West Ham winger Matt Jarvis is looking ahead to finishing the season on a high and hopes that might get him back in the England fold.
The current campaign has been a mixed bag for the former Wolves man, who was signed for a record fee last summer but whose goal on Saturday was just his second of the season.
The 26-year-old stood out as West Ham ran out 2-0 winners over Wigan but said afterwards he is not focusing on trying to add to the one England cap he received in 2011.
“I can only do what I do on a Saturday for West Ham,” he said. “As long as I continue performing at a high standard consistently we will have to see what happens, but I’m just concentrating on making sure I play well for West Ham week in, week out.
“If I keep performing as I do hopefully they will be watching Andy (Carroll) and I can get in on the act as well.
“I think I’m playing as well and as consistently as I was and I keep playing well and creating chances and get a few goals myself.”
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According to reports in The Sun, Tottenham Hotspur have been told that they will have to pay at least £50m if they want to sign in-demand Leicester City defender Harry Maguire this summer.
What’s the word, then?
Well, The Sun says that Spurs – along with Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester United – are all interested in prising the highly-rated 6ft 4in centre-back away from the Foxes at the end of the season, but the east Midlands outfit aren’t willing to sell him on the cheap.
The 25-year-old has established himself as a first-choice starter in the backline for Claude Puel’s side and has also broken into the England team, and is considered to be one of the best in his position in the top flight.
The report adds that Tottenham manager sees the former Hull City man as a potential replacement for Toby Alderweireld, who is increasingly looking like he will be on his way out this summer.
How good has Maguire been this season?
He has been brilliant.
Leicester only signed him in a £17m deal last summer but he has already shown just how good he is with his displays this term.
As well scoring two goals and providing a further three assists in 33 Premier League appearances, he has shown just how influential he can be from a defensive point of view.
According to WhoScored.com, he has won 51 tackles in those top flight outings this term, while he has also made 37 interceptions, 154 clearances and 33 blocks.
Maguire is also comfortable in possession and loves to bring the ball out from the back, successfully completing 45 of the 53 dribbles he has attempted.
Would he be a good signing for Tottenham?
He certainly could be, yes.
The 25-year-old has shown that he is committed, has leadership qualities and is brilliant both defensively and at bringing the ball out from the back – something that would mean that he would fit into Tottenham’s style of play.
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It isn’t going to be easy to replace a player of Alderweireld’s quality if the Belgian does leave this summer, but Maguire can go some way to doing exactly that.
Would they pay £50m for him?
This could be the sticking point.
While Tottenham will want to improve their squad they know they will have to pay a premium for Maguire because he is English, and they may choose to look elsewhere instead given they already have Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez in their ranks.
The Premier League’s bank holiday Monday action sees Crystal Palace take on reigning champions Manchester City in what’s expected to be a feisty clash at Selhurst Park.The 8pm kick-off will be an important occasion for the Citizens; not only are they now in fourth place, nine points behind table-toppers Chelsea, but this evening’s opponents bear many similarities with the hardworking, well-organised Burnley outfit that recorded a shock 1-0 scalp against them last month.Now ten points above the relegation zone and only four from that all-important 40-point theoretical barometer of safety, the Eagles find themselves with little to play for this evening – but that’s never stopped them rising to a giant-killing challenge before, especially in front of a presumably packed Selhurst Park.That being said, City have won six in their last six Premier League outings against the South London outfit, during which they’ve conceded only twice. The result of the reverse fixture at the Etihad in December was a rather comfortable 3-0.So do the visitors enter the match as the undoubted favourites? Perhaps the starting Xis, just officially confirmed on Twitter, can shed some light on the issue:
Midfielder Adam Lallana claims Southampton are a better side since Mauricio Pochettino replaced Nigel Adkins at St Mary’s.
The decision of chairman Nicola Cortese to axe Adkins and replace him with the Argentinian coach in mid-January sparked outrage with the fans and certain sections of the media.
However, Pochettino has gradually won over his doubters and a run of three successive wins has lifted the Saints up to 11th to virtually guarantee a second season of Premier League football.
And Lallana, who scored the second goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win against Adkins’ new club Reading at the Madejski Stadium, feels the decision to make the change is now paying dividends.
“We’re sitting higher in the league, we’re scoring more goals and I think the table speaks for itself,” he said.
“We’ve got a different manager who’s got a different culture about him. He’s got different methods and he’s gradually getting them across to the players.”
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Gareth Bale will always be associated with Tottenham Hotspur given that he developed into a top talent at the North London outfit.The Wales international earned a move to Real Madrid in 2013 and has gone on to win 10 trophies, including three Champions League crowns.Every so often, though, Bale is linked with a return to England, and more recently, Tottenham have cropped up as a possible destination.A rumour has emerged on social media that the attacker has purchased a property not far from Spurs’ training base.[ad_pod ]Tommy Sandhu posted the speculation on Twitter, and of course, Tottenham fans have been reacting.
