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Every Premier League season there always seems to be one side that initially takes everyone by surprise with a series of impressive performances to lift them to unprecedented heights in the league, before inevitably fading into mid-table mediocrity – or worse – once the top flight settles into its regular rhythm.

In the 2011/12 campaign Wolverhampton Wanderers were third and unbeaten at the start of September, but were bottom and relegated by the time the last whistle was blown in May, while three seasons previously Hull City managed to survive by the skin of their teeth in 17th place on the final day despite being joint-top of the league as late as October.

Before last weekend’s fixtures, West Ham United were considered to be prime candidates for the role of ‘early-season surprise package who eventually hit a terrible run of form and end up forgotten in mid-table’. After their victory against Manchester City at Upton Park took them to fourth place at the end of October – just one point off the league champions in third – the Hammers went on a three-match winless run. Their defeat to Everton on November 22nd saw them slip to sixth place, and many observers could have been forgiven for thinking that the London side’s heady days were over, with a gradual slide further down the table to be expected.

With this in mind, Sam Allardyce’s side’s 1-0 triumph over Newcastle United on Saturday could be the most important win of their season. Not only was it a hard-fought victory over a side who had themselves been enjoying something of a resurgence of late, it also crucially ensured that their winless streak was nothing but a mini-slump. A defeat would have seen the Hammers drop to ninth; by securing a deserved three points instead, they remain in fifth – above Arsenal, Tottenham, Everton and Liverpool – and just one point behind Manchester United in the final Champions League spot.

A boost to the team’s morale is exactly what was needed before what on paper looks like a kind run of fixtures before the Boxing Day visit to Chelsea. More than a third of the season has now gone, and it is perhaps time for West Ham to be considered as a genuine threat who have what it takes to last the distance. Deeply unpopular and perilously close to the sack last season, Sam Allardyce’s transformation into the hero of Upton Park this campaign has been remarkable, and has largely been attributed to a subtle yet significant tweak in his tactical approach to the game and a number of astute signings.

While the conventional narrative regarding over-achieving underdogs in the Premier League is that their seasons are bound to fall apart at some point, West Ham’s resilience to grind out a crucial victory against Newcastle at a point when things were looking like they were about to turn sour suggests that they might be the team to tear up the script.

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What do you think? Follow me on Twitter @GruffuddOwen

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Manchester United are set rival Arsenal in a move for Raheem Sterling, according to the Daily Mail.

Sterling has been offered a new contract at Anfield but is yet to put pen to paper and with just 18 months left on his youth deal a move may be on the cards.

Sir Alex Ferguson is an admirer of the 18-year-old but it would certainly be a shock if any player moved between the fierce rivals.

Sterling gained his first England cap against Sweden last month in a 4-2 defeat and has become a regular in the Liverpool first team under Brendan Rodgers.

Sterling arrived on Merseyside just two years ago from Queens Park Rangers and is capped at U16, U17, U19 and U21 as well as at senior level for England despite being born in Jamaica.

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A January move to United would be unexpected but with Nani seemingly on his way out of the club and with Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia yet to live up to last season’s form it could be the perfect time for Ferguson to sign a natural winger.

Prior to Liverpool’s visit to Old Trafford on Saturday, much of the talk was dominated by how Manchester United would go about stopping the Reds’ lightening fast front three and, in particular, Mo Salah.

Nobody at United has been able to truly nail down the left-back slot, with converted winger Ashley Young filling the berth in recent games but by no means a long-term option. His performances in recent weeks had been patchy and that led many United fans to believe that Luke Shaw should have got the nod to face the red-hot Salah, who has 56 caps for Egypt.

However, it was the former Aston Villa man who was tasked with keeping the Egyptian quiet and the numbers show that he certainly rose to the challenge. Salah really struggled on Saturday, there’s no doubt about that.

He only had one shot on goal – a stoppage-time volley that sailed well over the bar – no shots on target and no dribbles. On top of that, he was dispossessed seven times as he couldn’t find any space in which to operate and also had four unsuccessful touches. A rather abysmal return for the Premier League’s top scorer.

And Salah’s individual display only summed up Liverpool’s afternoon at Old Trafford – a frustrating affair in which United’s resilient defensive shape stopped them from hitting anywhere close to the level of attacking form we’ve come to expect from them this season.

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England U-21 manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that plans are in place to persuade Aston Villa youngster Jack Grealish to commit his senior international career to England.

