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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Dele Alli’s former manager, Karl Robinson, has defended the midfielder from recent criticism, per talkSPORT.

What’s he said?

Alli, who played under Robinson while he was at MK Dons prior to his move to Spurs, has endured a difficult start to the season.

He has scored just one goal in seven appearances in all competitions, with ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane claiming the 23-year-old has “lost his hunger” for improvement in north London.

But Robinson, who now manages Oxford United, has gone to bat for his former charge.

He said: “It’s difficult to hear.

“You’ve got to understand that everyone is surmising here, everyone is presuming things.

“Sometimes it can be taken out of context, people are paid to make a judgement on the game and the way it goes, but everything else is hearsay.

“I know him personally and the one thing I put down to a bit of a lack of performance is that this very young boy has played professional football since the age of 15 or 16, and he didn’t have any major injuries.

“But over the last 12 months, he’s had one or two hamstring issues and different bits and bobs, because of overplaying. I think one thing we’re all forgetting about these young England players is, when are these kids going to get time off?”

He added: “To win Young Player of the Year for two years on the spin, he’s an exceptional talent.

“He might have lost his way, I don’t know and I can’t comment on that, but I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and put it down to the amount of football he’s played.

“Our young players are getting flogged because of how intense the Premier League is, it’s the most intense league in the world, and then you put the European games and England games on top of that.”

Finally some sense

It’s about time someone actually came out with a measured, reasonable take on Alli.

The 23-year-old has played a total of 279 games at club level throughout his career, in addition to a total of 54 international appearances from U17 level to the senior team.

Think, too, of Wayne Rooney when he was young. When he moved to Manchester United, after bursting onto the scene at Everton – he left the Toffees with 77 appearances to his name at the age of 18 – he scored 11 Premier League goals in 2004/05, and then 16 in 2005/06. He didn’t beat that tally until the 09/10 season, when he netted 26.

Rooney is still regarded as one of England’s best-ever players but he too was overplayed at a young age and it can take time, and adjustments, for players to get used to it.

But there is a pathway to getting your mojo back, and Rooney has proved that, even if there is a dip, the peaks can be scaled once again.

Robinson has hit the nail on the head; it’s about time somebody gave Alli a break.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Barcelona thumped Sevilla 4-0 on Sunday but one player was surprisingly excluded from the starting lineup, and it just might suggest his time as one of the Catalans’ key men is slowly coming to an end.

On the chalkboard

Sergio Busquets has been a key player at Barcelona ever since he was promoted to the senior team back in the summer of 2008.

A La Masia product through and through, the Octopus of Badia represented the true values of the Catalan giants and year upon year, he featured in all of their major moments.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

After all, the 31-year-old already has 544 appearances for the club, winning 31 senior trophies, and while he certainly has more fuel in the tank, there are some early signs indicating that he might not have as big of a role in the future as he used to have.

The end of an era

Saying that Busquets’ career at Barcelona is at the very end would be a bit too much but we’re certainly getting into the latter stages of it, at the very least.

And sure, saying that about a 31-year-old player is not that big of a surprise but considering we’re talking about Busquets of all people, it does sound a bit strange.

But the proof is already here for everyone to see.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

Just the other night, the Spaniard was benched once again, his third omission from the starting lineup in the eight games that Barcelona have played so far in the 2019/20 La Liga season.

Not to mention that he remained on the bench for the entirety of their curtain-raiser against Athletic Bilbao and the clash against Granada. So far, he has tallied a total of 449 minutes in the opening eight games of the campaign while he had a total of 592 this time last season.

Furthermore, he was not once left on the bench in the 35 games played last season; he’s already been named among the substitutes twice this term.

Maybe it was the arrivals of Frenkie de Jong and the emergence of Arthur Melo or maybe it’s just time catching up with the 31-year-old midfielder, but it seems that he is bound to enjoy a much smaller role in the squad this season.

It remains to be seen if that will be to Barca’s detriment or not.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

As quoted by Goal, former Manchester United man Kleberson has given his backing to the club potentially signing Kalidou Koulibaly.

What did he say?

The Napoli centre-back has been the subject of intense transfer speculation, with reports suggesting the Red Devils are chasing the 28-year-old despite growing uncertainty over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s future.

