David Moyes admits that his Manchester United side were ‘terrible’ in their Capital One Cup exit to Sunderland last night, according to the Mirror.
“If we were going to get through, we were going to stumble over the line, not because we played well enough,” Moyes sighed.
United managed to only score one out of their five spot kicks when the game went to penalties after an aggregate 3-3 tie.
Danny Welbeck, Adnan Januzaj and Phil Jones were the culprits before Rafael’s shot was saved by Sunderland’s Vito Manonne to send the Black Cats to their first final in 22 years.
This exit means the Red Devils are now left with only the Champions League to play for, being knocked out of the FA Cup and the Premier League title out of reach.
“We didn’t play well enough to merit going through,” a deflated David Moyes said.
“Sunderland came here and deservedly got themselves in the final.
“In the end, I just don’t think we got the level of performance we needed to get through the game. It went to penalties – and our penalties were terrible. Ideally, it wouldn’t have been the group we had chosen. Javier would have taken a penalty but was injured and people like Michael Carrick would have been involved.”
“But the bigger disappointment was how we played. Of course you would expect a better standard because, don’t forget, there were a lot of internationals out there.
The former Everton chief was also left disappointed by his number one goalkeeper David De Gea, who fumbled a relatively tame shot that rolled into his net in extra time.
“David’s been really good this season,” the Scot said.
“Keepers do make mistakes but it was a costly one, with a minute to go, but that happens in football.”
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Moyes was however quiet on the recent rumors of a bid for Chelsea’s Juan Mata.
Oh dear, the news Liverpool fans have been fearing for a little while now has broken…. Raheem Sterling wants out. Although his agent has since claimed that things have been “blown somewhat out of proportion”, smoke without fire is rare, and with the Reds’ season confirmed as a failure, claims of seeking trophies and success lend some backing to potential desires to leave.
The 20-year-old has been one of the Merseysiders’ standout performers this season, with his performances far above the level ordinarily expected of such a young talent. He’s led the line for the club, scored the most Premier league goals from open play of anyone in the squad and has worked well when deployed from his natural wide role.
Reports claim that £35m may be needed to lure him away, and should Brendan Rodgers lose the England international a replacement would be needed. But, Liverpool need a player with scope to improve, one able to play all across the front three and one able to fit into the Northern Irishman’s set-up… and all of this for a relatively low fee. Difficult, then! However, here are FIVE options…
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Alexandre Lacazette
Perhaps the ideal solution to the problems at Liverpool is Lacazette. The France international has been, arguably, the most impressive player away from the giants of the game in European football this term, smashing 27 Ligue 1 goals in 33 outings to fire unfancied Lyon to a shock title challenge – they ultimately lost out to PSG, though. In recent days the player himself has suggested that he may leave, which has alerted the Reds.
With pace, an eye for goal and the ability to play on either flank or as a main centre-forward, Lacazette is ideally suited to a Rodgers team, an could provide cover for Daniel Sturridge or potentially work in tandem with him. He is also able to fill Sterling’s role from wide.
Mauro Icardi
Another impressive player on the continent right now is Icardi. The Argentine is not dissimilar to former Kop hero Luis Suarez in his playing style, with high-energy hustle and bustle what is on offer from him. Icardi is, though, a very talented player, with his 19 goals for an Inter Milan team entrenched in midtable battle showing just what he’s capable of in the final third.
Chelsea are the side believed to be leading the race for his signature, but Liverpool have been linked with him since the summer of 2014, so they could opt to swoop.
Saido Berahino
West Brom’s Berahino has enjoyed a fine breakthrough season. The Baggies ace has always had the talent, but often a perceived lack of application has cost him in his pursuit of becoming a Premier League-standard attacker. However, he’s knuckled down at the Hawthorns this term, and a return of 14 goals is impressive given that he’s still only 21.
Liverpool are one of a host of clubs thought to be looking at him this summer, and with West Brom unlikely to be able to resist sizable offers, he could head to Anfield. A quick striker able to occupy roles on the flank or at the apex of a midfield diamond? Perfect.
Stevan Jovetic
Jovetic presents an interesting option. Supremely talented and celebrated during his time with Fiorentina, the Montenegrin certainly has ability. However, his two years at Manchester City have been quiet to say the least, with injuries and competition having limited his playing time. Is he good enough? Could he be saved by Liverpool?