The 19-year-old has been earning rave reviews for his performances in the Villains’ first-team over the course of the past few months, with his displays having pushed speculation forward surrounding his playing future away from domestic football.

Grealish was born in Birmingham, but has represented the Republic or Ireland at U-17, U-18 and U-21 level, which has led to calls for him to be fast-tracked into The Green Army set-up, despite his young age.

WANT MORE? >> Aston Villa transfer news | Latest transfer news

The winger is set to represent Ireland at his current level again later this week against Norway, but Southgate says that hopes of making him a Three Lions player remain strong:

“Jack is somebody we have spoken to over the years, him and his family,” he is quoted by the Daily Mail.

“He has been in our younger development teams. The family and Jack are aware of our interest. Up to this point they have preferred to remain with Ireland.

“I haven’t spoken to him personally but certainly people from our organisation have kept in contract. We have been monitoring him but in the end it’s up to the player.

“He’s going to make his decision on where he wants to go. These things are quite fluid at younger ages, it happened with Michael Keane and his brother Will, and Jonathan Bond came from Wales.

“More and more, because of the nature of society, there are players in our system who are duel nationality and have that choice to make.

“Lots of other home nations are running development camps at a young age so players develop an allegiance quite young.

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“You are allowed to switch once when you are a young player and Jack is someone we are monitoring and we’ll keep our eye on that situation.”

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The pantomime season may have only recently just kicked into gear, but at the BBC’s Match of the Day headquarters, it seems to have been in full swing for what feels like, well, an eternity.

Indeed, while the shirt offerings on MOTD might have always had a touch of the Widow Twankey about them, for many supporters indulging in English football’s flagship highlights show, that mock panto feeling is beginning to apply to the punditry on offer, too.

While no medium of broadcasting is safe from critique – none more so than within the cutthroat opinions cultivated in the beautiful game  – the grievances that supporters air in regards to Match of the Day feel a lot more toxic and a lot more frequent than simply a moody old groan.

Archaic, uninformative and out of touch are just three of the politer terms that are regularly wheeled out on Twitter and the like to depict the now 48-year-old highlights show. It’s the BBC’s finest sporting relic – yet it’s the other three relics sitting in the pundit’s chair every Saturday, which appear to be jeopardizing its place in supporters’ affections.

The Premier League has of course changed immeasurably since its formation in 1992 and perhaps none more so than within the last couple of years. The rise of social media has seen the likes of Michael Cox’s superb Zonal Marking site rise in prominence and supporters have access to a whole raft of analysis, dissection and opinion like never before.

Furthermore, Gary Neville’s meteoric ascent from recent retirement to the king of Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football format, has seen the ex-Manchester Untied defender become something of a media darling in punditry terms.

Richard Keys and Andy Gray often resembled a couple of Dads trying to put up flat packed furniture with a claw hammer when it came to using Sky’s cutting edge technology. Neville has utilized it to educate the viewer and the plaudits he’s currently receiving is testament to the respect that supporters place upon that.

So in light of the wealth of articulate opinion that’s currently out there for football supporters to soak up, it’s perhaps no surprise that Match of the Day currently finds itself in the firing line.

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After the best part of two decades uttering the word diabolical, it seems that Alan Hansen’s black book of defensive adjectives is running low. Alan Shearer’s credibility as a pundit all but went out the window after claiming that Hatem Ben Arfa, who’d long been regarded as one of European football’s brightest prodigies, was something of an unknown quantity before his move to Newcastle United.

If Mark Lawrenson could stop the perpetual moaning and actually explain what was going on, then maybe he’d be considered the best of a perceived bad bunch. As of yet, that’s not happened for several years now.

Yet while there will be many who have always held a lingering disdain for the aforementioned trio (as presenter, Gary Lineker is being left somewhat exempt from critique, for now) there certainly feels like there’s something of a bandwagon developing in terms of the anti-MOTD sentiment. The show’s never been critique-free, although it’s difficult to remember a time in its history it’s faced such a massive backlash from the general public.

The License Fee-shaped elephant in the room here, is of course the fact that Match of the Day is publicly funded and given the extortionate salaries that messrs Hansen et al are currently receiving, viewers undoubtedly entitled to demand the very pinnacle of punditry. Even after a pay cut this year, Alan Hansen still rakes in an estimated £1million per annum.

