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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

No more room for slip-ups and no more excuses.

That is perhaps the biggest takeaway from Friday’s press conference with Marcelo Bielsa.

Speaking to the media, the Argentine talked about what the team was doing during the international break:

“We are working for the last 15 days to compensate for one weekend without playing. We were controlling all the details about our game, our strategy.

“We are always verifying matches we play. We analyse what we have to develop or correct and taking account of this we plan the week. This is what we did in those 15 days.”

It’s well known just how meticulous Marcelo Bielsa is.

The fact he went through all the effort before being caught for the whole ‘Spygate’ affair, then his now infamous press conference presentation afterwards shows us how much work he is willing to put in when he has his mind set on something.

Whilst not all members of the squad will have been present, with the likes of Stuart Dallas, Eddie Nketiah and Gjanni Alioski on international duty amongst others, the fact that Bielsa is working them so hard should mean that there are no more inexplicable losses like the one against Millwall before the international break.

Leeds set an incredibly high bar after last season jumping from 13th to 3rd in the space of a year and bringing some incredibly attractive football into the fold as well.

If Bielsa believes that his system is really the best one to get them out of this division after 15 years away, then weeks like these are going to be a huge test to see if those methods are not only getting across to the players but will also lead to success.

Perhaps the best example of this is with the forwards.

For instance, he also mentioned in his press conference about his desire to keep playing Patrick Bamford despite calls from supporters to give Eddie Nketiah a run-out.

With this in mind, there can simply be nobody to blame but himself and himself alone if he picks Bamford and he doesn’t come firing out of the blocks against Birmingham to prove that all the training has been paying off.

If performances don’t start picking up soon, it really could be time to start asking the question if Bielsa is really the man that can deliver promotion. He’s now had plenty of time to get his players ready and an increased focus on these types of things over the break simply have to bear fruit.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Ezgjan Alioski, also known to many at Elland Road as Gjanni, is an interesting character.

Often seen posing in front of the cameras, the North Macedonia international seems to conjure up a moment of hilarity whenever he’s about.

Before their outing against Barnsley a week prior to their draw with Derby, he was seen teasing former Leeds man Aapo Halme in the tunnel.

It was something that summed up the comical nature of the 27-year-old who sometimes seems more intent on causing a laugh than he is on his performance.

Rather surprisingly, Alioski can also be serious. That was in evidence during his pre-match press conference ahead of last weekend’s encounter.

Speaking about this season, he commented: “I don’t want to speak about last year, so let’s focus on this year and play it game by game.”

It was a sense of perspective from the versatile performer but he put in a relatively disappointing display as an old habit died hard on Saturday afternoon.

Alioski is tremendous going forward and the fact he netted seven times in the Championship last season tells you all you need to know.

But he is suspect defensively and that was where he was caught out again against Phillip Cocu’s team.

He was dispossessed a colossal six times while also registering three unsuccessful touches. It was a woeful effort in that regard from the left-back who displayed some harmful characteristics.

So far this term, he’s been dispossessed of the ball 1.4 times every outing. That adds to the one dispossession last season and the 2 times he’s managed for his country, via WhoScored.

On a similar level, his touch also proves to be extremely poor. For North Macedonia he managed 2.6 unsuccessful touches during their Nations League campaign, averaging 1.6 in the league this term.

For someone who’s been playing the majority of his football at the back, this isn’t ideal.

In fact, when you want a pillar of solidity in your defence, Alioski offers the polar opposite.

One aspect of his play that was impressive against Derby was his vision, playing seven long balls. He sprayed a wonderful cross-field pass in the first half which Patrick Bamford should have scored from.

But that summed him up. For all of his defensive ineptitude, he has a moment of brilliance in him.

Alioski is a whacky personality but this was not one of his finer performances as he failed to make a single tackle.

Many Juventus fans have shared their love for a former great after the club account shared a video of him scoring a free-kick.