Now, Kleberson has suggested Koulibaly’s physical profile and characteristics could add something else to the United defence, and urged his former side to look outside of the Premier League for future signings.

How much money could you make busking for a week as a freestyle footballer? Find out in the video below…

He said: “Koulibaly looks athletic and physical which will bring more energy in the defence. Maguire is a big name in England, but it would be good for United to look outside of the Premier League to find players who could play for them.”

Imposing

Standing at 6 foot 1, Koulibaly’s take-no-prisoners approach when it comes to defending would act as a nice foil to Maguire’s more assured presence at the back. The former is a rugged centre-back who imposes his will on opposition forwards, and has averaged a mightily impressive 2.8 tackles and two aerial duels won per game in Serie A this season.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

As United continue to struggle for goals this season – they have scored just nine times from their opening eight Premier League games – the pressure on their defenders keeping a clean sheet just increases ten-fold. Having a presence like Koulibaly to stand alongside summer signing Maguire would give the Red Devils the platform and the knowledge that they may only need one goal to win a match.

His manager at Napoli, Carlo Ancelotti, even remarked the Senegal international could be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Paolo Maldini and Lilian Thuram – high praise indeed. So whilst Victor Lindelof may be the man to partner Maguire right now, as Kleberson suggests, United could do with someone like Koulibaly to add some more quality at the back.

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Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be counting his lucky stars following this weekend’s match against Aston Villa.

In the end, Arsenal recorded a 3-2 victory thanks to late goals from Calum Chambers and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. However, it could have been so much different.

In the 41st minute, the 22-year-old left-back was sent off for two bookable offences. While there seems to be some disagreement in regards to the second yellow card – Unai Emery claimed that “he didn’t touch the player” – he still gave the referee a decision to make.

Nevertheless, it was not a great performance from the England Under-21 international.

Naturally a midfielder, where he has played the majority of his games, he has been deputising at right-back since Hector Bellerin ruptured his cruciate ligament in January of this year. And in this game, he looked out of his depth.

Watch Arsenal Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The Emirates Stadium faithful were far from sympathetic, and they slammed his display.

They took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

Real Madrid cruised to a 2-0 victory over Osasuna on matchday six and Rodrygo Goes made an instant impact coming off the bench in the second half.

Snapshot

It truly was a great game played by the whole Real Madrid squad.

Zinedine Zidane decided to reshuffle his Galactico deck and give a chance to some other, less prominent players in the process. Still, his squad was a good blend of youth and experience but the youngsters were the ones who completely took over the show on Wednesday night.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Two Brazilians, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, rattled the net of Los Blancos’ guests at the Santiago Bernabeu and propelled Real Madrid to a new victory and a beautiful view from the top of the table in La Liga.

But it was actually the latter Brazilian, Rodrygo, who managed to catch everyone’s eye despite getting just a cameo appearance in front of the home crowd.

One for the future

It took Rodrygo only 20 minutes played on the pitches of Santiago Bernabeu to start the comparisons with the Brazilian Ronaldo.

He came on in the 70th minute and just 93 seconds into his 2019/20 campaign debut for the Galacticos, the 18-year-old prodigy managed to tally a goal to his name. Not only was this extremely impressive but he also became the fastest player to score his first La Liga goal for Real Madrid since Ronaldo did it back in 2002.

The legendary forward needed 62 seconds to do that but Rodrygo was definitely pretty close.

Apart from that goal, he also registered two shots, two dribbles and 87.5% passing accuracy on the night, making his cameo appearance more than just a successful one.

Of course, the comparisons with one of the all-time greats is rather flattering but it will be important for Zidane to approach this situation carefully and not rush things unnecessarily.

Now he knows what Rodrygo is capable of and if these early signs are any indication at all, there’s a bright future ahead of him at the club as well.

With his contract set to expire next summer, there has been plenty of talk about Christian Eriksen’s future.

The 27-year-old, however, is only focusing on his football as he looks to help Tottenham win their first top-flight title since 1961.

The Breakdown

“Christian only wants to focus himself on football,” Eriksen’s agent Martin Schoots recently told ESPN. “Besides his technical, tactical and athletic skills, also this attitude has contributed over the years to his impressive transformation from world class talent to world class player.”