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At this stage of the season when transfer rumours begin filtering through at a faster pace, stories with little foundation come to the surface.
Tottenham supporters have previously given mixed reactions to the thought of Bale returning.
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The 28-year-old has scored 13 goals in 26 appearances in all competitions this season, but has been plagued by injury woes.
Roberto Soldado should never have been made a Tottenham player.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but from the moment of his official £27million signing for the north Londoners in summer 2013, he immediately struck as a striker who would struggle with the pace, power and intensity of the Premier League, and resultantly require some sensational talent to overcome it.
Although few doubt the pedigree of a Spain international with seven goals in just twelve appearances for his country and 100 La Liga strikes under his belt, throughout spells with Real Madrid, Osasuna, Getafe and Valencia, it’s continually proved insufficient to conquer those barriers of physicality. And for Tottenham particularly, the 29 year-old always felt like a poor fit; after all, this is a striker who could count all of his goals from outside the box for Valencia on just a single hand from a total of 81, joining a club that averaged the second-most long-shots per match in the Premier League throughout the two campaigns prior to his arrival.
Tottenham are now left with their very own version of Fernando Torres; a centre-forward once on the cusp of greatness, reduced to attempting square passes around goalkeepers instead of blasting the ball into the back of the net, as his confidence reaches a lower low than his meager Premier League tally of just seven in 45 appearances. Soldado’s strike-rate for Spurs, one per 4.6-games, and Torres’ for Chelsea, one per 3.9 games, are frighteningly similar, whilst their nationality and slight uplift of form in European competitions provide further similarities.
Now just three months away from the summer transfer window, Soldado’s howler against Fiorentina yesterday evening was probably the final nail in the coffin of his Tottenham career. Spurs visited Stadio Artemio Franchi in need of an away goal after a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane, and when the opportunity to open the scoring fell to the Spaniard, he choked in quite spectacular fashion, passing the ball to Nacer Chadli across the Fiorentina box rather than taking a dig, only for it to be swept up rather comfortably by the Italian side’s No.1, Neto. The Lilywhites went on to lose the Europa League tie 2-0.
But what becomes of Soldado between now and then? How should Mauricio Pochettino respond to the striker’s latest act of ill-confidence? Is he now doomed to the reserves until the summer, or does the Spaniard deserve yet another chance to silence his critics?
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Well, Soldado’s surprise start on Thursday was undoubtedly interlinked with the recent heroics of Harry Kane, a 21-year-old with 24 goals this season, including seven in the Europa League, that’s made a potentially dangerous amount of consecutive Premier League starts in recent months for a player so young. With the Capital One Cup final on Sunday, sparing the England U21 was a smart strategy, and there will likely be further occasions this season when the sheer intensity of Tottenham’s campaign catches up with him again, resulting in a well-deserved, much-needed rest.
A few weeks ago, the vast majority of fans would have selected Soldado over Emmanuel Adebayor – who was booed off by the White Hart Lane faithful against Sheffield United in January – as Kane’s stand-in, but the former Valencia star’s clanger against Fiorentina might just have convinced them and Pochettino otherwise.
Although the Togo international is a notoriously mercurial figure, a return of 96 goals throughout his English top flight career, including eleven league goals last season, speaks for itself in regards to Adebayor’s compatibility with the Premier League. Likewise, in comparison to Soldado, bouts of low confidence have never been Adebayor’s problem; rather, his temperamental arrogance and subsequent work-shy attitude. The 31-year-old can be monumentally frustrating when refusing to apply himself fully, but he’s got Tottenham out of some tight spots before and has more than enough quality to do so again.
Meanwhile, even if Soldado is to return at some point this season, he needs time away from the limelight, to distance himself from the Fiorentina affair and regain some much-needed confidence. Thursday night felt like rock-bottom for the striker, so in theory, and with the Capital One Cup final representing Spurs’ last pressurised knock-out fixture of the season, it can only go upwards from here.
But it’s certainly a case of the lesser of two evils; one striker clearly with his heart in the right place but devoid of all self belief, and another supremely talented but lacking the attitude to match. What’s imperative for Tottenham however, and specifically their Pochettino-inspired style of play, is a forward willing to press from the front. Otherwise, Spurs’ high defensive line becomes quickly exposed.
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Purely for his appetite and desire, despite the woes of yesterday evening, Soldado edges just in front of Adebayor for me. But a few weeks away from the first team certainly wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Leeds United owners, GHF Capital, have confirmed they have rejected a takeover bid for the Championship club from an undisclosed third party.