In preparation for the club’s big game against Inter Milan this weekend, the Juve admin shared a video of a classic goal, where Alessandro Del Piero hits an absolute peach of a free-kick into the top bins.

Del Piero – Juve’s top goal scorer of all time with an incredible 290 goals from 706 games – scored the winning goal in that match as the Old Lady ran out 2-1 winners at the San Siro.

Sunday’s game – also at the San Siro – is a huge one for both sides. Antonio Conte’s Inter have gotten off to a flying start, winning every one of their opening six games this campaign, scoring 13 goals and only conceding two. Juve, on the other hand, have had a slightly slower start by winning five and drawing one.

Therefore, the stakes are as high as ever; if Inter can manage to win or prevent Juve from winning, it will really signal that there could be a title race on the cards this season.

Many Juve fans shared their love for the goal, as you can see below…

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Having arrived from Hull in what now looks like one of the best bargain buys in recent memory, Andrew Robertson has firmly established himself as one of the best left-backs in the Premier League.

The 25-year-old enjoyed an incredible campaign last year for Liverpool, racking up 13 assists from 48 games across all competitions.

International duty with Scotland however, has been far less productive in terms of his assists output. The full-back has yet to register a single set-up in any of his 31 caps, and produced a disappointing showing for Steve Clarke’s side on Friday night.

The Scotland captain was unable to prevent the team slipping to a damning 2-1 loss at home to Russia in EURO 2020 qualifying, and fans of the national side certainly didn’t think he did enough to help matters.

Taking to Twitter to vent their frustrations, Scottish supporters revealed their anger at seeing Robertson perform consistently at a high level for Liverpool, but be so abysmal when on international duty.

Some even questioned whether the full-back has ever had a good game for the side, and insisted he is “never a captain in a million years”.

Check out some of the furious reaction of Scotland fans below:

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Rhian Brewster has taken to social media to express his disappointment with his FIFA 20 rating, and some Liverpool fans have used the opportunity to send support to him for the season ahead.

The 19-year-old has responded well to his low rating of 64 by stating he will impress enough to get his rating upgraded in the next version of the game.

In order to do so, he will have to build upon the two goals he has scored for Liverpool U23s so far this campaign, but the fans who have replied to him certainly believe he is capable of doing exactly that.

He has impressed Reds U23 manager Neil Critchley already this season and Aidy Boothroyd also recognised his talent by calling him up to the England U21 squad, for whom he featured against both Turkey and Kosovo over the international break.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, he is yet to make his senior debut for Liverpool and if he is to improve his current rating he needs to get more game time under his belt.

With the front three unlikely to be displaced any time soon Brewster faces a huge task, and if he fails to make a breakthrough then many of the fans who think he is destined for success this season, as seen below, could be wrong.

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Brendan Rodgers has all-but confirmed that Scott Brown is about to sign a new Celtic contract.

What’s the word?

The midfielder is out of contract in the summer and has held talks with Australian outfit Western Melbourne as well as receiving an offer the UAE – according to recent reports from The Daily Record.

Brown was signed from Hibs in 2007 for a record Scottish transfer fee and has picked up eight title winning medals since making the move along the M8.

It was reported on Wednesday that the Celtic skipper is set to sign a new deal, and following a 2-0 win over St. Johnstone, Rodgers appeared to confirm the rumours.

As quoted by The Daily Record, Rodgers said: “He’s an outstanding player and I think the possibilities to go and try something else will come later on. Scott could be a coach here in the future. There will always be a role.”

Priceless Experience

It is easy to overlook or take for granted the influence that Brown has but as well as his experience, his ability to dictate the tempo is priceless.

Last season without their skipper the team looked paralysed but a strange thing happened in November when Celtic suddenly clicked into gear as Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie took charge with Brown out injured.

Having other options and combinations is welcome but it shouldn’t detract from the influence and qualities of the club captain.

