All posts by h716a5.icu

Tottenham Hotspur are back in Premier League action this evening as they travel to the Midlands to face Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.

Spurs haven’t played in a week due to Sunday’s postponement of the north London derby, whilst it’s been nearly three weeks since the Foxes last kicked a ball competitively.

And Antonio Conte is left with plenty to think about heading into kickoff.

Last time out, his side were knocked out of the Carabao Cup semi-final by his former club Chelsea, just one game away from Wembley. It leaves only the league and FA Cup left to fight for.

Spurs are on the cusp of breaching the top-four, so they could really do with a result tonight. That means the Italian head coach needs to get his team selection spot on, perhaps a little tricky with the number of players he has on the treatment table.

One player he must axe is Giovani Lo Celso, who has underwhelmed in recent appearances.

The Argentina midfielder certainly hasn’t taken his opportunity to impress, failing to perform in both of their recent cup games, including a win over League One minnows Morecambe.

Across 18 appearances in all competitions, the 25-year-old has provided Spurs with only one goal and two assists, considering he cost a whopping £55m, it just isn’t good enough.

Lo Celso has never really impressed since arriving from Real Betis, managing a direct goal contribution once every 327 minutes.

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Once tipped to replace Christian Eriksen in the creative no.10 role, we’re yet to see any sort of similarities between the pair. Back in November, Lilywhites insider John Wenham slammed the attacking midfielder to Football Insider.

“One player I really want to talk about is Lo Celso.

“He came in against Man United which was another baffling decision by Nuno [Santo]. [Tanguy] Ndombele had been playing better than he previously had. He decided very randomly to bring in Lo Celso.

“He was awful and did absolutely nothing. Poor set pieces, poor pass completion, he was an utter passenger,” he said.

Indeed, his outing against the Blues last week was similar – as per SofaScore, he managed only 19 passes despite having 49 touches of the ball, whilst he was dribbled past on three occasions and won just 46% of his 15 midfield duels.

On the evidence above, Lo Celso has no place in Spurs’ starting XI, especially in a game of his magnitude. It’s time for Conte to be bold and ruthless and axe the struggling £25m-rated flop this evening.

AND in other news, “Tottenham are..”: Reliable journo drops exciting transfer claim, fans will be buzzing…

Test debutant Suraj Randiv was ecstatic after getting his first wicket, that of Virender Sehwag, with a doosra

Sa'adi Thawfeeq at the SSC28-Jul-2010Test debutant Suraj Randiv was ecstatic after getting his first wicket, that of Virender Sehwag, with a doosra. “Sehwag was on 99 at that time. I thought he might go for a big shot and I thought of bowling a doosra at him. It worked and I got his wicket,” said Randiv who ended the third day of the second Test with figures of 2 for 108. “When you get a player of his calibre it’s a big thing. It’s a privilege. I just came onto bowl and I thought he will do something different. Our bowlers hadn’t given him any easy runs at that stage.”Sehwag had said after the day’s play that he had spotted Randiv’s doosra, but decided to attempt the big hit anyway. “I bowl the doosra but like Murali it doesn’t go the other way a lot,” Randiv said. “But I got some bounce and some help (today),” he said.Randiv said that he was a bit nervous playing in his first Test. “However, with confidence that goes away. I had an opportunity to bowl a lot and it just went away. I guess any player will be nervous.”Randiv stated that there was more help for the spinners on the wicket than for the fast bowlers. “There was a lot of bounce on the track but it was a bit slow.” He said that he was not overawed by the reputation of the Indian batting line-up. “I was just thinking of bowling my line and length. I got a bit of bounce with my action. It was very difficult to bowl a good line and length to Sachin [Tendulkar]. He comes forward and he goes back. It is very difficult to get a correct line and length to him. I think I bowled well to him.He said there was still a lot of hard work ahead for Sri Lanka in the Test. “We need to stop the runs. We need to work hard. The pitch is good and it is very hard to get wickets. We have to be disciplined.”

