With England’s World Cup campaign drawing to its swift conclusion, the post-mortem into what went wrong has begun in earnest. Question marks over the formation, tactics, players and even substitutions have been banded around by journalists and on social media.
For many though, the biggest mistake that Roy Hodgson made this summer was leaving Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick at home. While Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson toiled in the defeats to Italy and Uruguay, the 32 year old Red Devil has been pictured sunbathing on holiday in Barbados.
For a select few on Twitter, Hodgson was correct in leaving Carrick out of his final twenty three man squad.
Granted, the 32 year old has suffered a poor season by his standards at Old Trafford and certainly isn’t on the same level as Andrea Pirlo. But in spite of all this, most believe that Carrick would have been the ideal man to sit deep in England’s midfield.
In addition to its long-standing reputation as one of English football’s premier cup competitions, the League Cup’s record of showcasing the talents of football’s brightest young things has increasingly become its trademark. As we look forward to the next round of this year’s Capital One Cup, FootballFanCast is taking a look at just some of the famous faces to have cut their teeth in the competition.
This Thursday, David Beckham’s LA Galaxy will line up at home to the Vancouver Whitecaps, and one of the shining lights of the MLS is more than likely to be involved. Beckham of course, isn’t getting any younger, though. It’s over 20 years since Beckham first appeared in a professional football match for his first club, Manchester United – a League Cup second round away fixture against Brighton and Hove Albion.
Beckham came off the bench that night, making a limited impression as Brighton held his United side to a 1-1 draw ahead of an eventual Red Devils win in the second leg. But for Beckham, who had already won the 1992 FA Youth Cup with cohorts Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, it was the beginning of one of the most glittering careers of a generation.
Once he became established as a first team regular from the 1995-6 season (and that goal against Wimbledon and Neil Sullivan), Beckham would be an infrequent feature of United’s League Cup campaigns. He didn’t feature in his tenth League Cup game until his final season with the club, in the 2002-3 campaign, when he also scored his first goal in the competition.
Beckham might never have won the League Cup as a Manchester United player, but following his debut he went on to win every other prize there was with the club – six Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, four Community Shields, a Champions’ League and an Intercontinental Cup. Of course, for Beckham, the man made globally famous by his varying exploits in two World Cups and as the centrepiece of a golden age for Manchester United, there was much more to come.
Beckham’s time since – over 100 appearances for England, four years as a Galactico with Real Madrid, one of the biggest contracts in the history of football with LA Galaxy and a couple of loan spells with AC Milan – has confirmed his legacy. He will be one of the most remembered and admired players of the turn-of-the-century generation, and should pass 700 club appearances by the end of the Galaxy’s season. Whether it’s the free kick against Greece in 2001, the corners against Bayern Munich in the Nou Camp in 1999, or the arrival in America in 2007, many of Beckham’s crowning moments have been seen by global audiences.
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Everyone has to start somewhere, of course. It was two years before Beckham made a second appearance for Manchester United following his League Cup debut, via a loan period at Preston North End, but that first taste of the big stage, combined with his previous exploits at youth level, set the young David Beckham on the way to stardom.
According to reports in The Mirror, Southampton have joined West Ham United in the race to sign Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, rated at £18m by Transfermarkt, after he announced on Tuesday that he would be leaving the Gunners when his contract expires at the end of the month, and he should snub the Irons and join the south coast club.
What’s the word, then?
Soccer Football – Europa League – Red Star Belgrade vs Arsenal – Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – October 19, 2017 Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere celebrates after the match Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs
The 26-year-old confirmed via his Instagram account that he wasn’t going to be stay on after he was told by new boss Unai Emery that he would only be a fringe player next term.
The Mirror says that the England international already has offers on the table from the Irons, Wolves, Sampdoria and AC Milan, and now Saints manager Mark Hughes is ready to enter the chase to bring him to St Mary’s.
The Sun on Sunday reported on June 17 suggested that the east London outfit are ready to hand Wilshere a four-year deal worth £130,000-a-week – something that Southampton may need to match to sign the midfielder.
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How did Wilshere do last season?
While many still question whether he can stay fit on a regular basis, he certainly answered some of those critics during the 2017/18 campaign when he made 38 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners, scoring twice and providing a further six assists.
The 26-year-old has become known as something of a dribbling master during his career because of his ability to bring the ball forward and beat a man in the middle of the park, and he lived up to that reputation last term as he successfully completed 86 of the 117 dribbles he completed in 33 outings in the Premier League and the Europa League, as per WhoScored.com.
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Why should he pick Southampton over West Ham?
Wilshere seemed to thrive during a season-long loan spell with Bournemouth previously when he was the main man, and that would be the case if he joined Saints, whose fans hate the idea of signing a 26-year-old target following his opening World Cup display, too given they only narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship last term.
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Mark Hughes would likely build his team around the 26-year-old, but it is hard to see that being the same case at West Ham, where he would be joining the likes of Marko Arnautovic, Javier Hernandez and other potential marquee additions this summer.
It became clear over the summer that Virgil van Dijk wanted to move on from Southampton.
