Some Manchester United supporters are rapidly going off the idea of signing Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic this summer after the player’s recent performances for Serbia at the World Cup.
The 23-year-old international featured in all three matches for his country, initially impressing with a strong performance against Costa Rica in Serbia’s opening match.
However, subsequent defeats to Switzerland and Brazil have ensured they exit the competition and Milinkovic-Savic himself has failed to impress in the middle of the park against better opposition.
The midfielder has been linked heavily with a move to Old Trafford in recent months, but it seems his latest performances are turning some off a potential switch, despite an excellent 2017/18 season with Italian side Lazio.
His performance against Brazil on Wednesday night has caused particular concern, with these Man United fans taking to Twitter to share their worries about spending too much money on the player…
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Aleksandar Mitrovic struggled to impress Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez in the first half of the season.
The Serbian was towards the bottom of the pecking order, but he has now been given a lease of life at Fulham.
The 23-year-old moved to Craven Cottage in January on a loan deal until the end of the campaign and in his last two outings, he has managed to find the back of the net.
The most recent was on Saturday when he secured the team’s second goal in their 2-0 victory over Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers.
During Sky Sports live EFL broadcast (5.15pm) pundit Steve Sidwell likened Mitrovic to former Chelsea star Diego Costa, who scored 20 goals for Chelsea last season before leaving in the summer to rejoin Atletico Madrid.
“He offers that focal point at the top of the play, if you look at his style, it’s very similar to Diego Costa. He’s very bullish, strong and you don’t want to take that away from him because if you do you lose the player that he is. What you’ve seen is classic Mitrovic, he wants to feel defenders, wants them to be touch tight, roll them and get his shot away.”
It is unclear whether the forward will return to Newcastle when the season comes to an end as a lot may depend on the Magpies’ league status.
At the moment, the North-East outfit are just two points above the relegation zone in the Premier League and are struggling for wins having picked up just the one in their last seven top-flight games.
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On Saturday, Newcastle relinquished a 2-0 lead – both goals scored by Dwight Gayle – to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
The travelling side conceded twice in the final 10 minutes of the clash.
After recording the third-worst goals conceded record in the Premier League’s top nine last season and only ten clean sheets, Brendan Rodgers has sought to bolster his Liverpool defence with the acquisition of Southampton centre-half Dejan Lovren.
The highly-rated Croatia international officially moved to Anfield last month in a £20million deal, but it remains to be seen just how he’ll fit into the Reds’ starting XI.
The underlying question being which Liverpool centre-back would partner him best? Kolo Toure is now largely considered a reserve option, leaving it a choice between three defenders – Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho.
There’s certainly some debate to be had, with each centre-back representing rather different styles and individual strengths and weaknesses.
And being the renowned mass debaters we are at Football Fancast, this article takes a look at all three.
[ffc-gallery]CLICK ON DEJAN LOVREN TO REVEAL
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DANIEL AGGER
Daniel Agger tends to split opinion outside of the Liverpool fanbase. Some see him as a top Premier League centre-back, others view him however as dangerously overrated.
But I think we can all agree that the Danish stopper hasn’t quite reached the world-class-ball-playing-defender heights expected since netting his sensational debut goal for the Reds way back in 2006:
Of course, the 29 year-old comes with a lot of other qualities even if the marauding runs and 40-yard piledrivers have slipped out his game. For starters he’s the Anfield vice captain, only second to Steven Gerrard, which speaks volumes about his leadership abilities.
He also has You’ll Never Walk Alone tattooed across his knuckles, so you can’t question Agger’s commitment:
But Brendan Rodgers called on the 6 foot 3 centre-back just 16 times in a starting capacity last season – just once more than the much-maligned Kolo Toure.