And on the balance of opinion we’re currently being offered, especially given the wealth of informative analysis available both online and with rival broadcasters, it’s hard to see how the public are really getting their money’s worth with the current set-up. But where as many are calling for a drastic overhaul, a new lick of paint could be a more fitting solution.

Even if Hansen and Lawrenson were continuing to churn out world class punditry, nothing lasts forever and after being in the job since 1992 and 1997 respectively, the BBC simply need a change of face as much as anything else. Everyone has a shelf life and even though Gary Neville may well be a superior pundit, if he’s still on our screens in 15 years time, it’s a safe bet he might not be quite as popular as he is today.

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The show needs some fresh perspective and something resembling a new outlook, but there has to be more thought put into it than simply cherry picking an ex-player in the assumption he’ll make a good pundit. The programme’s flirtations with Michael Owen in recent weeks would have given the neutrals some real cause for concern.

Ex-Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi famously once said, “I never realized that in order to become a jockey, you have to be a horse first,” and it couldn’t be truer in terms of punditry. The likes of Michael Cox and Guardian contributor Jonathan Wilson have proven you don’t have to have played the game to be able to understand it and explain it with both thought and clarity.

And that’s what the audience are crying out for – they want a pundit to dissect the events and tell them something they didn’t already know. Because more than anything, Match of the Day seems to offer little more to us at the moment than passing observations and tired clichés.

The glitzy iPad chic of Monday Night Football or the tactical theses of Zonal Marking won’t work for Match of the Day. It’s a publicly funded programme that will always have to cater to a far larger spectrum of tastes and overloading it with a 10 minute package on the false nine simply isn’t going to be viable. But all fans are asking for is a little more considered punditry and a bit of knowledgeable information. The current chummy old boys club falls some way short of that.

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Mikel Merino looks set to leave Newcastle in the coming days, with Real Sociedad’s head coach Asier Garitano recently discussing his keen interest in the Magpies midfielder on Spanish radio (via EstadioDeportivo).

Merino’s contract includes a £10.5million release clause according to ESPN (11:49, 25th June), so Newcastle will be powerless to stop the 21-year-old returning to La Liga this summer.

Merino’s a popular figure on Tyneside after a strong start to his debut season. But could there be unforeseen benefits to him leaving St. James’ Park? Football FanCast look at the potential consequences – some positive, some negative – of Merino’s expected departure…

Rafa Benitez can finally start signing players

Newcastle seem to be operating on a sell-to-buy policy this summer, which explains why they’re yet to make any signings with the exception of a permanent deal for last season’s loan success Martin Dubravka. Newcastle fans will obviously be disappointed to see Merino leave, but his departure should at least get the ball rolling on the inward front, giving Benitez some money to play with and removing Mike Ashley’s excuse for not bringing anybody in so far.

That could well end up being a direct replacement for the Spaniard but considering he became little more than a bit-part player by the end of last season, Benitez might prioritise strengthening other departments of his starting XI instead. Merino’s release clause would put the Magpies over halfway to affording Kenedy in a permanent deal, with Chelsea valuing him at a reported £20million.

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Merino becomes another Florian Thauvin

Having impressed at Osasuna and received a season’s worth of education at Borussia Dortmund, there’s no doubting Merino’s huge potential. He’s a regular for Spain at youth level as well and some have even made loose comparisons with former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich star Xabi Alonso.

Of course, Newcastle fans saw much of that promise in the early half of last season, and the real concern is that they’re about to part with a young player on the cheap who is set for a huge future in the game.

Toon supporters have just witnessed a near-identical situation with Florian Thauvin too. The Frenchman hardly got a look-in on Tyneside but was sensational for Marseille last season, helping push them to the Europa League final with 25 goals and 13 assists across all competitions after returning to the Ligue 1 club in summer 2017 for a modest £9.8million.

Merino isn’t quite the same type of player, and seemed to acclimatise to life at St. James’ Park far better than Thauvin ever did, but he’s another young player the Magpies could quickly come to regret selling after not issuing him enough game-time.

Longstaff gets his chance

Whenever a first-team player moves on it always creates room for a youngster to break through and Sean Longstaff could be the one who ultimately gets the chance to impress. The central midfielder was sensational for Blackpool last season, bagging eight goals in 42 League One appearances, and that kind of potency from the engine room would certainly add a new element to Benitez’s side.

Is this the best World Cup ever? Give us your thoughts here and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.

