkSPORT has taken on the challenge of listing the 100 greatest Premiership legends.
Featuring contributions from many of talkSPORT’s presenters, including Alan Brazil, Darren Gough and Stan Collymore, the talkSPORT team has drawn up its definitive listing of Premiership stars.
Some surprising names make into the list, while others are relegated to the bottom or even fail to appear at all. Who comes out on top: Gianfranco Zola or Alan Shearer? How do you decide who’s in and who’s out from 20 years of footballing genius?
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For the FootballFanCast.com Caption Competition Terms and Conditions click here
Check out our Caption Competition Gallery for some inspiration and to see the winners so far.
Last week’s winner: Steve Jaggers – click here to see all entries
Michael Carrick said his farewell to United fans after making his final appearance at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The 36-year-old reminded supporters of his class when he rolled back the years to slide a 40-yard through ball over the top of Watford’s defence to create the only goal of the game in a Man-of-the-Match display.
The Englishman was making just his second appearance in the Premier League this season in what has been an injury-hit campaign.
The win against Watford was his 464th appearance for the club and the departing veteran is the last remaining team member of the side that won the Champions League back in 2008.
Carrick was often overlooked by the England national team – the midfielder made just one appearance at a major tournament in his career – but achieved great success at club level lifting 12 trophies with United. The midfielder is set to continue his career with the club by joining Jose Mourinho’s backroom staff next season as a first-team coach.
Manchester United fans have taken to Twitter to pay tribute to the ‘Geordie Pirlo’. We summed up the best of the reaction here:
We are now into the middle third of the transfer window and Arsenal haven’t been nearly as busy as many expected this summer.
Their £10million swoop for Chelsea’s Petr Cech represents a fantastic piece of business whilst the likes of Abou Diaby, Ryo Miyaichi and Lukas Podolski have been rightfully moved on.
But after their emphatic end to last season, many expected the north Londoners to use that momentum in the transfer market this summer, acquiring world-class talent as they hone in on their most viable Premier League title charge for the best part of a decade whilst also shifting some of the deadwood.
There’s still over a month of the window to go – so no need to hit the panic button just yet. But in case Arsene Wenger needs some guidance regarding his next move in the market, we’ve listed FIVE transfer issues the Arsenal boss is yet to resolve.
THEO WALCOTT – Sign da ting
After netting the opener in Arsenal’s 4-0 victory over Aston Villa in last season’s FA Cup final, the ever-contractually-rebellious Theo Walcott seemed certain to sign a new deal with the Emirates outfit this summer, with his current terms set to expire at the end of next season.
But we’re now verging upon the final month of the summer window and despite Arsene Wenger’s recent assurances otherwise, the England winger is still yet to put pen on paper.
Of course, there’s still twelve months of the 26 year-old’s contract left to run and as we learned from the length contract debacle in January 2013, Walcott is more than happy to let negotiations drag on.
But the fact of the matter is that the 5 foot 9 attacker’s departure, even with just a year left on his contract, would add a significant sum to the Gunners’ summer transfer kitty. English players with Champions League experience are becoming an ever-rarer breed, especially those who score goals regularly, so the majority of the Premier League’ top six will be more than happy to take him off Arsenal’s hands.
Personally, I believe the north Londoners should hold onto Walcott. But either way, his future needs to be decided by the end of August.
Defensive midfield
The prominent form of Francis Coquelin at the end of last season has convinced many that Arsenal don’t need to sign another defensive midfielder this summer.
But the Gunners’ engine room still lacks that physical element, with the Frenchman measuring in at just 5 foot 10, and in my opinion that could cost the Gunners in important games – especially with fellow pint-sized enforcer Mathieu Flamini on the verge of moving to Galatasaray.
Arsene Wenger may have passed on now-Manchester United midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, but there’s still plenty of options out there. Bayern Munich’s forgotten man Javi Martinez tops the list for me, as a technically competent 6 foot 3 battering ram who can also fill in at centre-half, whilst the likes of PSG veteran Thiago Motta and former Gunner Alex Song represent the significantly cheaper end of the anchorman market.
The north London outfit are by no means obliged to spend untold fortunes – and there’s certainly some substance to the argument that a cumbersome warrior of the William Carvalho variety will disrupt Arsenal’s definitive rhythm and technically-demanding passing game.
But in my opinion, the Gunners need a midfielder capable of contesting Chelsea’s 6 foot 4 monolith Nemanja Matic, Manchester City’s powerhouse playmaker Yaya Toure and United’s rabble of midfield monsters – Marouane Fellaini, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Michael Carrick – during the Premier League’s title clashes.
LOAN DEALS FOR YOUNGSTERS
As a football club, Arsenal are almost defined by their ability to nurture young players into world-class stars. Likewise, few will dispute that loan moves are an integral stage of development for most young footballers; consider how Hector Bellerin and Francis Coquelin both muscled their way into the Gunners’ starting Xi after temporary spells in the Football League, for example.