The leading factor being, in my opinion at least, that Agger is prone to individual errors. He made just one less than Martin Skrtel last term in less than half the amount of game-time, as viewable below:
His handball against Stoke City on the first day of the 2013/14 campaign is a classic example (Skip to three mins):
That being said, the Danish international’s Premier League experience, now spanning nine seasons, is undoubted, and rather amazingly, he didn’t pick up a single yellow card last season, as viewable below:
But with rumours rife that Agger could be on his way to Barcelona – a deal that would suit both parties quite well at this moment in time – it seems more likely that he’ll be exiting Anfield this summer than starting for the Merseysiders next season:
MARTIN SKRTEL
A tough, old-school defender, Martin Skrtel’s thuggish mentality could compliment Dejan Lovren’s more progressive ball-playing style perfectly.
Furthermore, the Slovakia international was in fine form last term, netting seven times and making the most appearances of any outfield player on the Anfield roster, as detailed below:
Most of which followed this rather predictable template:
Likewise, on the statistical front, Skrtel bettered his centre-back partners by quite some way last season:
A 91% pass completion rate isn’t too bad either – especially considering the concerns over Skrtel’s quality in possession when Brendan Rodgers first took the Liverpool hotseat.
The 29 year-old’s greatest flaw however remains his ill-discipline. As you can see, he was the Reds’ worst centre-back in this regard last season by quite some way:
But he remains an ever-present organisational lynch-pin in an otherwise chaotic Liverpool backline and the continuity he provides at the heart of defence could prove vital next year whilst Lovren is still bedding in to life on Merseyside.
MAMADOU SAKHO
Mamadou Sakho’s first season in the Premier League was rather turbulent. The 24 year-old certainly produced good displays, but they were juxtaposed by a number of clumbsy and nervous performances.
But Brendan Rodgers splashed out a whopping £15million on the former PSG star last summer and to get full value his complete integration into the Liverpool first team must come sooner rather than later.
Sakho will be high in confidence at this moment in time too following a strong World Cup campaign with France. Here’s his vitals from the tournament and last season:
Furthermore, for a defender often alleged to be a liability in possession, the 6 foot 2 centre-back actually recorded the best pass completion rate of any Liverpool player last season, as detailed below:
Statistically, he edged out his centre-back partners on the passing front last season, the most impressive stat being his number of forward passes per match:
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Despite criticisms otherwise, Sakho’s technique looks pretty solid to me:
Here’s a look at some of the France international’s best moments from last year:
WHO GETS THE NOD?
Although Sakho’s statistically-proven utility in possession might initially suggest he and Dejan Lovren are too similar in style, I believed that shared comfort on the ball could well spawn a strong partnership between the two.
It certainly falls into Brendan Rodgers’ progressive philosophy and getting both defenders, the youngest first team centre-backs available to the Anfield gaffer, working together should be the ultimate aim – the end-game scenario, if you will.
But Sakho has amassed just 18 appearances thus far in his Premier League career and Lovren, likewise, only 31.
With that in mind, and Daniel Agger likely to leave for the Nou Camp, it is my suggestion that Martin Skrtel remains ever-present at the heart of defence whilst Lovren gets over the inevitable teething pains of switching clubs.
In the long run however, Sakho and Lovren could well be the partnership that brings consistent success back to Merseyside.
The only prevailing issue could be that both prefer the left-centre-back role. With the Frenchman a natural left-footer unlike the former Southampton star, it will likely be down to Lovren to transition himself to the other side.
Whatever region of the country you find yourself in, there will always be local clubs who view one another as rivals. Be that the Midlands, London, Manchester or Merseyside – England has some of the biggest derbies on the football calendar.
Some of these rivalries have existed for over 100 years, some exist because of geographical proximity, whereas others exist between clubs that battle it out for silverware every season. Nonetheless, these rivalries all have a fascinating history.
Unfortunately, derby days are often marred by violence and rioting. The atmosphere of these games can affect players like that of no other game – and red cards are highly likely in these ties. This list comprises 15 of the fiercest rivalries in the English game, with some of these being particularly intimidating affairs.