The 20-year-old is set to return to the third tier for the new season, this time with Portsmouth. But the loan deal is only for six months so should Longstaff continue to delight in League One and Benitez decide against signing a direct replacement for Merino, he could end up coming into Newcastle’s squad midway through 2018/19 to help with the final run-in.

He’ll be match fit and battle-hardened at that point too, assuming the Pompey stint goes well, so the youngster could have a noteworthy impact.

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Tottenham Hotspur will be hoping to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League when they host Juventus in the second leg of their last 16 tie at Wembley on Wednesday night.

Spurs looked to have a tough task to progress when they found themselves 2-0 after just nine minutes in the first leg in Turin last month, but Harry Kane scored ten minutes before the break to bring them back into the game.

A missed penalty by Gonzalo Higuain on the stroke of half-time proved to be the turning point, with Christian Eriksen securing a 2-2 draw for his side against the Serie A giants.

The north London outfit know that any win or a goalless or 1-1 draw will be enough to take them through to the last eight, and they will be confident of achieving that given they are unbeaten in their last 17 fixtures in all competitions, with their last defeat coming against Manchester City in December.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men have also only lost at Wembley twice all season – with their previous reverse at the stadium coming in October – and he will know the importance of this match for the club both now and in the future in terms of revenue, keeping their stars and future player recruitment.

Pochettino has made minor changes to his XI in recent weeks between games in Europe, the FA Cup and the Premier League, and he could be tempted to make some more against the Italian team to ensure they get the result that they want.

Here is how Tottenham must line up against Juventus on Wednesday, ahead of Hugo Lloris in goal…

Defence

With Toby Alderweireld set to miss out against Juventus as he continues to get back to fitness following his injury, Davinson Sanchez and Jan Vertonghen pick themselves at the heart of the back four right now.

Ben Davies also looks to be ahead of Danny Rose in the pecking order at left-back, but things are less clear on the opposite flank.

Serge Aurier started at right-back against Juventus in the first leg and against Huddersfield Town on Saturday, but as he is suspended for the second he will be replaced by Kieran Trippier, and that could prove to be a blessing given the Ivory Coast international clumsily gave away the penalty that Gonzalo Higuain missed last month.

Midfield

Eric Dier and Mousa Dembele have played alongside each other in the middle of the park for the majority of the campaign with Victor Wanyama absent with a knee injury, and the Kenya international has struggled to break into the XI on his return.

While he did start the 1-0 win against Crystal Palace, he once again found himself on the substitutes’ bench against Huddersfield Town on Saturday and he should find himself there again given the good form that both Dier and Dembele seem to be in right now.

Attack

Pochettino once again has some big decisions to make for the three attacking midfield positions against Juve, with Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Son Heung-Min, Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura all fighting for a spot in the XI in recent weeks.

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Lamela got the nod against the Italian giants in the first leg but he was only a substitute against Huddersfield at Wembley – alongside Lucas – and the Argentine must start the home leg too with the Brazilian and Alli settling for places on the bench again against Juve, with Eriksen and the in-form Son – who has scored four goals in Spurs’ last two games – both deserving to start.

Harry Kane will once again lead the line up top, as he looks to fire Tottenham to the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since they faced Real Madrid in 2011.

Do you agree, Spurs fans? Let us know below.

Louis van Gaal has been at Manchester United long enough for us to judge his progress so far and compare his qualities against the man he replaced.

After seven games last season, the Scotsman had the Red Devils sitting in 9th place in the league with 10 points, scoring 10 goals and conceding nine. The Dutchman on the other hand has achieved fourth place in the league with 11 points, scoring 13 goals and conceding 10. Fourteen points was the benchmark at this point last season. What this shows is the league isn’t as competitive this season as it was at this stage last season, meaning van Gaal is having a slightly easier time. But this is the Premier League, one of the toughest leagues in the world, and every point has to be earned so this still puts van Gaal ahead, 1-0.

Before the signing of Spaniard Juan Mata from Chelsea for £39m in January 2014, Moyes had only had one recognisable signing in Belgian Marouane Fellaini from Everton for £27.5m. Mata did make an impact when he arrived but Fellaini did not, and was told by van Gaal in the summer that he was no longer needed.

