All posts by n8rngtd.top

West Ham United have confirmed on their official Twitter channel that they will freeze 2021/22 season ticket prices for both the men and women’s campaigns among other initiatives – prompting many Irons fans to have their say.

This comes after the government announced a four-step plan to progressively ease England’s national lockdown with the goal of removing all legal limits on contact by late June 2021.

As a result, the return of football fans in stadia nationwide looks set for next season – with it being around a year since maximum capacity crowds have been allowed to watch their side in action.

West Ham have now announced that, for the 2021/22 campaign, season ticket prices for both the men and women’s sides will be frozen in a bid to aid the return of supporters to the London Stadium.

Flocking to this update by the club, it’s safe to say many Hammers fans praised the “excellent” decision from owners GSB – find some of their verdicts down below.

West Ham fans delighted by 2021/2022 season ticket announcement

“Absolutely cannot contain my excitement at the Block 103 Row 1 Reunion!”

Credit: @brendontschurch

“Very clear and concise and fair. I’ve often criticised the club for the way they do things, but this is excellent.”

Credit: @andyaustin67

“Let’s ensure we all get behind the team, we now know the team we have is capable of some big things, I would love to see the London Stadium become atmospheric, and West Ham push on even further, COYI.”

Credit: @darrenallix

“BRINGGG ME TO THE BOWL”

Credit: @JackkWHU

“Thank you GSB, more excellent work”

Credit: @JimmyMundee

“OMG”

Credit: @whugrace

“Can’t wait to get back next season roll on August”

Credit: @jackcwhufc21

In other news: West Ham are eyeing this £10.8m-valued starlet, find out more here.

Leeds were, unsurprisingly, rather quiet during the January transfer window.

However, their efforts ahead of the summer are seemingly being ramped up as each week passes by.

What’s the word?

Leeds are reportedly eyeing a switch for Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumare.

That’s according to Football Insider sources, who suggest that the Whites are ready to join the race for a player that turned down Newcastle after a £35m bid in January 2020.

The player is now valued at around £20.7m via Transfermarkt but it wouldn’t be a shock to see a similar bid to Newcastle’s required in order to prise him away in a few months time.

After all, Fabrizio Romano recently claimed that Leicester were also stepping up their pursuit of Soumare, someone he claims might be worth around £30.3m.

Struijk upgrade

When Kalvin Phillips doesn’t play at the base of Marcelo Bielsa’s midfield, his team tends to struggle. Of the four games that Pascal Struijk has played in that part of the pitch as his replacement, Leeds have failed to win a single one of them.

In fact, in nearly every one of those games, they’ve been utterly demoralised, losing those outings by an aggregate scoreline of 15-6.

Even if the young Dutchman scored at the Emirates when playing in that role, he clearly doesn’t offer the same sort of presence and composure that Phillips does.

With that in mind, finding someone externally that’s capable of playing in that role has to be among Victor Orta’s priorities for the summer. Fortunately, they’d find a perfect remedy in Soumare, a player hotly tipped as one of the next big things in French football.

Compared to Paul Pogba, the 21-year-old is improving by the day and his enormous range of qualities make for eye-catching reading.

Speaking about the midfield general in 2020, Lille president Gerard Lopez commented: “He’s one of the very best at his job. He’s technical, with incredible physical power and wins a great deal of possession. He’s a modern No.6 or 8. We’ll see him in the France team very soon.”

Soumare is yet to be capped by his country but a quick look at the statistics tells you it might not be long before France come knocking. Certainly, a move to the illustrious Premier League will help his cause.

If we use Soccerment’s comparison tool, we can easily compare Soumare and Phillips. Above, the Leeds target’s statistics appear in blue while Phillips’ are in green. That means the French prodigy has a greater success rate when it comes to aerial duels, tackles, passing and dribbling.

It may come as a surprise to see a defensive midfield usurping someone as busy as Phillips, but it only goes to show why he’d also be an upgrade on Struijk.