Click on the North London derby the unveil the 15
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Have I missed any great English rivalries? Are there any particular sides that your team has a chequered history with? Let me know on Twitter @dudeyoungy
England legend steps into new role at club despite controversy for remarks on ICEC report
ESPNcricinfo staff20-Dec-2024Ian Botham has been elected as honorary president of Durham, after completing a seven-year term as the club chair, with Phil Collins, his vice-chair, stepping into the role with immediate effect.Botham, who was appointed in 2017 having played for Durham in the club’s maiden seasons as a first-class county in 1992 and 1993, attracted controversy last year for his scathing response to the report into cricket’s racism crisis by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC), which he described as “nonsense” and claimed he “threw down on the floor”.In response, ICEC chair Cindy Butts told MPs at a Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing in February that the ECB lacked “a moral backbone” in failing to distance itself from Botham’s comments, adding that Botham himself had been asked to give evidence to the inquiry, but had not responded.Speaking after the end of Botham’s Durham tenure was confirmed, ECB Chair Richard Thompson said: “Over 50 years, Lord Botham has made a huge contribution to English cricket and in particular to Durham, first as a player before returning as chair in 2017 at a very challenging time for the club.”Collins, who became vice-chair and a director of Durham in 2017, enters the role with over 35 years’ of commercial and marketing experience in various industries, along with a lifelong passion for cricket.He takes over with Durham restored to the top flight of the County Championship, having been relegated back in 2016 as punishment for a financial crisis that required the ECB to bail them out.Botham took over as chair soon afterwards, and said in a press release from the club: “I am delighted with what has been achieved at the Club during my tenure both on and off the field.”Our men’s team have performed superbly in recent times and this was evident with our promotion to Division One and our performances last year in the topflight.”Our successful Tier 1 bid is huge for the region and we are absolutely delighted to bring professional women’s sport to the region.”It’s a huge endorsement of the pathway we already have at Durham and the potential of the region and our squad and coaching staff is coming together very nicely.”I look forward to working with Phil to achieve our goals and build on our successes, as I wish him all the best as our new Club Chair.”Collins added: “I’m delighted to have taken on the role of chair in what is a very exciting time for Durham Cricket. Lord Ian and the board has laid strong foundations for many years and I am looking forward to building on the work which has been achieved.”The response to my election has been magnificent and everyone has been very supportive. “I can’t wait for the season to start and for our men’s and women’s teams to get competing on the field, while we work on some exciting projects off it too.”
Australia are relying on him to be their second spinner in the World Cup
Deivarayan Muthu07-Oct-2023The Chepauk pitch for Australia’s World Cup opener against India is set to be a black-soil one, which generally offers more purchase to spinners than the red-soil variant. It is in anticipation of such conditions that India have made room for R Ashwin’s return and he may very well be part of the XI on Sunday as part of a three-man spin attack alongside Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.Australia, however, have gone down a different route. They were forced to look beyond Ashton Agar when it was revealed that he had suffered a calf injury but instead of picking another spinner in his place, they chose Marnus Labuschagne, and are at this World Cup with only one specialist slow bowler – Adam Zampa. They will also have to do without Travis Head’s offbreaks for at least the first half of the tournament too.Australia’s answer to these concerns starts with the letter G and ends with the letters lenn Maxwell. Their management has already backed him and on the eve of their opening game of the campaign against one of the tournament favourites, their captain Pat Cummins gave his own seal of approval as well.”Yeah, I think so,” Cummins said when asked if Maxwell is capable of bowling eight to ten overs every game. “You know, again, it’s good that we’ve got plenty of bowling. But yeah, we’ve seen Max – he’s a frontline spin bowler. In the 2015 World Cup, he was the sole spinner in basically every single match I think – other than one – so really happy with how he’s going. I thought he bowed really well in that third ODI against India [just before the World Cup]. So yeah, we’ve got 20 overs of spin out there if we need it.Related