Currently, however, the north London outfit have sorted just three loan moves for their many young players next season; Carl Jenkinson returns to West Ham for another year, Yaya Sanogo has joined Ajax – presumably to improve upon his frankly woeful technique – and Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be spending next season with Ipswich Town in the Championship.
But there’s plenty of names that could be added to that list, assuming Arsene Wenger doesn’t hold first team plans for them next term, including Serge Gnabry, Joel Campbell, Chuba Akpom, Gedion Zelalem, Krystian Bielik and Isaac Hayden.
Only Gnabry and Campbell have received significant exposure at senior level before, so the latter four would certainly benefit from first team football with another club.
FIND A STRIKER TO SHARE GIROUD’S WORKLOAD
If Arsenal are to make only one more move in the transfer market this summer, it should be to sign a centre-forward that can compete with Olivier Giroud for the lone front-man role.
The France international has manned the line pretty much singlehandedly since moving to the Emirates three summers ago and for that he deserves a huge amount of respect, which is why Arsene Wenger has just issued him a new three-year contract.
But in my opinion, the 28 year-old simply doesn’t score enough to clinch the Gunners’ next season’s title. No club has claimed the English crown without their top scorer netting in excess of 20 occasions since 2009; Giroud’s best Premier League tally, on the other hand, is just 16.
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean the 6 foot 4 striker should be ousted from the starting Xi and Arsenal, more than any other side, are capable of supplementing the goals in other areas. Last season they registered the most different goal scorers of any Premier League club.
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But whether to increase their firepower or simply keep Giroud on his toes for what will be an incredibly important 2015/16 campaign, Arsenal need another striker in the mix.
They’ve been repeatedly linked with Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in recent weeks who, in my opinion, could be the perfect candidate. His ability to penetrate defences with blistering speed and dribbling ability offers a nice contrast to Giroud’s more static target man style and technically a winger-forward by trade, it won’t simply be a case of one or the other in the starting Xi.
SIGN AN ‘EXCEPTIONAL’ PLAYER
Arsene Wenger has insisted he’ll only sign players with ‘exceptional potential’ this summer, but you can’t imagine the fan base being too happy if Arsenal’s business begins and ends with £10million signing Petr Cech.
Of course, we’re now talking about the top end of the transfer market which is never an easy area to recruit from. But there’s still some world-class players to be had this summer, such as Barcelona’s wantaway winger Pedro, Bayern Munich’s aforementioned Javi Martinez and Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus, and in my opinion the latter would be an ideal addition to Arsenal’s squad.
Although other positions should take precedent – particularly, defensive midfield and centre-forward – an attacking trio of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Reus could quickly take the Premier League by storm.
We know Wenger has the finance to sign the German international – Lord Harris claims the club have over £200million in the bank if Le Professeur is willing to spend it – and although Reus signed a new contract at Dortmund only in February, he could still decide to move on amid a summer of wholesale change at Westfalen.
Along with improving the quality of the starting Xi, the 26 year-old’s arrival would constitute an enormous statement of title-winning intent on the Gunners’ part.
Tottenham are interested in signing defender Andrea Ranocchia, reports talkSPORT.
Andre Villas-Boas is keen to bring the Italian to the Premier League, despite interest from Zenit St. Petersburg and current club Inter Milan.
Spurs already have four centre-backs at White Hart Lane in Steven Caulker, Younes Kaboul, Jan Vertonghen and Michael Dawson. But AVB is still eager to add the 25-year-old to his squad this summer.
The Italian started 32 league matches for Inter last season, as the club slumped to 9th place in the Serie A table. This poor finish has sparked rumours of Ranocchia wanting to leave the San Siro.
Ranocchia played in both matches against Tottenham in the Europa League last season, playing the full 90 minutes at White Hart Lane, before coming off the bench during extra time in the second leg.
Any deal for the Italian could lead to Michael Dawson exiting the club, after eight years with Spurs. The English defender was linked with a move out of White Hart Lane last summer, and a deal for Ranocchia could see the 29-year-old finally leave the club.
Manchester United have monitored him in the past, but it appears that Spurs are keen to make a formal bid for the 25-year-old. However, Ranocchia has recently expressed an interest to remain in Italy.
Would Ranocchia be a good signing for Spurs? Do they need him?
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Santos have rubbished claims that Manchester United made a late transfer deadline day bid for superstar Neymar.
The Sun reported yesterday that Sir Alex Ferguson’s men launched a £38 million offer for the Brazil international close to the end of the window, but the player rejected the opportunity to move to Old Trafford.
However, Santos’ football director Felipe Faro has set the record straight and stated that the story is pure speculation.
“I have no idea where that came from, but it’s not true,” the South American executive told Globo Esporte, translated to English by Sky Sports.
Neymar’s father has also come out and stated to Brazilian reporters that the player was not contacted and will not be moving from his homeland for the time being.
United have bolstered their attack with the summer signings of Shinji Kagawa and Robin van Persie, and as such a move for Neymar seemed unlikely given the strength in depth up front in the Red Devils’ squad.
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