Although the bidder remains unknown, it has been reported it is a Yorkshire based consortium that made an offer for a 51% of the shares with aim to secure a phased buy-out, The Guardian reports.
The Dubai-based investment bank confirmed the news via the club’s web page in a statement to the Leeds fans: “We are aware of growing speculation regarding new investment at Leeds United”.
“As can be expected with a club as fantastic as Leeds United, since our acquisition we have received several offers to invest in the club alongside us”, the club’s proprietors assured.
The statement reflects that an offer for a majority stake “has not been accepted”, and clarifies that a takeover bid is not the kind of investment the club is looking for.
“Although we continue to seek strategic investors, we will only bring on board those who we feel can make a positive contribution to the sustainable success of Leeds United”, GHF guaranteed.
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Former Hull City chairman Adam Pearson said this week he would like to return to football, mentioning Leeds United as an example of a club he would be interested in, although it remains uncertain if he could have been involved in the bid.
Click here to Place a pre-match bet on this much-anticipated fixture on Wednesday 13th February (Real Madrid v United) and you will receive a free In-Play bet to the same stake on the big match.
As reported by The Daily Mail, Dundee manager and former Rangers star Neil McCann has blasted Bruno Alves for a challenge on Craig Wighton during the clash between the two sides on Saturday.
The Light Blues dominated the Scottish Premiership match-up at Ibrox, winning 4-0, but Dundee boss McCann believes Alves was lucky to stay on the pitch after an incident just two minutes after the Portuguese came on as a substitute.
It involved Craig Wighton, who is just recently returning to action after a cruciate ligament injury. The 20-year-old attacked was scythed down by Alves, who was booked for the challenge.
As quoted by The Daily Mail, a fuming McCann said:
I have to say that was a disgusting challenge from Alves – a joke.
I’ve got a boy who’s just returning from a cruciate ligament and that’s a scissor action. It is almost thigh-high.
I am furious with it. It is a yellow card, could easily have been red in my mind. I did an interview the other day when I said the game is not too tough but I am all for protection.
It was a shocking challenge.
Strong words indeed from the former Gers winger, who won nine trophies with the club in the late 1990s/early 2000s.
The incident comes after a number of high profile red cards in the Scottish Premiship recently, such as the one dished out to Andrew Davies last week, who was condemned after he flew into a heavy challenge on Celtic captain Scott Brown.
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The Scottish game has a reputation for being hard hitting, perhaps to its benefit on occasion, but nobody likes to see players out for lengthy periods of times and although Wighton was ultimately unscathed, it’s not surprising to see his manager seek protection for him in the weeks and months to come.
David de Gea has been the only mainstay in Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United side so far this season, with the Dutchman tinkering with various personnel and formations due to the Red Devils’ ridiculous amount of injuries and attacking options.
The Spaniard, who is reportedly a target for La Liga giants Real Madrid, was up to his usual tricks and showing exactly why Carlo Ancelotti views him as the heir to Iker Casillas’ throne during the first-half of the Red Devils clash with the Hammers.
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At the break, the Hammers were unlucky not to be leading and they knew exactly who to blame, with de Gea thwarting the likes of Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho time and time again.
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Big Sam’s side did find a way past the former Atletico Madrid man not long after half-time with some fine feet from Cheikhou Kouyate, however, it wasn’t through any fault of United’s man between the sticks. And, after all, there is only so much you can do on your own…
Sunderland have become the latest Premier League club to be linked with a move for Denmark centre-half Jores Okore.
The Black Cats are understood to have watched the 20-year-old in action for Danish outfit Nordsjaelland, who Chelsea condemned to two heavy defeats in the group stages of the Champions League this season.
According to reports from The Shields Gazette, Okore is not expected to leave his native country during the January transfer window, but could be open to a summer move as a host of Premier League clubs begin to clamour for the highly-rated defender’s signature.
Premier League leaders Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle are among the clubs who have also scouted Okore, with Fulham rumoured to have seen a £2.5m bid rejected earlier this month.
Sunderland have already boosted their central defensive ranks this month with the capture of 6ft 5in Senegalese international Kader Mangane, but Martin O’Neill is still pursuing long-term reinforcements at centre-half.
Defenders Titus Bramble and Matt Kilgallon look set to leave Wearside in the summer, while Wes Brown is less than a fortnight away from marking a year on the treatment table.
Nordsjaelland are under little pressure to sell, after their recent windfall of Champions League football, but it is understood they could be tempted by a bid upwards of £4m.
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The club, who currently occupy second spot in the Danish Superliga, are keen to keep Okore until the end of the season as they bid to retain their championship crown, which would see them qualify for the Champions League for the second successive campaign.