Craig Gordon and Mikael Lustig could soon be dropping out of the side creating a vacuum in experience – Brown fills that and much much more.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Jonjo Shelvey has admitted that he was close to joining West Ham this summer before Newcastle decided to block the midfielder’s move to the London Stadium.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Charlton academy graduate is struggling to nail down a starting place under new Magpies boss Steve Bruce, having also found difficulty in making the starting eleven under Rafa Benitez – Shelvey managed just 10 Premier League starts least season.

So far this term, the England international started the Tynesiders’ first two league games in losses to Arsenal and Norwich – he netted a goal against the Canaries – but was then dropped for the game against Tottenham in which the Magpies won 1-0.

He missed a penalty in the Carabao Cup shootout loss to Leicester in midweek, and has now revealed that Newcastle stood in the way of a summer exit.

Newcastle did West Ham a favour

Shelvey would’ve been a pointless signing for the Hammers and Newcastle did the east Londoners a massive favour in blocking his move.

The Irons already have Manuel Lanzini and Jack Wilshere in midfield, two technically gifted talents who specialise in playmaking like Shelvey.

Additionally, Manuel Pellegrini’s side picked up their first win of the campaign after reverting back to a 4-2-3-1 system against Watford, having deployed a 4-1-4-1 formation in the 1-1 draw with Brighton – Mark Noble was also crucially drafted into the eleven against the Hornets.

Find out which Premier League stadium has been ranked the worst in the video below…

This suggests that they do need Noble and Declan Rice at the base of the midfield, which leaves room for just one creative presence ahead of them – with that in mind, when it comes down to Shelvey or Manuel Lanzini, the latter wins every time having scored 12 more goals for West Ham than Shelvey has for Newcastle in two less appearances.

Furthermore, seeing as Shelvey is the Magpies’ highest earner on £70k-a-week, it would’ve been a poor decision by West Ham to sign him as a squad player on similar or even higher wages.

Newcastle did the Hammers a huge favour.

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Former Celtic transfer target Fernando Henrique looks set to secure a move in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Goal Brazil, who claimed that the defensive midfielder could be set to leave Gremio this month, with Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates appearing to be closing in on a $5m (£3.7m) deal for the 20-year-old.

Previous reports had claimed that Celtic had opened talks with the Brazilian regarding the potential of a move to Parkhead back in October, with The Scotsman stating that Ange Postecoglou was interested in Henrique as none of Ismaila Soro, James McCarthy or Nir Bitton provided the 56-year-old with adequate cover for Callum McGregor.

Postecoglou must finally move for Henrique

While it is true that Celtic have already secured the central midfield signings of both Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi this month, the fact that Postecoglou was interested in a further deal for Riley McGree would appear to suggest that the Hoops manager still believes he requires greater depth in that position.

As such, with Henrique appearing to be available in the current transfer window, it would seem advisable for the 56-year-old to finally make his move for the Gremio starlet, who would undoubtedly make a fantastic addition to Celtic’s current options in the middle of the park.

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Indeed, over his four Brazilian Serie A appearances last season, the £1.35m-rated man – who Almanaque Esportivo claimed is similar to Manchester United midfielder Fred – made a strong impression, averaging a whopping 2.3 interceptions, 2.8 tackles and 0.5 clearances and winning 5.8 duels (with a success rate of 52%) per game.

These returns saw the youngster earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.92, ranking him as Gremio’s eighth-best performer in the Brazilian top flight in 2021.

As such, considering that Henrique only turned 20 last summer, it would very much seem that he is a talent with a very bright future in the game. We believe that Postecoglou must this month reignite his interest in a move for the youngster who Everything Celtic dubbed a “strong” player, particularly if he is available for as little as £3.7m.

In other news: Postecoglou drops transfer claim on £5.7k-p/w dynamo, Celtic fans will be fuming

Tottenham Hotspur are closing in on the signing of Sofyan Amrabat this January transfer window…

What’s the word?