West Ham United have made an approach in a bid to bring Leandro Trossard to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Pete O’Rourke, with the journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that West Ham have made an enquiry with Brighton & Hove Albion regarding a deal to sign the 27-year-old forward, with David Moyes desperate to bring in attacking reinforcements prior to Monday’s transfer deadline.

In his tweet, O’Rourke said: “Understand West Ham have made a shock enquiry for Brighton attacker Leandro Trossard.”

Fans will finally be pleased

While it is true that Trossard is naturally a winger, the Belgium international’s impressive positional versatility – being able to operate on either flank, in attacking midfield or at centre-forward – is undoubtedly a major reason for West Ham’s interest in the attacker.

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Furthermore, the £15.3m-rated forward is also proven in the Premier League, something that the 58-year-old Hammers manager typically prefers his signings to be – in order to reduce the amount of time it takes for a player to settle into the club.

However, not only does Trossard possess top-flight experience, the winger demonstrated over his 35 league outings last season that he has the ability to thrive in the division, scoring five goals, registering five assists and creating six big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.7 shots and making 1.5 key passes per game.

These returns saw the £35k-per-week Belgian earn a highly impressive seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.03, ranking him as Graham Potter’s fifth-best performer in the Premier League last time out.

As such, while the 27-year-old is not an out and out centre-forward, considering his impressive returns in the final third, his versatility in attacking roles and his experience in the division, the Brighton star would very much appear to make an excellent addition to Moyes’ attacking arsenal at the London Stadium – with fans undoubtedly being delighted to hear that the 58-year-old is finally addressing a problem position in his squad.

In other news: Deal off: WHU insider reveals fresh transfer setback, Moyes can kiss top four goodbye

Skipper Andrew Gale rushed Yorkshire to a four-wicket win against Durham this morning, scoring 34 of the 54 runs they required at the outsetstanding they should stay in contention for the County Championship DivisionOne title

19-Aug-2010
ScorecardSkipper Andrew Gale rushed Yorkshire to a four-wicket win against Durham this morning, scoring 34 of the 54 runs they required at the outset. Adil Rashid scored 15 of the final 24 as victory was achieved in 50 minutes at Chester-le-Street.Resuming on 36, Gale was in no mood to hang around, even going down the pitch twice to strike the pacy Mitch Claydon for two of the 12 fours in his unbeaten 70. Gale made a streaky start, driving wide of off-stump in the opening over of the day and edging Claydon just over first slip to the unguarded third-man boundary.His only other scare came on 54 when he tried to pull a ball from Claydon which kept low but survived the confident lbw appeal. In Steve Harmison’s opening over he had four balls at Steve Patterson, none of which the nightwatchman needed to play at. But with the target down to 26, the ex-England paceman struck twice.He had Patterson lbw without adding to his overnight three, then Gerard Brophy steered a short, innocuous ball straight to Ben Stokes at point. Liam Plunkett replaced Claydon and contributed a wide as Gale and Rashid collected the remaining runs in surprisingly frenzied fashion.Rashid had already failed to connect with a drive when, with 17 needed, he flashed well wide of off-stump and got a thick edge just over gully. Gale then went down the pitch again to Plunkett and miscued to mid-on before turning the same bowler to fine-leg for four.Chris Rushworth replaced Harmison with five needed and Rashid drove him through mid-on for four and one.Yorkshire are six points behind LV= County Championship leaders Nottinghamshire, who have a game in hand. The sides meet at Trent Bridge on September 7 and Yorkshire are also relying on Lancashire to do them a favour as the Red Rose men still have to play Nottinghamshire twice.Given that Jacques Rudolph and Adam Lyth have both passed 1,200 championship runs this season with averages above 50 and Anthony McGrath is just behind, Yorkshire are more deserving of a title challenge than champions Durham.Their highest runscorers are Michael Di Venuto with 862 and Ben Stokes with 740 and as eight bowling bonus points have been dropped this season, compared with one in the last two years, they look destined for a mid-table finish.But they can still have a hand in deciding their successors as they have to play Nottinghamshire at home and Somerset home and away.