The club dug their heels in and refused to sell, but in the end, the defender got his desired move to Liverpool at the start of the January transfer window.
Some Southampton fans have not yet forgiven the Dutchman for leaving, while others are glad to see the back of him.
On Sunday, Van Dijk will come face to face with his former club for the first time when Liverpool play the Saints at St Mary’s.
Numerous media outlets, including Sky Sports, recently published quotes attributed to the centre-back, who said that he is preparing for a hostile reception from the Southampton fans.
Since moving to Anfield, Van Dijk has played in four games in all competitions, scoring one goal in the process.
Southampton recently ended a 12-game winless run in the top flight with a 3-2 victory over West Bromwich Albion.
Ahead of this weekend’s action, some supporters have predicted that Van Dijk will score for the Reds.
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Everton’s Leighton Baines has called on the club’s hierarchy to back Roberto Martinez during this summer’s transfer window.
The Toffees have enjoyed an excellent campaign, but they look set to fall just short of Champions League qualification despite early ambitions of breaking into the top four.
Everton have long been seen as a club without the budget to compete with some of English football’s ‘big boys’, and have often relied upon the sensible management of former boss David Moyes and the sales of big name players for large fees – such as Marouane Fellaini last year.
However Baines – who was tied down to a major new contract amid interest from Manchester United recently – wants the club to back Martinez in the coming transfer window in a bid to close the gap between themselves and their rivals:
“I’m sure the manager will be looking to keep investing and keep improving the squad because every year that’s what everyone else does and I think to give him a chance to improve us to that level then he’s going to need money to invest.” He is quoted by the Daily Star.
“We’re working on what we’ve got here and what we’ve got at the moment I think the big teams have a lot of money to spend and they spend it every year and they improve every year so we’ll have to do the same.
“We’d always been seen to have done well but never quite managed to achieve the things we wanted and he wants to take us to the next level, but in order to do that we have to change our style a bit.”
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Everton have been linked with a deal to bring in on-loan star Romelu Lukaku, but the striker is likely to cost in excess of £20m.
Everton manager David Moyes hopes his team can maintain their early season form and qualify for next season’s Champions League, according to The Metro.
The Toffees qualified for the competition for the 2005/06 campaign, but were knocked out of in the preliminary stages.
Following their 2-2 draw with Fulham on Saturday, Moyes compared his current squad to the one that finished fourth in Premier League, hinting that he feels European football may be possible:
“This is the best we’ve played in my time here.” Moyes said.
“I couldn’t say yet if it’s the best team because the side that finished fourth (2004-05) and got into the Champions League were very consistent, resistant and ground out results.
“This team has an awful lot of attacking options. We can score and create chances.
“I hope we’re still pushing for top four at the end of the season.
“I don’t know if we will be because of the quality you need to be there.”
Everton’s solid form owes a lot to the performances of Marouane Fellaini and the Scotsman lauded his two-goal display against the Cottagers:
“Fellaini has taken the goalscoring on when we needed it. He’s a really good player and was a handful at all times against Fulham,”
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“You need to get the points on the board and we missed the opportunity to do that. I’ve said ten games is a good time to assess your start, and we’ve had a good start compared to our usual starts.
“We’ve had a couple of games where we’ve felt hard done by, but against Fulham we have ourselves to blame.”
Winning a Premier League title puts a club in a very strong position in the transfer market.
Manchester City took the crown last season, and they did it in style by earning 100 points and finished 19 above second-placed Manchester United.
The North-West outfit have been linked to numerous players over the last few weeks and months.
There has been a story that has been constantly running in the background, and it is a bizarre one.
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According to The Mirror, former Manchester United defender Jonny Evans, who suffered relegation from the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion last season, has been keen to sign for City.
Guardiola previously held an interest in the Northern Irishman, but the publication states that the newly-crowned English champions will not move for him this time around.
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After learning of this, Evans reportedly began discussing a potential move to Leicester City.
It is safe to say that fans of the North-West outfit are delighted that Evans will not be signing on the dotted line.
Liverpool returned to winning ways in the English Premier League on Tuesday night with a dominant 3-0 victory away to Huddersfield Town.
Jurgen Klopp’s side knew picking up all three points was massively important after losing their last two matches and they delivered with a performance that their manager said was ‘exactly what we needed’.
The Reds are now five points clear of fifth placed Tottenham Hotspur having played one extra game, as they seek UEFA Champions League qualification once again.
Supporters had goal heroes Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Emre Can to thank for the win and while they grabbed the headlines, another dependable star also stood out for fans.
James Milner was excellent in the Liverpool midfield, producing his usual hard working performance and helping link defence to attack across the 90 minutes.
The veteran former England international continues to play an important role at the club, with some fans believing he is an underrated member of Klopp’s squad.
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They took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his Tuesday performance…
Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has confessed that although he may be unable to do so, he wants to keep on-loan Liverpool forward Fabio Borini at the club.
The Italian joined the Black Cats on a season long basis last summer from the Merseysiders amid concerns that he may suffer from a lack of playing time at Anfield.
He has since thrived at the Stadium of Light, with Poyet having put his faith in the man brought in by controversial predecessor Paolo Di Canio.