With things extremely tight at the top of the Premier League table, Tottenham do not need any added distractions, especially at a time where they have been forced to pick up results without star duo Harry Kane and Dele Alli.

Considering all of that, it is imperative for Eriksen to make sure the uncertainty surrounding his future does not affect his performances. And to the Denmark international’s credit, he has done just that.

Alongside Son Heung-min, Eriksen has helped to keep Tottenham’s title dream alive in the absence of Kane and Alli with his creativity on the pitch proving to be too much for opposition teams as ever.

If Tottenham are to go all the way this season, then they need Eriksen free of any distractions.

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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… 

Lucas Digne has been one of Everton’s best performers so far this campaign but his failure to produce against Bournemouth was a key reason why they succumbed to defeat.

Everton were lacklustre in attack on Sunday and, for all their possession, they had just five shots on target.

As usual, Digne provided an outlet down the left-flank throughout, but he was wasteful too often, and the Toffees cannot expect to pick up points away from home if they lack a clinical edge in the final third.

Prior to Sunday, the Frenchman had contributed three assists in five games, and although he cannot be relied upon to be the sole creative outlet, he can be expected to provide dangerous crosses.

It wasn’t like he didn’t get in the positions either. According to Whoscored, the left-back had 12 crossing attempts, yet just two found a teammate. One did reach Richarlison and the Brazilian perhaps should have turned the ball in, but it is still a very poor return from Digne and one which ultimately counted against them.

That wasn’t the only area in which the former Barcelona player was wasteful. He achieved a pass accuracy rate of just 68%, and from six attempts only succeded with one pass into the final third, which goes some way in explaining Everton’s lack of threat going forward.

The 2018/19 Everton Player of the Year possesses technical skill, so such errors are quite unforgivable in a side still looking for their first Premier League away win of the season.

He did show some positives, however, and for the Richarlison chance did very well to take the ball past Jack Stacey in what was one of his two successful dribbles, showing good intelligence and a crossing range to play the ball in from the byline.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Defensively he was not at fault for any of the goals, either, so deserves recognition for that. In fact, things could have been worse if not for his four interceptions, and on the whole he managed to keep Harry Wilson quiet – causing him to be substituted early in the second half.

By contrast, he failed to make a single tackle throughout the match, but having achieved an average of two tackles per match prior to Sunday it is not an area of concern.

If he can return to his best at the opposite end of the pitch, he should continue to create chances for his teammates.

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Roshane Thomas has dropped an update on West Ham United’s failed move for Duvan Zapata on transfer deadline day.

What’s the talk?

In a recent article for The Athletic, the West Ham correspondent shed further light on the Hammers’ late move for the Atalanta centre-forward, with it being said that David Moyes’ side had agreed to initially take the 30-year-old on loan – paying a £4m fee to do so – with an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season.

However, Thomas went on to state that, despite the Serie A side agreeing to these demands and the Irons submitting a deal sheet to the Premier League, the move ultimately proved to be too late in the day to get the transfer over the line prior to Monday evening’s deadline.

West Ham must act this summer

With no new centre-forward arriving at the London Stadium in the January transfer window – despite a £58m bid for Benfica’s Darwin Nunez – West Ham are still desperately lacking any real strength in depth up top – with Michail Antonio currently being the East London side’s only recognised striker.

And, while this will undoubtedly come as a huge blow to the Hammers’ chances of securing a top-four finish in the league this season, should Zapata once again be available next summer, it would very much appear as if Moyes must do all he can to get a deal over the line for the Colombia international – as the 30-year-old looks to be the perfect match for Antonio.

Indeed, the £29.7m-rated forward has been a revelation for Atalanta since joining the club from SSC Napoli back in 2018, scoring 78 goals and registering 38 assists over his 152 appearances for the Bergamo club.

This season, the £57k-per-week striker has once again been in breathtaking form for Gian Piero Gasperini’s outfit, having already bagged nine goals, registered four assists and created three big chances over his 16 Serie A appearances – returns which have seen him average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.98.

And, with finding the back of the net clearly not being an issue, the 6 foot 2 Colombian’s physical stature is also similar to that of West Ham’s main man in attack, with Papu Gomez previously stating of the centre-forward: “Zapata’s shorts look like underwear, he is so big.