Torrential rain and a crucial ninth-wicket stand between Jim Allenby and Dean Cosker stalled Surrey’s progress on day three of the County Championship encounter with Glamorgan at the Brit Oval

09-Sep-2010
ScorecardStuart Meaker picked up 5 for 97 but Glamorgan avoided the follow-on•Getty ImagesTorrential rain and a crucial ninth-wicket stand between Jim Allenby and Dean Cosker stalled Surrey’s progress on day three of the County Championship encounter with Glamorgan at the Brit Oval.Glamorgan had just scraped past the follow-on target of 231 when the heavens opened shortly before 2pm, and although the ground was bathed in sunshine after the rain relented, it was not possible resume until 5pm.When play did get under way again Allenby (65*) brought up his fifty in 80 deliveries and, in alliance with Huw Waters (16*), safely negotiated the remaining twenty overs, trimming Surrey’s lead to 107 as Glamorgan closed on 273 for 9.That Surrey even entertained the prospect of enforcing the follow-on prior to the rain delay was due to a superb exhibition of seam bowling from Stuart Meaker, who ended the day with 5 for 97, and Chris Tremlett, who chipped in with 3 for 53.Tremlett picked up the wicket of Ben Wright with his first delivery, caught at third slip. Seven overs later, Meaker accounted for Jamie Dalrymple, who provided Gareth Batty with the first of three catches. But Tom Maynard and Allenby put the home side on the back foot with an intelligent fifth-wicket stand that harvested 87 in 20 overs.Maynard, playing adeptly square of the wicket, hit a 79-ball half-century – his third championship fifty in six innings – which included nine fours. But having been 184 for 4 with five minutes to go before lunch, Glamorgan went into the break six men down.Maynard was caught at first slip for 61 of Meaker, while five balls later, Chris Schofield got one to skid on to leave Mark Wallace’s middle stump lying on the ground. Glamorgan’s ill-fortune continued after the break when James Harris was adjudged leg before.When Meaker had Robert Croft caught down the leg-side, to record his second five-wicket haul of the season, the visitors looked destined to follow-on. But thanks to a belligerent 33-run ninth-wicket alliance between Allenby and Cosker, Surrey’s hopes of sticking the visitors in again were thwarted.The follow-on was averted when, in the 60th over, Cosker stole a quick single off Meaker. Cosker departed in the very next over, but having achieved his team’s objective.

A big update has emerged on Newcastle United winger Ryan Fraser ahead of the club’s Premier League clash with Brentford.

What’s the latest?

Magpies boss Eddie Howe has revealed that the Scotland international is fit and available to face the Bees after an injury scare last week.

Lee Ryder quoted him as saying: “You have Ryan Fraser who will be OK. He came off the pitch but it looks like he will be fine.”

He was taken off with a knock in the 1-1 draw with West Ham at the London Stadium but has not suffered any lasting damage from that outing.

Newcastle will be delighted

Newcastle fans will surely be delighted by this news as Fraser’s availability is a big lift for Howe’s squad and a major boost to the side heading into their match against the Bees.

He has recorded a SofaScore rating of 7.2 or higher in four of his last six outings for the club, with his lowest being the 6.7 he managed against the Hammers in the game he suffered an injury in. The forward scored one goal in that time, as he found himself in the perfect position to slot the ball in against Everton after excellent work from Allan Saint-Maximin down the left flank.

In those six matches, he created 10 chances for his teammates to score but registered zero assists. This shows that he has been a regular source of creativity in recent weeks and has been let down by others as the other attackers have not been able to finish off the opportunities that he is putting on a plate for them.

Whilst Newcastle may not be profiting from his chance creation at the moment that could all change if the likes of Chris Wood, Joe Willock and Allan Saint-Maximin find their shooting boots and are able to start finishing from Fraser’s crosses/passes. Therefore, having the Scotsman in the game is a major boost as he provides a direct attacking threat and has proven that he can produce end product at the end of his runs.

His pace on the counter is also a crucial attribute as it allows the Magpies to break with speed to create two-on-ones or three-on-twos in attack. This makes him a valuable player for Howe and that is why fans will be buzzing to have him available to play at the weekend.

