Marcus has to prove himself at Villa

In the end it was the only solution for both club and player. Marcus Rashford, a problem in the dressing room at Manchester United and someone who the coach thought did not give 100 Pper cent in training, finally walked out of the door at Old Trafford. Marcus wanted to leave and his boss Ruben […]

In the end it was the only solution for both club and player. Marcus Rashford, a problem in the dressing room at Manchester United and someone who the coach thought did not give 100 Pper cent in training, finally walked out of the door at Old Trafford. Marcus wanted to leave and his boss Ruben Amorim wanted him out of the club. It is always a shame when players’ club careers turn sour and many Manchester United supporters are still big fans of the England international. December 2024 saw Rashford make his final appearance in the Europa League against Viktoria Plzen. Whether Marcus succeeds at his loan club Aston Villa remains to be seen but it is very much up to him. He will undoubtedly get game time because he is still a top -class player at 27 years of age. Villa are paying 75 per cent of his wages and they have not paid any loan fee so for the Midlands club this is a very good deal. There is a buy clause in the loan contract and if Marcus proves himself at Villa Park he could be signed permanently at the end of the season. His preferred choice was Barcelona but the Spanish giants decided not to bid for his services.

 

Arsenal players taunt Haaland

In the dressing room at half time before Arsenal humiliated Manchester City last weekend, Mikel Arteta told his players to cut out the verbal abuse as Gabriel renewed his rivalry with Erling Haaland. When Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard scored in the 2nd minute, a celebrating Gabriel ran past Haaland calling out to the striker. Myles Lewis-Skelly put a clever ball into the net to make the score 3-1 and immediately mimicked Haaland’s trademark celebration by sitting in a yoga like position with his wrists resting on his knees and one finger touching his thumb. Haaland was not impressed and it racked up the tension between the two sides.

It was last September that Haaland actually started all this aggression by throwing the ball at the back of Gabriel when City scored in the 2-2 drawn match. Arteta would not be drawn into a conversation about the incidents but said his players knew his view and they should stop.

 

Delap remains top of Chelsea’s wish list

Many Chelsea supporters have been left disappointed as the Blues failed to bring in a recognised striker. The January window is notoriously difficult to buy players because most clubs do not want to unbalance their team mid-season. Very often January is a panic buy period when clubs that have squad weaknesses try to buy their way out of trouble and therefore prices become inflated. Chelsea had a short list of strikers with Benjamin Sesko and Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap at the very top. Victor Osimhen is still of interest but they lost out to West Ham who signed Brighton’s Evan Ferguson on loan.

• NIWA MD frowns against indolence, sabotage to revenue drive
• Experts divided over Tinubu’s budget expansion proposal

Many feel that Nicolas Jackson has been forced to carry the strikers’ pressure of scoring goals for too long and his form has deteriorated compared to the start of the season.

I have been told that Chelsea’s main interest is Liam Delap, the Ipswich striker. He has ambitions to play for England and if the Tractor Boys are relegated at the end of the season they will have little chance of hanging onto their star who is only 21 years of age which fits in with Chelsea’s blueprint of buying young players and signing them up on long contracts. 

 

Martinez could be out for rest of the season

I am afraid the news on Manchester United’s centre back Lisandro Martinez is not good. I spoke with my medical sources and his cruciate knee ligament injury could keep him out of the team for the rest of this season. He was carried off the field while clutching his knee after a fall  and was in tears in the dressing room caused by the pain. It could take up to nine months to recover from such an injury and it is the second time the Argentine player has suffered a knee injury and he was sidelined for two months last season with a medial collateral ligament injury which meant he had to walk with a stick to support his weight in case the knee gave way.

 

Postecoglou grateful to his players

Ange Postecoglou called his players together on Tuesday morning and on the training ground and thanked each and every one of his squad for their commitment in defeating Brentford 2-0. There were some standout performances from Dejan Kulusevski, Ben Davies, Richarlison, Son Heung-min and Djed Spence. Even the fans joined in by singing “We’re staying up” referring to just how far Tottenham have tumbled down the league table.

Tottenham had suffered seven games without a win and lost their four previous games. The club management had earlier spoken about a possible coach replacement and if they had lost against Brentford, there was pressure from several quarters to review Ange’s position as coach.

 

Hudson-Odoi fighting back to fitness

Nuno Espirito Santos and his team travelled to Dubai for some warm weather training this week and with them went Callum Hudson-Odoi. The 24- year-old has been a great success for Forest since joining from Chelsea and he has scored three goals and made two assists in 22 games across all competitions. His command down the left hand side of the field and cutting in to deliver penetrating centres have been very impressive. He has become a firm fans’ favourite. The left winger was taken off the field after 38 minutes against Southampton on January 19th after suffering a groin injury and has been missing since that game. Hudson-Odoi’s absence sparked two very weird results, being defeated 5-0 against Bournemouth and then coming  back to beat Brighton 7-0. Their next game is a tricky one away to Fulham on the 15th February and Callum should be fit.

 

Moyes and fans enjoy his return and their recent success

Everton supporters are living the dream again now that David Moyes is back in charge at Goodison Park. They sang their songs and even cheered the much criticised striker Beto during the 4-0 demolition of Leicester.

Suddenly after a long period of suffering under Sean Dyche’s coaching regime, Everton are back in form. Moyes told us that it all reminded him of the good old days when he coached the Toffees and constantly kept them in the top half of the table. He said, “I’ve got to say I enjoyed hearing the crowd and I thought in the second half they were brilliant. I admit the last few years have been difficult but that was more like what I can remember. I think that’s the bit I am enjoying.

Everton fans are enjoying themselves too. With financial restrictions the Friedkin Group owners managed to welcome a new signing in the transfer period. Carlos Alcaraz has arrived on loan from Brazilian club Flamengo. He is an aggressive tough central midfielder and although this is a loan deal there is an option to purchase for £15million at the end of the season. David Moyes was consulted on the move and gave his approval.