Borini cemented his place in Sunderland folklore with a string of top displays in their Capital One Cup run – including the opener in their 3-1 loss to Manchester City in the Wembley final – and has since been linked with a full move to the club.
However a return to Liverpool looks to be the most likely outcome, yet Poyet hasn’t given up hope of keeping the 22-year-old:
“Fabio has become a hero, a legend, which is great. He has really got into the club and the fans. He lives football, he’s a top professional, he’s always on time, he’s always trying to be better in training.” He is quoted by the Daily Mail.
“And when you score goals in special games, at special times like he did it gets you closer to people and gets you to play better. He’s showing what a good player he is.
‘In the beginning it was my fault he was not playing. Now, if he’s not the first one you pick, he’ll be the next one. He’s at that level.
“I don’t know if it will be possible to sign him, it’s out of our hands but I can tell you that we like him a lot and we will try. People will say the price is going up. I’m not going to lie, he’s an important player, he’s been great. I hope he finishes the season at the same level scoring important goals.
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“If he makes us safe in the next five games then I won’t play him in the next five. Then maybe everyone will forget about him. “Fabio Borini, oh yeah rubbish,” so then we can buy him.”
With the ink now dry on the reign of Kenny Dalglish, there is a new man on Merseyside desperate to achieve the same legendary status. Brendan Rodgers has established himself as the latest partisan of the tiki-taka movement but if he’s going to talk the talk, he must prove he can walk the walk.
The collective exhale of relief that emanated from Anfield after Saturday’s win over Reading was plain to see. Rodgers would have been uncomfortable with the repeated mention of his failed stint with The Royals but he emerged victorious in a 1-0 win that sealed his belated first league victory at home. However, the scoreline was perhaps still somewhat disappointing in the wake of yet another dominant performance.
The arrival of the Rodgers at Liverpool was always going to attract a bright and unyielding media spotlight but the screening of documentary series Being: Liverpool has served only to magnify the attention. It was perhaps unfair to expect Rodgers to portray himself in a manner that didn’t invite ridicule and yet the confidence levels emitted by the man flick constantly between the notions of arrogance and ignorance.
Former Liverpool stalwart Mark Lawrenson pulled no punches in his analysis of Rodger’s ‘performance’ and even went as far too suggest, “Shankly would be turning in his grave”. Lawrenson’s sensationalised verdict aside, there is an eerie feeling that Rodgers is attempting to align his own philosophies and beliefs with the club’s illustrious history.
Lawrenson does go on to make the valid point that “If you are a new manager in that situation, you come in and you get your head down.” Rodgers has invited an unnecessary amount of pressure by creating the feeling of an overdue revolution, which has yet to yield any real positives on the pitch. Despite a promising start to his career, has he really earned the right to act with such self-assurance in the Liverpool hot seat?
The underlying murmurs of discontent surrounding a lack of attacking options in the current squad, has been justified in light of the news that Fabio Borini will be sidelined until January. To make matters worse Rodgers openly admitted that he hasn’t even considered recalling on loan striker Andy Carroll, despite his positive impact at West Ham. The dependence on young starlets Raheem Sterling and Jonjo Shelvey could prove costly, especially with the notoriously difficult winter fixture pile up lying in wait.
The rumour mill has been churning out a series of high-profile names that look set to decorate Liverpool’s transfer shortlist come January, but I remain unconvinced that sufficient funds will be in place. The combined £26m needed to acquire the familiar faces of Borini and Joe Allen still carries a faint whiff of inflation, which could make it difficult for Rodgers to pry John W. Henry’s checkbook open. It was only on Friday that Rodgers insisted he was well aware of the financial restrictions in place at his new club.
“The game is about getting results. There’s no great problem in that for me,“
“You’ve got two ways. You can invest an astronomical amount of money and that will take you there very quickly or you have to grow, build and cultivate your own. That is where we are at, that is the reality and there is no quick fix.” (Guardian)
There is a current misconception surrounding the fact that results will be easier to come by now that Liverpool have played the majority of the ‘big teams’ and while the performances against both Manchester clubs were encouraging, they were hardly in stark contrast to Kenny Dalglish, who was also capable of motivating his side to rise to the occasion.
The upcoming Europa League fixture against FC Anzhi Makhachkala should provide an interesting spectacle, with the Russian side undergoing their own transformation thanks to the influence of billionaire owner Suleyman Kerimov. Everton await Liverpool at Goodison Park after their encounter with Eto’o and co, which perhaps marks the first occasion in recent history where the Toffees will be considered favourites. In fact the only ‘banker’ in the foreseeable future will be at home against Wigan next month and that will depend solely on the unpredictable nature of Roberto Martinez’s men.
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Rodgers’ case has hardly been helped by the words of Glenn Driscoll – the ‘head of performance’ at Anfield – who offered comparisons with the managerial styles of Carlo Ancelotti, Guus Hiddink and even Jose Mourinho. Regardless of whether you think such words carry any credibility, it’s going to take something ‘special’ for Liverpool to achieve their dream of breaking back into the top four.