AND in other news, Howe could unearth Coloccini 2.0 in “commanding” NUFC tank, he’s “captain” material…

The BCCI secretary N Srinivasan has said that the board remains opposed to the Umpiring Decision Review System (UDRS) despite the umpiring errors in Mohali

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2010The BCCI secretary and president-elect N Srinivasan has said that the board remains opposed to the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), despite the dodgy calls that marred the closely contested Mohali Test between India and Australia.”As of now, I can tell you that we are not thinking about using the [system] for the New Zealand series [that follows the Australia series],” Srinivasan told , putting to rest speculation that the BCCI could relent on its anti-UDRS stand.India emerged victorious by the closest of margins after a pulsating match which had more than its share of umpiring controversies. Michael Hussey and Gautam Gambhir got rough decisions on the fourth day, that altered the momentum of the game. On the final day, with India 11 runs away from a win, and Australia needing two wickets, Ishant Sharma was adjudged lbw to a ball sliding down the leg side. Five runs later, Pragyan Ojha survived a close call that could have given Australia the match.”Umpires are human beings and they can make errors,” Srinivasan said. “Rather than stressing on the wrong decisions given, we should be happy that India have won the Test match.”Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, reaffirmed his support for the system after the match. “One thing I know about the system so far is that you definitely get more correct decisions in a game of cricket than you do without it,” Ponting said. “There’s no doubt, take this Test match alone, with the use of the system here I think we would’ve have a lot more right decisions in the game.”India’s antipathy towards the UDRS stems from their experience in the 2008 tour of Sri Lanka, where they were hurt by a failure to make proper use of the, then nascent, system. The system used in Sri Lanka was Virtual Eye, while the broadcaster for the Australia – India series, Nimbus, uses Hawk-Eye, a competing technology.Since then, both technologies have been used extensively in other countries and helped weed out clear umpiring errors, if not always providing conclusive evidence for touch-and-go decisions.In recent times, some of India’s players have softened their stand, with Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan expressing their support for the reviews, though the majority, including captain MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, remains sceptical.

Calciomercato.it have now shared an interesting transfer update out of Roma as Tottenham Hotspur chief Fabio Paratici emerges in the running for big name playmaker Nicolo Zaniolo.

The Lowdown: Conte a big fan…

Links to one of Italy’s most hyped talents of the last few years haven’t been in short supply from Spurs’ perspective, with their interest having been reported as far back as the Mauricio Pochettino era.

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In more recent times, Tottenham’s new head coach in Antonio Conte is reportedly a big fan of Zaniolo, so much so that reports suggest he wants to see him make the move to north London.

Newspaper Corriere dello Sport, as shared by Sport Witness, recently claimed that the 52-year-old ‘really likes’ Jose Mourinho’s starlet and would ‘really like him’ in the Lilywhites squad.

Now, sharing an update, Calciomercato.it say Paratici could grant Conte’s wish this summer.

The Latest: Calciomercato share update…

The Italian source claims that Zaniolo, who is valued at around €70 million (£58m) by Roma, is subject to interest from Juventus, AC Milan, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid.

However, as stated by the report, Spurs and Paratici are by ‘no means excluded’ from ‘trying to bring him to Tottenham’ as the transfer chief plots a move.

The Verdict: Ambitious move…

Attempting a coup for Zaniolo, arguably one of Serie A’s brightest big name talents, would be a real statement of ambition from Spurs given his price tag.

Lauded as a ‘prominent’ and ‘excellent’ player by ex-Liverpool midfielder Moussa Sissoko (Foot Italia), there is no denying his talent.

Still young and finding his feet again after missing the whole of 2020/2021 due to a Cruciate Ligament Rupture (Transfermarkt), Zaniolo still ranks in as one of Mourinho’s most-threatening Serie A players.

According to WhoScored, none of the Portuguese’s squad have completed more successful take-ons per 90 this season (2.2) with only Tammy Abraham and Lorenzo Pellegrini averaging more attempts at goal.

Snatching the 22-year-old from Spurs’ former boss could be a huge statement on behalf of Conte.