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Reports have revealed that the Reds are indeed keen, and after reviving Daniel Sturridge’s career, perhaps a Premier League giant’s trash could be their treasure again. He appears well-suited to Rodgers’ way of playing, with neat skills and decent finishing ability partnered by an ability to occupy any role in the final third.
Luciano Vietto
21-years-old, pacey, able to play as a striker and from out wide and unlikely to command vast wages, Vietto ticks the boxes for Liverpool. The Argentine has been impressive for Villarreal in La Liga this term, finding the net on 12 occasions to keep the Yellow Submarine in the driving seat for European qualification – a big deal considering their recent relegation/promotion blip.
Liverpool are understood to be keen, but he appears to be a background target.
Finding the back of the net for the England national side has brought Raheem Sterling back into the headlines, the focal point being Sterling’s contract negotiations with current club Liverpool.
The 20-year-old has tried to divert attention from the situation by saying he is focussed on football for the time being, and his contract will be sorted out come the summer. But does Sterling have big plans away from Anfield?
Sterling has been one to watch this term. On the opening day of the season, Raheem found the back of the net for Liverpool in a 2-1 win over Southampton. He scored again at White Hart Lane, where has was named the Man of the Match. Thus far, Sterling has six goals under his belt, as well as seven assists. Back in December, Sterling was the recipient of the Golden Boy award: an accolade previously received by Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba and Lionel Messi.
But his form and applause has also resulted in Sterling claiming he has been tired during this domestic season. This is understandable; going from a title-challenging season, to the World Cup and then a new Premier League season is always going to take its toll on a player. But the youngster was heavily criticised for admitting his fatigue.
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As Sterling has not signed a new contract, the transfer rumour mill has run wild. Arsenal are one of the teams in question hoping to secure Sterling’s signature, but they may been put off by his performance against them at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Tensions ran high between the two sides over the signing of Barcelona’s Luis Suarez, a battle which Brendan Rodgers won.
Aside from the north London club, though, Manchester City are also believed to be interested in securing his signature, as are Real Madrid, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
Liverpool are thought to be offering Sterling a huge £100,000-a-week to keep him at Anfield, though some media outlets reporting the weekly wage could be double that. This is quite a step up from his current salary, thought to be roughly £35,000 per week. But, could the fact Sterling is cooling it on the contract front mean it’s about more than the money?
An opportunity to play for Real Madrid – if the rumours are true – may not come around again for Sterling. Could anyone turn down one of the biggest clubs in the world? Just ask Gareth Bale and you might get your answer.
Whether Raheem Sterling will be a Liverpool player or not, next season seems to be up in the air. Liverpool are keen to keep the midfielder, but he may have bigger and better offers elsewhere, especially if Brendan Rodgers’ side fail to qualify for the Champions League.
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The Reds have just eight games left to play this season, so Sterling has little time to assess his options. But, if Real Madrid are interested, you would think there is a high chance Sterling could face his old team mate Suarez in the El Clasico next year.
The direction of Arsenal’s seasons in recent weeks has been one of an uncontrollable, free-wheeling bike ride downhill with disconnected brake cables. Yet when the club found something to be truly happy about bitter fans and media trolls have lambasted both supporters and players for their jubilation.Arsenal’s inexorable season meltdown had threatened to reach a genuine watershed moment as the Gunners found themselves 1-0 down to Wigan in their FA Cup semi-final, only to rally late and win the game on penalties. The celebrations represented a side who not only acknowledged the magnitude of the occasion, but also an outpouring of relief. A loss would have been immeasurably disastrous for their season. But triumph kept dreams alive. If you can be mortified at defeat, you can be jubilant in victory.For many of these, the facts have been overlooked.
The idea that a group of top level professional footballers don’t have the right to celebrate progression into a major cup final is ludicrous. And to criticise a team of not being winners because they celebrate victory is quite frankly embarrassing in itself.
Every single one of these players have reached this level in their profession because they all possess a voracious appetite for victory. The day they no longer enjoy victory is the day they lose their competitive edge. And furthermore, to belittle the Arsenal players for celebrating the victory is to belittle Wigan Athletic; something nobody dared do after their victory over Man City at the Etihad.
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But just to make sure, next time a team wins, make sure to run it by these critical folk before enjoying it.
Scans on Manchester City defender Micah Richards have revealed that he may only miss up to two months with a knee injury.
At first the knock was believed to be a lot worse and Richards will see a specialist on Tuesday to decide whether or not surgery is going to be needed.
It was originally feared that the big City defender had damaged his ligaments and could have been a long term injury concern, but the area of cartilage between his knee and thigh bone looks better than first feared.