It is imperative that Leeds sign someone like this in the summer. It could be the difference between finishing in the top half and languishing in the bottom section of the table.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Raphinha: Leeds target who made 5 key passes should have Orta salivating…

Liverpool are reportedly interested in signing RB Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano in the summer transfer window and based on his performance against Union Berlin earlier this week, he would be a superb addition to Jurgen Klopp’s side.

The French defender has been a key player with Julian Nagelsmann’s side in recent seasons and helped them to the Champions League semi-finals last season.

Liverpool have struggled this season in the absence of Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez and whilst a January move for Upamecano doesn’t look to be on the cards, he could prove to be a superb signing ahead of next season, if his latest performance is anything to go by.

As per SofaScore, the French international would earn a 7.9 match rating for his performance against Union Berlin, which was the highest of any player on the pitch.

The centre-back performed his defensive duties well, winning three tackles and making one interception during the 90 minutes. For comparison, Liverpool’s only currently fit centre-back Joel Matip, has averaged 1.3 tackles and 0.8 interceptions per game in the Premier League, suggesting the Leipzig defender has the edge.

Upamecano would also impressively win all five of his ground duels during the game, which emphasises his excellent physicality, which could make him a good fit in the Premier League.

However, it was perhaps his passing that was the stand out attribute of an all-round superb display, as he would complete a remarkable 128/136 passes during his time on the pitch, resulting in a pass accuracy of 94%.

This is comfortably more than the 56.9 passes and 87.1% accuracy averaged by Matip, which again suggests that he would be an excellent fit at Liverpool.

Whilst this was a standout display from the Leipzig man, it was not a one-off, as he has scored higher than Matip when it comes to defending and passing stats throughout the season so far.

Something the Reds have missed in recent weeks is Van Dijk’s long passing ability, and considering Upamecano would complete 11/12 long balls against Union Berlin, he could be a great partner, and perhaps replacement, for the Dutch international in the future.

Therefore, when considering that Upamecano’s latest performance suggests he would be a better fit than the injury-prone Matip at Liverpool, Michael Edwards should pay the Frenchman’s £40 million release clause in the summer in an attempt to bring him to Anfield.

And, in other news… “He’s decent” – Exclusive: Pundit claims 6 ft 4 “unit” could fix Klopp issue

West Brom’s miserable form continued as they were knocked out of the FA Cup by League One outfit Blackpool on Saturday afternoon.

The home side led twice, leaving the Baggies having to come from behind to force the game into extra-time and then penalties, but Seasiders stopper Chris Maxwell denied three spot-kicks to embarrassingly send the Premier League giants out the competition.

It means Sam Allardyce was compounded to further woe at the Midlands club.

Although his Albion stars hardly did him any favours at Bloomfield Road, in fact, he was badly betrayed by several players who were handed a rare opportunity to start – just like Lee Peltier.

A lot of criticism came in for skipper Jake Livermore from fans on social media – one supporter claimed he was an “average Championship player, nothing more” whilst another suggested that the midfielder “offered nothing.”

But the figures showed otherwise as per SofaScore, the 31-year-old made 84% of his passes, put in two successful tackles and was one of just two visiting players to actually convert a spot-kick.

Indeed, Peltier was far worse having been initially deployed at right-back before being forced onto the other flank later in the second half.

It was only the fourth time he was trusted to start a match this season, and it’s now easy to see why as the 34-year-old veteran looked completely out of his depth.

Peltier lost the ball 26 times, more than any other Baggies player, and despite being heavily involved with 88 touches, failed to provide an accurate cross and made only two of 13 long balls, via SofaScore.

The former Cardiff ace could only make 66% of his 58 passing attempts too, which is hugely wasteful and rather shocking.

BirminghamLive’s Joseph Chapman graded him a 5/10, and said: “[He was] caught out of position as Blackpool attacked Albion down their right before the break and took the lead.”