In other news: Conte personally approves ‘monster’ player move as Tottenham take pre-summer action, find out more here.

In the second one-day international against Sri Lanka at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, Charlotte Edwards achieved the landmark of becoming the most capped one-day player in women’s cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2010Charlotte Edwards could not mark the occasion with a victory – the weather saw to that – but in the second one-day international against Sri Lanka at the P Sara Oval in Colombo she achieved the landmark of becoming the most capped one-day player in women’s cricket. Edwards, who made her England debut aged 16 in 1996, won her 142nd cap in the match to pass Australian Karen Rolton’s record.”I’m very proud of my achievement. It’s been an unbelievable journey,” she said. “I dreamed of playing for England and I got the opportunity very young. It seems a long time ago – a lot has happened along the way. It’s been a long journey with a lot of highs and lows but more recently a lot of highs. I’m as motivated as anything now and want to keep making this team successful.”In a distinguished career, Edwards has been no stranger to significant achievements. She became the youngest woman to have played for England, when she made her debut against New Zealand at Guildford aged 16 – although that particular record has since been claimed by Holly Colvin, who played in the first Ashes Test in 2005 at just 15.Edwards’ youthful debut was vindicated, and her talent confirmed, when, in 1997, she smashed 12 centuries, including one off 118 balls against the touring South Africans. The day before her 18th birthday, she scored a then-record ODI score of 173 not out in a World Cup match against Ireland.In 2005, Edwards stepped up from her role as England vice-captain to take full charge of the side when Clare Connor was injured, and was appointed full-time when Connor retired in March 2006. She has led the one-day side 67 times since, an England record for both men and women.At the start of the one-day World Cup 2009 in Australia, England were favourites for the trophy and Edwards led an inspired team to the title, dropping only one game in the process. England also won the Women’s World Twenty20 title and the Ashes in 2009, and to cap a successful year she was awarded an MBE for her services to cricket.Connor, now the England and Wales Cricket Board’s Head of Women’s Cricket, praised Edwards’ contribution to the games, describing her as “a credit to women’s cricket globally, a superb role model for girls who aspire to play for their country”.

Everton are interested in signing £27m-rated Atalanta defender Merih Demiral this summer and he could be the perfect replacement for Michael Keane.

What’s the story?

According to journalist Yakup Cinar (via Goodison News) Everton are among several sides who are “interested” in signing the 24-year-old who’s is currently on loan at Atalanta from Juventus.

They have the option to make the move permanent in the summer for £23.5m, but could potentially sell Demiral on for a profit like they did with Cristian Romero. When interviewed by TuttoJuve.com Cinar said that the interest in the player is high.

He’s miles better than Keane

Everton are battling for survival at the moment and are currently in the relegation zone. Whether or not they stay in the Premier League this summer doesn’t change the fact that they need a squad overhaul.

Many of their current players have underperformed massively this season, and one of those is defender Michael Keane, who Demiral could replace if he is brought to Goodison Park.

Keane has featured several times for the Toffees this season and has been a key part of their troubled defence. They have only managed to keep six clean sheets in the league all campaign, and it has led to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher rightly calling their back four “Championship level”.

Demiral has been described by outlet Goal as a “brick wall” and at 6 foot 2, he is a strong presence in the box. He impressed when facing English side Manchester United in the group stage of the Champions League earlier this season, scoring versus the Red Devils and winning 100% of his duels in a 3-2 defeat, so he has proven himself against Premier League opposition already.

The Turkey international is a force in the air, being ranked in the top 2% when it comes to aerial duals won compared with other centre backs in Europe’s top five leagues over the last year.

When you compare him directly to Keane he’s also better on the ball with a higher pass completion percentage of 87.5% compared to 77.3%. He’s also tackled a higher percentage of dribblers than the Englishman.

If Demiral is available at a decent price in the summer then Frank Lampard should look no further than him to solve their issues at the back. At 24 he can also be a figurehead at the club for years to come.

IN other news: More misery: Alan Myers drops four-word Everton claim that’ll leave supporters fuming…