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“He is always working on some things, even if it’s not variations. It’s [about] different fields, different ways you bowl – and yeah, I think with age and experience as well, you just get a bit more clever and you need that as a spin bowler. So he’s got an amazing knack of – if he misses out with the bat – with the ball, and vice versa. He’s always in the game. So yeah, no doubt expecting a big tournament from Maxi.”In the warm-up game against Pakistan earlier this week, Cummins had matched Maxwell’s offspin with the left-hander Fakhar Zaman in the powerplay. Maxwell responded by striking in his first over, having Fakhar skewing a catch to cover-point. With India likely to have an extra left-hander at the top in the form of Ishan Kishan in the place of an ill Shubman Gill, Cummins could once again turn to Maxwell’s offbreaks for early breakthroughs.Maxwell’s dynamic batting also lends greater depth to Australia’s line-up, though Marcus Stoinis remains a doubtful starter for Sunday’s fixture. Mitchell Marsh, Australia’s six-hitting machine, has also resumed bowling in the lead-up to the World Cup. Then there’s also Cameron Green, who will compete with Stoinis for a spot in the XI. Cummins was pleased with the flexibility offered by his allrounders.Adam Zampa had a gash on his face during training, but Pat Cummins said it was “all good”•AFP/Getty Images
“I guess the luxury about the allrounders is they do make the side as the top-seven batters,” he said. “You know, they genuinely pick themselves from their batting, and their bowling is kind of a bonus. So, yeah, we’re lucky that we’re going to have seven or eight bowlers to choose from. But no doubt you’ll see more from the specialist overs, and the allrounders will chip in when they need to.”Zampa’s ten overs will be especially key for Australia right through this World Cup. He has grown into an extremely versatile one-day bowler. In fact, he is the most prolific ODI spinner among Full-Member nations since the end of the last World Cup, with 77 strikes in 37 games at an economy rate of 5.29.Zampa has already left his mark on India too. He and Agar had spun Australia to a bilateral series victory right here in Chennai earlier this year. Can he do it once again, along with Maxwell, this time when the stakes are higher, and with the odds that are stacked against Australia even higher?Yes, if the swimming pool gods have any sway. Alex Carey walked straight into one in Karachi and for a little while he was unstoppable. (Test average from 10 innings pre-dip: 20, Test average from nine innings post-dip 71). Now it looks like its Zampa’s turn, because when asked in the press conference about the gash on his lead spinner’s face, Cummins said, “yeah, he swam into the pool wall apparently. He said he had his eyes closed and thought he was swimming in a straight line and swam into the step in the pool. Yeah, no, he’s all good. He’s just a little bit sore.”
It could take the India batter around two months to return to action
ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2022KL Rahul has undergone surgery for a sports hernia, in Germany, and said that the process was “successful”. Return to action is likely to take time, but the “road to recovery has begun”, he tweeted on Wednesday night.The usual timeframe for an athlete to return to full activity after a sports hernia surgery, with proper therapy and rehabilitation, which Rahul is expected to undergo at Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy, is between six and 12 weeks.
Rahul led new franchise Lucknow Super Giants to the playoffs of IPL 2022, ending the competition as the second-highest run-getter with 616 runs in 15 innings at an average of 51.33 and a strike rate of 135.38. Only Jos Buttler scored more runs than Rahul.But he was subsequently left out of the squad for the home T20Is against South Africa shortly after the end of the IPL, with “a right groin injury” cited by the BCCI as the reason. Kuldeep Yadav had also been left out of the side, because of a hand injury, and the BCCI had confirmed that Rahul and Kuldeep would report to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, where the medical team would “assess them further and decide on the future course of treatment”. That was on June 8.Rahul had been named the captain of that side after regular captain Rohit Sharma, as well as Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were rested for the series. Rishabh Pant was named captain after Rahul had to pull out, as the series ended 2-2 with the last match ending in a no-result. More recently, in Ireland, Hardik Pandya led India to a 2-0 win in the two-T20I series. Rahul was not considered for selection for the just-concluded tour of Ireland or the Test match in Birmingham, which starts tomorrow.