Big Sam is surely going to think twice about starting the lightweight defender again in the future after that absolute betrayal of a performance.

AND in other news, Forget Snodgrass: West Brom can bolster survival bid by landing “explosive” speedster…

Dean Smith must be fuming at Johan Lange for his disastrous decision to sign Bertrand Traore for £19milion this summer, amid criticism of the midfielder from Aston Villa hero Gabby Agbonlahor.

What’s he said?

Speaking with Football Insider, Agbonlahor has praised Smith for his decision to favour Conor Hourihane in midfield against West Ham United on Monday night over Traore in place of the injured Ross Barkley.

The Chelsea loanee was forced to sit out the Villans trip to the London Stadium after sustaining a hamstring strain in the first minute of the prior weekend’s 2-1 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion, but is in contention to make his return for the upcoming Midlands Derby with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Hourihane enjoyed 74-minutes on the field before being replaced by Traore as Villa chased an equalising goal, but Smith failed to see the 25-year-old register a single key ball from his nine accurate passes while completing one attempted dribble and taking one shot before the full-time whistle, per WhoScored.

Traore’s lack of creativity helped ensure Villa returned to Birmingham without a point, while stretching his wait for a maiden Premier League goal for the season and failing to build on his first assist achieved in the 2-1 loss at home to Brighton having replaced Barkley.

Agbonlahor believes Smith made the perfect decision by favouring Hourihane in the starting line-up against West Ham rather than Traore, as the £19m summer signing disrupts the balance Villa need in the engine room.

“With Hourihane, he came in and added that balance in midfield with John McGinn. He was a threat on set pieces, he kept the ball well and had a very good game,” Agbonlahor said.

“He added something to that midfield, and it was the better option adding Hourihane than Traore. Traore upsets the balance in that position.”

Traore, the Lange disaster

Agbonlahor slamming Traore for bringing chaos rather than balance to the core of the Aston Villa midfield will surely rile Smith, as Lange’s decision to splash an initial £17m on the Burkina Faso international had already failed to return many reasons for positivity.

Smith expected Traore to “really enhance our attacking options” when he lauded the 55-cap arrival from Olympique Lyonnais in the summer, describing the former Chelsea man as “a player with immense talent”.

But Villa fans are yet to see those words met on the pitch, with his assist at home to Brighton Traore’s only involvement in the scoring and having started just one of his seven Premier League appearances so far this season.

Defender Tyrone Mings has also registered the same number of key passes as Traore (2) in the top-flight this term, which is also three fewer than Hourihane who has played just 72 more minutes to date, per WhoScored.

Anwar El Ghazi even ranks just below Traore for successful dribbles with two to the 25-year-old’s three, despite playing just 35 minutes all season.

Lange will need to see Traore start delivering far above his current output for his decision to spend vast sums on the Chelsea flop not to appear any more of an absolute disaster than it so far has.

AND in other news: “I think Villa could” – Exclusive: Pundit makes bold Premier League claim about Aston Villa.

Liverpool have been linked with LOSC Lille midfielder Renato Sanches recently and the 23-year-old could prove to be the Reds’ replacement for Georginio Wijnaldum.

According to Le10 Sport, Jurgen Klopp is a big admirer of Sanches and believes that he could be the ideal replacement for Wijnaldum, who looks increasingly likely to leave the Merseyside club this summer when his contract expires.

Whilst the former Bayern Munich man struggle in his last spell in the Premier League with Swansea City on loan, his performances since joining the Ligue 1 side have demonstrated that he has a lot of quality.

Last season, the Portuguese international made 19 appearances in the French top-flight, contributing three goals and one assist, which helped him average a superb 7.13 rating.

He has continued his strong form with Les Dogues this season, averaging a solid 6.98 rating across his eight appearances in Ligue 1.

Despite being just 23-years-old, the midfielder already has 22 caps for his country and was one of the stars of Portugal’s Euro 2016 campaign, which saw them win the competition.

