It seems remarkable that rumours abound and whispers are loud around Tottenham Hotspur Way that Ange Postecoglou’s job is on the line. A 2-1 home loss to Ipswich in their last match means that this weekend a win is vital for the coach in a tough away fixture at Manchester City. He has been frustrated by the international break with Son Heung-Min, Cristiano Romero, Ben Davies, Brennan Johnson, Rodrigo Bentacur, Yves Bissouma, Pape Matar Sarr, Radu Dragusin, Guglielmo, Destiny Udogie, Pedro Porro, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall and Dominic Solanke all away with their respective countries. If that isn’t enough to cope with, Postecoglou told us that the medical team are working overtime to cope with injuries to Micky van de Ven, Richarlison, and Wilson Odobert. James Maddison, Timo Werner, Djed Spence, Sergio Reguilon and goalkeepers Fraser Forster, Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman were the few players left to Postecoglou who called up junior players to make up the numbers. The coach mixed the club’s Under-21 players with his first team squad but it has been a fairly relaxed time in training given the importance of the City match with several players being given time off so they come back fresh.
News from Chelsea Headquarter
As Enzo Maresca moulds his team the way he wants to play there are several players who will be on their way out of Stamford bridge if suitable January deals can be made. Filip Jorgensen’s arrival in the summer means Chelsea have four goalkeepers on their books and it is usual to have only three. Amazingly there have been reports that the Blues are interested in signing Liverpool’s Caoimin Kelleher, who certainly deserves to be playing regular first team football and is only currently doing so because Allisson Becker is injured. Having spoken to my sources I can reveal that this approach is highly unlikely. Therefore, Robert Sanchez will remain as No1 with Jorgensen playing Cup games. Either Lucas Bergstrom who is 22 years-old or more likely Marcus Bettinelli at 32 years-of-age will leave. Ben Chilwell, Cesare Casadei and Carney Chukwuemeka do not currently feature in Maresca’s plans and are likely to go. Benoit Badiashile and Christopher Nkunku could be available with Nkunku complaining regarding his position behind Nicolas Jackson who is Maresca’s number one striker.
Madueke states strong reason for starting position
Following my piece last weekend regarding Noni Madueke’s unhappiness at being substituted by Mudryk Mikhailo in the game against Arsenal, he showed his considerable ability in earning Man of the Match playing right wing in England’s 3-0 away win in Greece last week and was in spectacular form against Ireland where he laid on the first goal after beating two players and cutting in from the right wing. He gave the Greek player Tsimikas a tough evening and he took just seven minutes to set up Ollie Watkins with England’s first goal after a blistering dribbling run down the right wing.
This has given Enzo Maresca a headache because Madueke has asked for a face to face meeting with the coach in order to state his case for a starting place in the Chelsea eleven. Pedro Neto has taken time to settle into London but Maresca has clearly preferred him to Madueke in recent games.
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Gunners must buy to maintain title challenge
It is imperative that Arsenal strengthen in January if they are to maintain their title challenge. The Gunners have suffered because of the absence of Martin Odegaard in midfield and the creativity he brings. There was a determined effort to strengthen the left-hand side by bringing in Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino in the summer transfer window but injuries have hampered their progress. Both Manchester City and Liverpool did minimal business in the summer but Liverpool have managed to make headway under Arne Slot and top the table despite trying and failing to lure Spanish defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi to Anfield. City’s Pep Guardiola welcomed back Ilkay Gundogan and signed Brazilian winger Savinho. Arsenal made two last minute sales that took Eddie Nketiah to Crystal Palace and Aaron Ramsdale to Southampton which brought in £50million so they do have funds available for players in January. The loss of Edu will not affect the club’s plans and word is that next summer will see the bulk of their transfer activity. It is also recognised inside the club that the Gunners need to strengthen their attack and the next level of quality would mean either Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres or Newcastle’s Alexander Isak but all the big clubs have eyes on those two and Gyokeres was Almorim’s goal man when he coached Sporting.
City will not buy their way out of trouble
Probably more than any other coach, Pep Guardiola does not panic buy players if things start to go wrong. He has said that City do not have to be active in the January transfer window because he expects his team will return to form well before that period. He told us that following the international break he will have all his players returning to fitness with only Rodri and Oscar Bobb long term absentees but Bobb is expected to return after Christmas. Pep said that Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manu Akanji, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Matheus Nunes all have a chance to playing against Tottenham this weekend. The squad will gain one more player as the on-lone midfielder Caludio Echeverri returns from River Plate and although he will not be thrown into action straight away, an extra pair of feet in the centre will be a very valuable option. An important point revolves around Guardiola. He has now agreed to sign an extension to his current contract which expires at the end of the season and any new high profile arrival, such as the rumoured Real Sociedad Spanish international defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi, will be encouraged by working with the world’s best coach.
Van Nistlerooy upset at Almorim rejection
Ruud van Nistlerooy has been left very upset by his departure from Manchester United. The former striker carried out a successful interim role after Erik Ten Hag left and before Ruben Amorim arrived and he had hoped he could play a role in the new coaching team. Ruud opted not to comment on Amorim’s decision to let him leave but his close friend, former Blackburn Rovers and Holland international, Andre Ooijer has revealed how upset Ruud is and he feels that he showed complete loyalty to United and has been let down. He said, “Ruud had the chance to be manager or head coach at other clubs but he did not take those jobs because he wanted to work at the club he loves most. He did so well under difficult circumstances and stayed unbeaten as a manager.” If the new coach does not get things right from the beginning the very influential Old Trafford crowd could start chanting for Van Nistlerooy’s return.
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