Italian journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano delivered a fresh update on Spurs’ pursuit of the Fiorentina midfielder, who is currently excelling for Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations, very early on Wednesday morning.

He said:

“Sofyan Amrabat to Tottenham, advanced but not a done deal yet. [Antonio] Conte and [Fabio] Paratici both want him – he’s also doing great at AFCON.

“But Spurs are waiting to complete [Tanguy] Ndombele deal [to Paris Saint-Germain] before Amrabat (loan with buy option). Player side, not a problem: he only wants Spurs.”

Closing in

At the moment, this would be the Lilywhites’ first signing this month as a swoop for Adama Traore continues to rumble on without much success.

It appears as if Conte’s attentions have quickly turned to sorting out the engine room because you don’t make the likes of Ndombele, Dele Alli and Giovani Lo Celso all available for an exit if you’re not going to try and reinforce such a key position, especially with less than five days of the window remaining.

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Amrabat isn’t a signing that is going to thrill much of the Spurs fanbase but if the Italian head coach wants him, then he must be backed.

The 25-year-old midfielder has been restricted to only 211 minutes in the Serie A this season but has featured in three full 90-minute games for his country in Group C and the round of 16 at AFCON.

Conte has lacked someone capable of driving the ball forward from midfield and he could well find that in Amrabat. Of the 39 players to have attempted 150 or more dribbles since the start of the 2019/20 campaign,  only one player (Ismael Bennacer, 79.6%) has managed a better dribble success rate than the Viola enforcer (70.3%), per WhoScored.

That is also above every single one of Spurs’ current central options with Oliver Skipp leading the way on 66.7% and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg not too far behind on 62.2%. Ndombele – who is supposed to be the ideal fit for the role – sits down at 55%, which is rather telling.

He is also solid at delivering long balls and is aggressive in the tackle, so whilst his lack of game time is a worry, there are certainly credentials there that make him fit for Conte, who must be absolutely delighted that a deal is very close. to happening.

Somewhat of a perfect signing for the Spurs boss, the north London outfit are in for one busy few days ahead of Monday’s deadline.

AND in other news, Alasdair Gold hints at Adama Traore twist for Spurs…

A number of Wolves supporters have reacted in frustrated fashion to Tim Spiers’ confirmation that the club’s Premier League clash with Arsenal, scheduled for Tuesday lunchtime, has been postponed.

Bruno Lage’s side were also meant to be in action on Boxing Day but their league meeting with Watford at Molineux was called off. It has given Wolves’ players time to recharge their batteries and preparations had been underway to take on the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow.

Unfortunately, Wanderers have now had back-to-back matches postponed, with Spiers confirming the news on Twitter on Monday evening due to a combination of numerous injuries and positive virus cases within Lage’s squad, which is among the thinnest in the Premier League anyway.

It is deeply frustrating for Wolves at a time when they are looking to continue their good form, but their next match now won’t be until January 3, when they make the trip to Manchester United.

Wolves fans fume over Arsenal postponement

These Wanderers fans took to Twitter to show their annoyance at the news, which some supporters dubbed a “shocking” indictment of the lack of squad depth at Molineux.

“Embarrassing, imagine if we actually had a squad and not just 14 first team players anyway. Club is a shambles top to bottom, where’s all the Watford bashers now”

Credit: @TheMolineuxBlog

“Embarrassing from us”

Credit: @adamwwfc03

“This season is fast becoming a farce, looks like teams are taking it in turns to have a week off”

Credit: @Retrowolves1

“Game should go ahead, nobody’s fault other than ours that we have a tiny squad”

Credit: @wwfcltd

“Injuries? That’s embarrassing. That’s our own fault, not Arsenal’s”

Credit: @WiggyWWFC

“Shocking when these blokes are meant to be all vaccinated, work in some of the most covid safe environments etc. Just end the season now otherwise every team soon as they get a few injuries will be crying Covid”

Credit: @jamiehen1

In other news, Wolves are still interested in signing one player. Find out who it is here.