Liverpool also may be able to take advantage of Lille’s worrying financial situation to sign the £18 million-rated midfielder on a cut-price deal, suggesting that this is definitely a transfer that Michael Edwards could complete.

Earlier this year, Lille coach Christophe Galtier lauded the midfielder’s recent displays, saying:

“He has a capacity to play. He has personality, his balance is excellent. He’s a high-level player who needs to apply his qualities in service of the team.”

Considering WhoScored rates Sanches’ passing, dribbling and defensive contribution amongst his strongest attributes, it definitely seems as if he could replace Wijnaldum in this team, as his style of play could prove to be a perfect fit with the Reds.

The Dutch midfielder is undoubtedly going to be a tough player for the Merseyside club to supersede, considering he has featured 206 times for Klopp’s side, contributing 20 goals and 16 assists, whilst also writing himself into Liverpool folklore after his brace against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final.

However, the Reds cannot afford to not replace the 30-year-old, and it seems as if Sanches could be the ideal man to step in at Anfield, so long as he doesn’t replicate his performances with Swansea City from the last time he was in England.

And, in other news… Forget Firmino: LFC beast was Klopp’s true hero vs Spurs

If you had thought the international break would give Mikel Arteta the time to try and change some of the things that has been plaguing his Arsenal side this season, then you were sadly mistaken.

The Gunners have looked toothless in attack all season – before the game against Leeds on late Sunday afternoon, they had managed just nine goals in their opening eight Premier League games – and it was a real test for Arteta to fix that.

Having made the call of using Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang through the middle, the Gunners boss opted for both Willian and Nicolas Pepe to start either side of him.

And whilst the latter may have gotten himself sent off for a stupid headbutt early in the second-half, it was actually the north London side’s summer signing, Willian, who was the real let down for Arteta.

As per Sofascore, he had absolutely no shots on goal whatsoever, delivered no key passes, and saw the only cross he attempted fail to find its mark.

Despite showing a couple of neat touches here and there to try and evade the Leeds press, it just seemed like the game passed him by, and he couldn’t cope with the speed and intensity of it all.

In the end, even Arteta had seen enough, and made a fairly rare decision in terms of his managerial career so far, of hooking a player at half-time.

Reiss Nelson and then Bukayo Saka, the Gunners’ two homegrown academy products, delivered the kind of pace and punch that Arsenal sorely lacked. The fact an experienced star like Willian couldn’t do that was bordering on a disgrace.

Celtic reportedly have the cash on hand to make Mohamed Elyounoussi’s stay in Glasgow permanent. That’s according to Alex McLeish who claim that the Hoops are eyeing up a long-term deal for the Norwegian, who has made waves since his arrival at Celtic Park (via Football Insider).

Should Neil Lennon want to make Elyounoussi a certified Bhoy, the club will need to cough up £10million to prise him from Southampton’s grasp. This will make the 26-year-old Celtic’s record signing and it will be worth every penny.

Celtic must prioritise move for Elyounoussi

Celtic’s attack has been struggling this season after falling out of favour in the Premiership due to several shock losses. Their Europa League run will also be weighing heavily on the team morale, having banked just the solitary point so far.

Their star player so far has unarguably been the Southampton loanee. Elyounoussi has notched an impressive ten goals and four assists so far this season, leading Lennon’s line with the attacking confidence of a cult hero.

If the Hoops don’t make this deal happen, they will see the impact of the striker’s absence next season. Elyounoussi is currently contracted until next summer and Ralph Hasenhuttl has already made it known that there could be a spot in the Saints squad for him in 2021/22.

With Southampton looking to potentially integrate the man dubbed a “revelation” by Kris Commons, Celtic must do what they can to secure him to their club. Particularly if Odsonne Edouard opts to leave in search of pastures new, the Bhoys will be extremely short on attacking options. It will leave Lennon will just Leigh Griffiths to lead the line.

This is a deal that Hammond simply must sign off on if the Hoops are to continue their dominant streak.