The batsman’s residency status is causing issues but the coach is in no doubt he is a Test player
Andrew McGlashan02-Apr-2021New Zealand coach Gary Stead is hopeful that issues around Devon Conway’s ability to leave and return to the country in the prevailing Covid-19 border restrictions will be sorted in time for him to be part of the Test squad to travel to England in May.The tour includes two Tests against England and then the World Test Championship final against India at the end of June. Conway, who qualified for New Zealand last August, has yet to make his Test debut but after a stellar season in limited-overs cricket, he has made an almost irrefutable case for a place in the squad, although how he gets into the XI remains a puzzle for the selectors.Under current New Zealand government border regulations, only permanent residents of the country can leave and return because of the Covid-19 processes involved. Although Conway qualified for national duty last year, his residency application remains to be completed – with the pandemic adding to the delay – so either that needs to be fast-tracked or an exemption will need to be gained.Related
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“Think it’s still in the pipeline but my understanding is Devon has been spoken to and is hopeful everything will be in place before [the tour],” Stead said. “You’ve all seen how Devon’s played this year; think I want him part of that Test squad, definitely.”I knew he was a good player, guess at times you can be pleasantly surprised how people make that adjustment. Devon looks like he’s got all the skills of being an amazing player. We are very fortunate that we’ve had people in our squad like Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson and you see someone like Devon Conway come along and you think here’s another guy who could be in that class.”New Zealand will take a large squad of 20 players on the England tour•Getty Images
New Zealand will take a squad of 20 to England – the group will be named next Thursday – so there is plenty of room for Conway, but there isn’t an easy answer for who he replaces in the XI if he is to make his debut. Will Young was preferred as the next-in-line batsman earlier in the season against West Indies.Apart from captain Williamson, Taylor, Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls would appear to be locked in. But with an average of 29.75 in his last nine Tests, the spotlight could come on Taylor, which potentially leaves one batting slot unless the balance of the side is changed to leave out an allrounder.There could be a short-term opening for the first Test against England, which starts June 2, if Williamson is unavailable because of his IPL commitments, but that would only kick the longer-term decision down the road.Tom Blundell has been Latham’s most recent opening partner (Young replaced him for one Test this season when Blundell took the gloves) but although Conway averages over 60 at No. 3 in first-class cricket, opening would not be his natural position.New Zealand have rotated their No. 7 between Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner this season, depending on conditions, and if they feel able to go into a Test with just four specialist quicks, Conway could play as another batsman.The early part of the England tour is likely to be a bit of a juggling act for New Zealand. There is the potential for IPL players to arrive at various stages depending on when their teams are knocked out, and then their availability would be based on any quarantine required, although at this stage Stead expects everyone to be available for the second Test. The initial 20-man squad will then be trimmed to 15 for the WTC final.”It’s an interesting time at the moment because there’s a whole heap of different moving parts. We’ve selected what we think our XI is likely to be – or 12-13 depending on conditions – then looked that we have cover for each of those spots as well,” Stead said of picking the larger squad. “They’ll still be people disappointed to miss the squad and again think that’s the great thing about the depth we are showing at the moment.”The final round of the Plunket Shield takes place this weekend with some New Zealand players involved then those on contract will have two or three weeks off before a series of training camps are arranged ahead of the England trip with the squad due to depart mid-May.