Reports on Monday suggested that the England defender has already undergone surgery but the club has come out saying that’s not the case and that the club’s medical staff were discussing the best course of action.
Richards might have to undergo keyhole surgery today at a Manchester hospital and that could keep him out for up to six to eight weeks.
The injury came in the club’s 1-0 win against Swansea and after collapsing in agony in the penalty box, the defender was stretchered off and given oxygen.
It was a painful blow to Richards who was only making his third appearance of the season after a number of setbacks. It’s the second injury he’s suffered this season – Richards also missed the opening to the season after injuring his ankle while playing for Great Britain at the Olympics.
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Premier League managers are always keen to secure new arrivals in their squad, regularly entering the transfer market for the next big thing. With home-grown status becoming more and more craved, due to new squad quota rulings, the prices of English talent has inflated drastically.
Foreign imports have always been much craved in the Premier League, yet the passion and commitment of British stars has always formed the backbone of the set-up.
Due to their increasing price tags, many English players have have struggled with the burden of high hopes weighing heavily on their shoulders. The media often pounce on failure, with a desire to find stories to fill column inches, ramping up the pressure on players still adjusting to new surroundings.
This list looks at 15 victims of the inflated fees associated with English talent.
Click on the Liverpool duo below to see 15 victims of inflated fees
According to ESPN FC, West Ham United have expressed an interest in signing Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic, who is rated at €5m (approximately £4.5m) according to Transfermarkt, on loan until the end of the season.
What’s the word, then?
Well, ESPN FC says that the Irons, along with Premier League rivals Huddersfield Town and Championship side Aston Villa are all keen on the Serbia international, with Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said to be open to him leaving on a temporary basis in order to play regularly.
ESPN FC says that the 21-year-old’s potential destination will be the one where he is guaranteed to play the most, meaning that he would need to be a regular fixture in the middle of the park for David Moyes’ men if they were to bring him to the London Stadium.
Grujic signed for the Merseyside in a £5.1m deal from Red Star Belgrade in 2015, the report adds that Klopp is still confident that he has a long-term future at Anfield despite his lack of game time this term.
How has he done this season?
As we just mentioned, even though Grujic is obviously highly-regarded by the club and his manager, he has only made six appearances in all competitions for Liverpool this term, with only one of those being starts and the other five coming as brief substitute outings.
The Serbian midfielder did play the full 90 minutes in the 2-0 defeat against Leicester City in the EFL Cup back in September, while his most recent appearance for the first-team came late on in the 5-1 win against Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League last month.
The 20-year-old has also made four appearances in the Premier League 2 for the U23 side, and he scored one and assisted another from a defensive midfield role in an impressive 3-1 win away against Manchester United in October.
Would he be a good signing for West Ham?
He certainly could be, yes.
Moyes is known to be looking to strengthen his midfield options this month, and adding a tall and strong player in the middle of the park seems to be a potential preference.
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Standing at 6ft 3in and with good ability in the air, Grujic may well fit the ball of what the Scot is looking for and would add some steel in central areas.
However, given that the Irons are potentially facing a relegation battle this season, the east London outfit may look to add a more experienced player to their squad instead.
When attempting to fathom where it’s all gone wrong for his 11th-place Liverpool side, Brendan Rodgers need only retrace his steps back to the summer transfer window – the vast majority of the Reds’ many problems his season have stemmed from there.
Indeed, it was a window that appeared devoid of any plan or structure on the Mersey outfit’s part, who seemed almost overawed by the £120million at their disposal, grabbing any promising talent or in-form player they could get their hands on – ranging from Southampton’s Rickie Lambert to Benfica prodigy Lazar Markovic. Resultantly, the Liverpool boss is now left with a squad lacking clarity, identity and hierarchy, posing far more questions than answers.
No signing epitomises this more than Mario Balotelli, a certified vanity project that’s gone horribly wrong for Rodgers. One can easily speculate his line of thought; “I controlled Luis Suarez as much as humanly possible for two seasons, perhaps I can do the same with Balotelli”. No doubt, the Anfield manager would love an individual triumph where Roberto Mancini, Cesare Prandelli and most significantly, Jose Mourinho, have failed.
The only problem is that whilst Suarez is an incredibly competitive footballer who often finds himself blurring the line of moral acceptability, Balotelli is a mischievous twelve year-old trapped in the body of a top-class centre-forward. They’re two completely different animals at opposing ends of the footballing bad-boy spectrum; the former, haunted by a desperate intensity to win, the mercurial latter motivated only by his own whims. As Mourinho claimed, ‘unmanageable’.