In other news, Celtic made the correct decision by not signing Leeds’ Luke Ayling…

Liverpool have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Ousmane Dembele as Barcelona are reportedly willing to slash their asking price.

A report from Sport (via Rousing the Kop) has revealed the once £96.8million-valued winger could leave in January for a much lower fee. It seems the Catalonians are eager to offload Dembele, but have begrudgingly realised they will struggle to recoup the mammoth amount they paid for him in 2017.

Liverpool should move for Dembele

Despite reportedly only wanting the 23-year-old on loan, Liverpool should seriously consider tabling an offer for a permanent move. Sport claim Barca would be looking for bids in the region of £45million for Dembele, who has been limited to just 20 minutes of game time this season (via Transfermarkt).

Spending big money on a rotational player is clearly not out of the question for Liverpool, who recently signed Diogo Jota for £41million. Bringing in a player of Dembele’s calibre would be serious business for the Anfield outfit, who are looking to continue their run of success and add competition for star men Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

The Frenchman’s 2018/19 season was his best in terms of personal numbers, notching 14 goals and eight assists across all competitions for Barcelona. He pace and eye for creativity will give Liverpool a huge boost in their attack.

Dembele may be struggling for minutes at the moment, but his talent is widely regarded by many. Teammate Lionel Messi once tipped the winger to become “one of the best” and labelled him a “phenomenon” on the pitch (as per Marca, via FourFourTwo). With such strong words being said about him, it will be hard for Jurgen Klopp not to have the France international on his radar.

Dembele’s current contract runs out in 2022, meaning an even further discount could be applied come next summer. Once he enters the final 12 months of his deal, Barca may become anxious and do all that they can to tempt a club like Liverpool to strike a deal.

In other news, Liverpool and Jack Butland could help each other out of a rut…

Brighton allowed Leon Balogun to leave for Rangers on a free transfer this summer but they are hoping to sign a namesake in the current transfer window.

The Beautiful Game Podcast tweeted that the Seagulls are among several clubs interested in Arsenal youngster Folarin Balogun, who is also wanted by the likes of Southampton, AC Milan, AZ Alkmaar, Roma and Eintracht Frankfurt.

As per Sky Sports, the 19-year-old has refused to sign a new contract at the Emirates Stadium, where his current deal expires next year, with the Gunners demanding at least £8m for the teenager.

Balogun has never played a senior game for Arsenal and does not want to sign a new deal in north London unless he can be given assurances of a pathway into the first team.

While his demands may seem like arrogance from a young player with plenty still to prove, his case is helped by a sensational scoring record at underage level for the Gunners. He has played 70 matches between their under-18 and under-23 sides and plundered a magnificent total of 50 goals.

He struck 25 times in 19 games in the Under-18 Premier League the season before last and readily adapted to the under-23 grade last term, hitting 10 goals in 15 matches in Premier League 2.

Balogun’s promise is apparent from a Daily Mail scout report which said that there are “shades of Thierry Henry” to his style of play, while Arsenal’s 2019/20 top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has taken to Twitter in the past to express his admiration for the teenager’s talents.

Brighton will have to fend off some very strong competition if they want to sign Balogun, with AZ Alkmaar competing in the Champions League and Milan, PSV and Roma all in the Europea League, while £8m seems a real gamble on a player with no experience of first team football.

However, Graham Potter is not slow to give youth its flings if he feels it is warranted. Aaron Connolly memorably scored twice in his first Premier League start last year and featured regularly throughout the season, while Tariq Lamptey – hailed as “outstanding” by the manager – carved out a place in the first team towards the end of 2019/20.

Balogun’s goal record at underage level and comparisons with Henry illustrates the enormity of his potential, while Potter could be the ideal manager to extract the best from him based on the successes of Connolly and Lamptey.

Brighton fans, how good a coup would Balogun be if the Seagulls can sign him? Have your say by commenting below!