“Sometimes I don’t even want to get close to him in a match because he’s a beast and it hurts. When he is feeling good he’s like a train – you throw the ball forward and ‘ciao!'”

As such, while it was certainly a huge blow to not land the 30-year-old this winter, should a move still be on the table come the end of the season, Moyes could finally find the answer to his centre-forward woes in a move for the Atalanta hitman.

In other news: Moyes can unearth WHU’s perfect DCC alternative with 21 y/o prodigy, he’s “gold dust”

Rumoured Liverpool transfer target Aurelien Tchouameni is wanted by two unnamed Premier League clubs, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Tchouameni a huge talent

The 22-year-old has emerged as arguably one of the best young midfielders in the world, performing with quality and maturity beyond his years.

Tchouameni has made 25 starts for Monaco in Ligue 1 this season, winning 2.4 aerial duels per game and also being described as ‘extraordinary’ by international colleague Paul Pogba.

Liverpool have been linked with a move for the Frenchman, and Romano has now shed new light on the player’s transfer status.

The Latest: Romano provides update on Tchouameni

Taking to Twitter over the weekend, Romano confirmed that a couple of Premier League clubs want to sign Tchouameni, along with Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. He revealed:

“Aurelien Tchouameni’s agent has denied to Le Parisien any agreement on personal terms with Real Madrid.

“Real are following Tchouameni’s performances with Monaco since long time alongside two Premier League clubs and PSG but there’s nothing agreed with any club.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-25/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Wonderful potential signing

Tchouameni looks like a spectacular talent, mastering a deeper-lying midfield role and already proving to be such a key player for Monaco, ranking as by far their best performer according to WhoScored metrics.

With some of Liverpool’s midfielders now in their 30s – the likes of Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are close to that milestone, too – the 22-year-old could be an ideal summer addition, capable of playing in a defensive or central midfield role.

Not only does Tchouameni average an eye-catching 2.6 tackles and interceptions apiece per match this season, he also averaged a 90.9% pass completion rate across five appearances for France in World Cup qualifying, demonstrating that he is a midfielder of many talents.

In other news, Liverpool are reportedly eyeing up a move for a former Premier League midfielder. Read more here.

Everton will travel to Carrow Road this afternoon as they seek to take their first three point win of the year in the Premier League, and Rafa Benitez’s side are looking like they’re in good shape to do so with the return of important players and three new signings.

Richarlison and Yerry Mina were spotted back in training this week, and Benitez took to his pre-match press conference to confirm that they would be available in terms of being fit enough to be picked for the travelling squad today.

The Spanish manager opened up about the returning players;

“All the others were training and now we have to treat them carefully. At the moment they are fine, then it is up to us to see who can be available for his game or the next games.”

It’s unclear as to whether Benitez will throw his newly returned back into the team, but with the side just six points off the relegation zone currently, the Toffees manager will surely be mindful in selecting his best available team to secure the wins and climb back into a more comfortable position in the league table as soon as possible.

With that being said, this is how Football Fancast expects Everton to set up against Norwich City today…

With five changes to the team that beat Hull City, we expect Jordan Pickford, Richarlison, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Mina and Abdoulaye Doucouré to be included in the team that will take on the challenge at Norwich City this afternoon.

Richarlison and Mina are back in our predicted line up, but Benitez will potentially use the opportunity of playing the bottom of the league Canaries, to use his substitutions throughout the game, with Mina unlikely to play a full 90 minutes after being out injured for a prolonged period this season.

It is likely that Andre Gomes will be axed from the team, with Doucoure returning to the starting line up, despite the £120k-p/w gem scoring against Hull in the FA Cup victory this week, Benitez clearly doesn’t favour the Portuguese midfielder, giving him only two Premier League starts this season so far.

We predicted that Vitaliy Mykolenko will be the only new signing in the starting line up after Lucas Digne was sold to Aston Villa this week, but again there could be an opportunity for youngster Nathan Patterson to gain his Premier League debut later in the game, replacing Coleman at right back, depending on how the game plays out.

Everton have the opportunity to snatch their second away win of the season against Norwich this afternoon, who have lost their last five games and lost 14 of their 20 games so far this season.

In other news: Benitez handed double injury boost ahead of Norwich trip