Curtis Jones and Joel Matip did not train on Wednesday at Liverpool’s AXA Training centre. Jones played a substitute’s role against Chelsea but Matip was ignored by Jurgen Klopp who preferred linking Van Dijk and Konate. Good news for Liverpool supporters is that Thiago Alcantara did train and is nearing full fitness and could be considered for the match against Bournemouth this weekend. Media reports about Thiago being sold are wrong and Klopp confirmed this on Thursday.
The Reds are being beaten to big name signings having lost out on midfielders Moises Caicedo, Jude Bellingham, Enzo Fernandez (it is not generally known that Liverpool were offered Enzo for £15million in 2022 and he later signed for Chelsea for a staggering £106million). Liverpool enjoyed success in the transfer market for years with head of recruitment Michael Edwards but he has now left the club. Joao Gomes put in a tremendous performance against United at the weekend but the Wolves player was originally offered to Liverpool last year when he was still at home in Brazil with Flemengo and another good signing was missed.
Sporting Director Jorg Schmadtke has used his German contacts to speak with Stuttgart about Japan international captain Waturu Endo who, despite being 30 years of age, is considered one of the best defensive midfielders in the Bundesliga.
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Guardiola worried about Newcastle game
Pep Guardiola is worried about playing Newcastle only 3 days after winning the Super Cup against Sevilla. The club appealed to the FA to move the game to Monday evening and said they would accept a Sunday game however their pleas were rejected which puts the players at risk and fatigue could be a factor against an aggressive Newcastle side. Guardiola admitted that playing at home helped his team but he is far from happy. Kevin De Bruyne’s hamstring injury means he has to rely more on Rodri and Phil Foden will find more game time as Kevin looks to be out for several months. Guardiola said of Foden, “He can play there but also play outside. We have other alternatives with Mateo Kovacic and the club has given me a very good squad for this season.” Midfielder Rico Lewis is delighted to have signed a five year deal and City are also interested in West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta as cover for De Bruyne.
*City have accepted an offer for Aymeric Laporte to join Saudi club Al Nassr howeverBernado Silva is close to signing a new deal.
United train to strengthen attack
Erik Ten Hag assembled his players at the Carrington Training ground on Tuesday morning and his team talk match analysis was completely different to the team talk 75 miles away in the Wolves camp. Ten Hag was furious with his forwards and made his disappointment quite clear during a breakfast meeting whereas newly installed Wolves coach Gary O’Neill was delighted with his men despite their 0-1 defeat at Old Trafford.
When your defence is the most threatening part of your attack and defender Raphael Verane scores the only goal of the match then something is very wrong. And Ten Hag knows it! Rashford had one of those nights when you had to keep checking to make sure he was playing, Garnacho, for all his energy, misfed passes, lost tackles and was constantly outfought for the ball. Bruno Fernades was strangely quiet despite his usual shouting, Antony also misplaced his passes for most of the match and Mason Mount was causing the United faithful to wonder why the club had spent £85million signing him.
The United success stories were Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Varane and man of the match Casimero.
United were ill-prepared against a Wolves team who were expected to be toothless after losing their coach four days before the start of the season and installing a new coach who had only taken four training sessions.
This week in preparation for the Tottenham game, United played a friendly against Everton on Wednesday at the Carrington Training Centre and Anthony Martial made his first appearance in 79 days. The behind-closed-doors friendly saw McTominay, Maguire and Van De Beek all get a chance to play and United won 2-0.
Facing Tottenham away is not going to be easy and it will be very much the tale of two striking forces. Ange Postecoglou is still sorting out his best strike force after the departure of Harry Kane.
Ward-Prowse takes over in Hammer’s midfield
West Ham coach David Moyes has been a long-time admirer of Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse. His wish came true this week as James was signed for £30million to become the club’s second signing of the transfer season following the arrival of Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez. The 28 year-old ex-Southampton captain will strengthen Moye’s midfield which was the area he was most anxious to improve. Moyes wants Ward-Prowse to be a leader in the dressing room at the London Stadium. West Ham say they might have to go back into the market if Manchester City strike a deal for their Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta.
Caicedo’s family choose Chelsea
Meeting Moises Caicedo was a wonderful moment and I can tell you for sure that this likeable, humble young man was always going to choose Chelsea over a move to the north of England and Liverpool. Why? Because his mother and his family all love London. Arsenal tried to sign him in January and Liverpool thought they had a £115million deal agreed with Brighton for Caicedo’s signature. Chelsea however won the day and Caicedo claims it was former Blue’s midfielders Claude Makelele and N’Golo Kante who inspired him to move to Stamford Bridge plus the influence of his family.
What will Caicedo bring to Chelsea? I don’t think any player in the world is worth £115million however he is very good indeed and will strengthen Mauricio Pochettino’s midfield.
*Brighton have prepared an offer for French club Lille’s Carlos Baleba to replace Caicedo.
Salah apologises
I was disappointed to see Mo Salah’s reaction to being taken off during the Red’s game against Chelsea. Salah, you will remember, tore off his sock tie-ups and threw them onto the ground in front of coach Jurgen Klopp. Salah looked tired and the substitution was correct and the introduction of fresh legs with Elliott and Doak quickened the pace and provided more opportunities to score.
Even the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were often hooked off during games to save them for next time. Jurgen Klopp is a master at handling players and recognised emotional passion from his winger and a quiet word with him after the game put matters right and Salah apologised for not keeping his cool.
Timber could be out for six months
Arsenal have revealed that the injury to defender Julien Timber is more serious than originally diagnosed by their medical team. Timber was covering for injured Oleksandr Zinchenko and this week the medical team have been making further tests to determine the full extent of his injury. A serious anterior cruciate ligament problem could keep him out of the side for six months. Mikel Arteta now has to make a decision whether to let Kieran Tierney leave because Arteta planned to use Timber as his right back given the experience he gained playing in that position and centre back for Ajax. Nottingham Forest player Brennan Johnson fell onto Timber’s leg and despite initially coming out for the second half of the match he had to leave the field after a few minutes. Real Sociedad and Newcastle are interested in taking Tierney and Arsenal admit they have to reduce the size of their squad and save £50million and Arteta could use Takehiro Tomiyasu instead.