Chahar’s record six-for has put him at 42nd among bowlers, while Oman’s Zeeshan Maqsood is now the sixth-best allrounder in the world
ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2019Twin half-centuries in the first two T20Is in Australia helped Babar Azam consolidate his position at the top of the men’s T20I rankings for batsmen. There was major movement just below him with Dawid Malan moving up all the way to No. 3 and Aaron Finch jumping from No. 4 to No. 2 in the latest update.Among bowlers, Deepak Chahar was the toast of town after recording the best figures in men’s T20Is – 6 for 7 – in the third T20I against Bangladesh, and while that helped him move up 88 spots to No. 42, it remains a list dominated by spinners: Rashid Khan is still at the top and only two quicks, Andile Phehlukwayo at six and Chris Jordan at ten, are in the top ten.Malan has made a brilliant start to his T20I career, scoring 458 runs at a strike rate of 156.31 in his nine games to date, with the 51-ball 103* in the fourth T20I against New Zealand his best so far. But Malan, and Finch – 37*, 17 and 52* against Pakistan – remain well behind Azam, who has 876 points to the Australian’s 807 and the Englishman’s 782. Below them in the top ten are Colin Munro, Glenn Maxwell, Hazratullah Zazai, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Martin Guptill and Eoin Morgan.Chahar’s upward movement, or the performance of the other bowlers in that series, haven’t impacted the top of that list, with Mitchell Santner, Imad Wasim, Adam Zampa and Shadab Khan below Rashid and ahead of Phehlukwayo, and Adil Rashid, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Ashton Agar also in the top ten. Santner, who picked up 11 wickets in New Zealand’s series of five matches against England, has reached the second place for the first time since climbing to the top in January 2018.The update includes the recent men’s T20 World Cup qualifiers, and his 12 wickets in the competition has lifted Scotland left-arm spinner Mark Watt 13 spots to No. 15. Among batsmen, Papua New Guinea’s Tony Ura has moved up to No. 37, one spot above Jonny Bairstow and Mohammad Naim, the Bangladesh batsman who made a name for himself after hitting a quick 81 in the last game against India. Also within the top 50 were Scotland’s Calum MacLeod (No. 44), UAE’s Muhammad Usman (No. 45) and Oman’s Jatinder Singh (No. 46).With Glenn Maxwell having taken an indefinite break from the game, Mohammad Nabi has moved to the top of the allrounders’ rankings, while in a big development, Oman’s Zeeshan Maqsood has jumped to No. 6.In the team rankings, Pakistan’s 2-0 series loss in Australia hasn’t cost them the No. 1 spot, but the difference between the two sides has been trimmed to just one point.
CEO Thabang Moroe said meetings with broadcasters and sponsors are ongoing, but didn’t specify how the dilemma of reducing two teams would be resolved with GLT20 franchises
Firdose Moonda31-Jul-2018Cricket South Africa’s yet-to-be-named flagship T20 tournament will consist of six teams, two fewer than the Global T20 League (GLT20) was due to have, and the same as the current number of domestic franchises. CSA’s board approved the number of teams on Saturday, CEO Thabang Moroe revealed, but it has not yet decided where those teams will be based.Interested members from the 12 provincial affiliates will need to bid for a team in the new tournament. CSA have appointed independent analytics agency Nielsen Sports to conduct research and present a proposal to the CSA board recommending which six teams to include in the tournament, which Moroe said will likely consist of 32 matches to be played in November and December this year.”There will be certain criteria applied by Nielsen which will involve monies, the ability to pull crowds, infrastructure around you and governmental support. The process will be independent,” Moroe said at a press conference in Johannesburg.That new format will therefore be dissimilar to the current domestic competition, the Ram Slam, which will also be played in the 2018-19 summer. The Ram Slam is contested between the existing franchises, who each have two home stadiums, thus ensuring the competition is taken all across the country. The new competition is unlikely to have similar reach with the big stadiums – The Wanderers, SuperSport Park, Newlands, Kingsmead, St George’s Park and Mangaung Oval – the frontrunners for a flagship tournament.No other details about the new league have been finalised but Moroe provide an assurance that his office is hard at work. “The league continues as far as planning is concerned. We have continued to meet with the broadcasters and with corporates for sponsorship opportunities,” Moroe said. “But we are not as far as we would like to be in terms of sponsorship.”Neither has CSA managed to sort out the issues that arose from the previous team owners’ unhappiness, so much so that three of the eight threatened to take legal action against CSA. Moroe will travel to Dubai and Mumbai between August 8 and 12 to meet with the previous owners to “discuss the future of the league and the future of Cricket South Africa.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Hiren Bhanu, owner of the Pretoria Mavericks who had offered CSA US$70 million over 11 years to buy the league, will attend the meetings in Mumbai. Bhanu remains hopeful of securing an equity share in the new league.So do the owners of the Durban Qalanders, Nelson Mandela Bay Stars and Bloem City Blazers, who all issued press releases in June confirming they reserved their rights as owners and wished to be reinstated. With the tournament now having shrunk from eight to six teams, it will be impossible for CSA to hold on to all the former owners, and Moroe did not elaborate on how the organisation plans to solve this new dilemma.