Van Gaal on the other hand has notably signed Argentine duo Angel Di Maria and Marcos Rojo, Englishman Luke Shaw, Dutchman Daley Blind, Spaniard Ander Herrera, and Colombian Radamel Falcao on loan. All of them except Shaw have already had some sort of impact on the squad and results. Bringing these players to United cost van Gaal over £150m, and if you want to include the inevitable permanent deal of Falcao, even more than that. The squad van Gaal is trying to create is guaranteed to improve upon last season’s finish.

A huge advantage you could have going into a job like managing United is experience. Moyes was hand-picked by United’s greatest ever manager Sir Alex Ferguson. Just one Champions League play-off and one fourth-placed finish was the highlight of his C.V. Van Gaal, though, is a completely different story, filled with many impressive achievements. He has won eight league titles in four different countries and a Champions League with Ajax back in 1995. The Dutchman knows what it takes to finish on the top of the pile and how to motivate a side.

A stat that Moyes does succeed in compared to van Gaal at this point of the season is defence. So far during his time at United, van Gaal’s side has been switching between three at the back and four at the back for different games. They have conceded 14 goals across all competitions, including an embarrassing 4-0 loss to League One side MK Dons. His side takes on Chelsea and Manchester City during their next three games, so his defence definitely needs to improve. Moyes however, his United side had only conceded 12 goals at this point of the season in all competitions including the Champions League. His side was also still in all competitions at this point as well, but we all know how that turned out.

It therefore seems van Gaal clearly has had the better start and is the better manager thanks to his past experience and the players which he has brought to United. He just needs time for his ideology to set into the team as he clearly has a proven track record which is better than what Moyes has.

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The hope would be that it has set in enough already, especially the defence part, so that his side can limit the damage they take from Chelsea and Manchester City during their next three games.

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Andre Villas-Boas is ready to bring summer target Joao Moutinho to Tottenham from Porto with a new £24million bid while Zenit tell Hulk he can leave, reports the Mirror.

Portugese international Moutinho has been on Tottenham’s radar since the last transfer window but they failed to complete a club record deal before the deadline.

AVB, formally the Porto boss went to watch his old club and Moutinho in action in their 2-1 Champions League defeat at PSG, and is said to be ready to finally land the player who could be seen as a replacement for the departed Luka Modric, now at Real Madrid.

The Spurs chief also expressed how he still follows Porto’s progress whenever he can saying, “Whenever Porto are close to the place where I am, I go see them.”

Meanwhile, former Spurs and Chelsea target Hulk has been told he can leave Zenit St Petersburg after an incredible fallout on Tuesday.

The £39.5million striker was furious when coach Luciano Spalletti took him off 10 minutes before the end of Zenits Champions League win over AC Milan and refused to shake his hand.

“If the situation with the coach does not resolve itself I may leave the club in the January transfer window.” He said.

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Fifa regulations however prevent a player representing three clubs in one season, meaning Hulk, 26, would have to wait till the summer if he was to move.

If he does become available it will be interesting to see if the likes of Tottenham and Chelsea would still be interested in signing him following his disruptive behaviour.

Amid Rangers’ ongoing splurge in the transfer market, Celtic have signed goalkeeper Scott Bain and club-record signing Odsonne Edouard. Brendan Rodgers has been patient so far in the transfer window but Transfer Taverne fans, there’s one midfielder he should seriously consider singing.

After suffering a disappointing relegation campaign with Swansea, Ki Seung-Yeung will depart the club once his contract expires and he could be a superb addition to Rodgers’ squad.

What do you think of the World Cup so far? Let us know

A fan favourite and a classy midfielder, Ki is one of the players that has always impressed when he’s played in the Premier League.

The South Korean was a key player in Neil Lennon’s side and there could a space to fill in the current Celtic squad with Stuart Armstrong’s departure to Southampton. Celtic have Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and Olivier Ntcham in midfield but could well do with having a midfield technician in the middle of the park in Rodgers’ side.

The 29-year-old South Korean international made 137 appearances for Swansea in the Premier League after joining them from the hoops in 2012 and has been a consistent performer for the Swans ever since he broke into the first-team following a loan spell with West Brom.

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Since then he has gone on to become one of the most underrated players in the league and is still in the prime of his career. On a potential free transfer, the Celtic man might not be the glamorous signing on the back of the Edouard transfer but after a tough World Cup with South Korea, a return to familiar surroundings might just be what Ki needs but also a key – pun intended – signing for Celtic.

What do you think Celtic fans, should Brendan Rodgers bring back Ki?