So it’s no great surprise the Italy international is still searching for his first Premier League goal in Liverpool colours, despite averaging 4.2 shots per match – the fifth-most of any player in Europe’s five leading top flights – whilst his controversial Twitter activity and infamous half-time shirt-swap with Real Madrid’s Pepe has drawn a plethora of negative attention.
Now Rodgers is faced with a real dilemma; does he admit his mistake in the transfer market – or perhaps a more fitting description would be egotism – by selling Balotelli in January, after just six months on Merseyside?
The goal-shy striker isn’t the first acquisition that’s left a lot to be desired since Rodgers took the Anfield helm three summers ago. In that time, he’s spent around £215million on 25 players, but only two have really gone on to exceed their transfer fees, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho, whilst only four, Coutinho, Dejan Lovren, Simon Mignolet and Alberto Moreno, have made ten or more Premier League appearances this season. Seven have either left the club or are currently on loan. Overall, for a manager that boasts an LMA Manager of the Year award, Rodgers’ transfer record is exceptionally poor.
Thus, perhaps accepting defeat with Balotelli would provide a sense of atonement from the Liverpool boss – an admission that he and the club made mistakes this summer.
You’ll never get such an apology in spoken public verse; managers are prepared to question the performances of their players but rarely, if ever, themselves. Yet if Rodgers had the opportunity to repeat the summer window, the most lucrative one in Liverpool’s history likely containing the largest transfer budget he’ll ever receive as a manager, he’d almost certainly approach it with a less cavalier mindset.
Of course, there are some problems with this suggestion; firstly, managers tend to live and die by their signings, so selling Balotelli after just six months will only further add to the growing narrative that Rodgers and Liverpool’s transfer committee have taken the club a step backwards – however true that might be.
Secondly, who would actually want to buy Mario Balotelli right now? This is probably the lowest point of his entire career, and having now failed at two of the biggest clubs in Italy and two of the biggest clubs in England, potential transfer destinations are few and far between. Convincing the 24-year-old to join a lesser club, with three-and-a-half years left on his Anfield contract, won’t be an easy sell.
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Yet, cutting loses – both in finance and reputation – rather than prolonging the obvious failings of Liverpool’s £16million acquisition in order to save face, is surely the more logical solution. And even if it’s only in non-verbal, tacit form, the Liverpool fans deserve an admission of their club’s poor business during the summer, a sign that the same mistakes won’t be made again and lessons have been learned.
Whether Rodgers has come to term with the extremities of Liverpool’s wayward recruitment however, remains to be seen.
Mario Balotelli admits he would love the chance to play against Manchester City in Europe if Milan qualify for the Champions League.
The 22-year-old left City during the January transfer window to move back to his homeland and he has been a revelation since moving to the San Siro.
A dip in form and problems away from the action saw his time at the Etihad Stadium come to a premature end, but he has shown his true colours with Milan and looks at home back in Serie A.
However, the controversial Italy international hit-man still has feelings for his old club and admits he would jump at the chance to face them in Europe’s elite club competition next season.
“We at Milan are trying to qualify for the Champions League directly, without needing the preliminary phase,” he told mcfc.co.uk. “And I am sure that City also will qualify for the Champions League. I hope to come back to play at the Etihad.
“If that will happen I will come back with love and respect for everyone – club, players and supporters. I would love a Champions League group with Milan and City, it would be great.”
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As reported by The Sunday Post, Rangers are interested in signing Kilmarnock winger Jordan Jones this January.
What’s the story?
Ever since Barrie McKay departed the club earlier this year, the left wing position has been a problem one for Rangers, with nobody really able to step up and add the natural width that they need.
It seems though that the club are looking to solve the problem and have earmarked a Scottish Premiership talent as the potential solution.
The Sunday Post report that Rangers are interested in signing Jordan Jones, competing with the likes of Burnley and Norwich City for his signature.
The 23-year-old, who is rated as worth around £200,000 by Transfermarkt, could be a cost effective and viable option to provide competition in the wide areas after impressing for Kilmarnock over the last year.
Emerging talent
Jones may not quite be the finished article yet, but he’s certainly showing rapid improvement at Rugby Park since joining from Middlesbrough last summer.
In a struggling side, he’s been one of their main creative outlets, producing 11 assists in his time at the club so far.
It’s form that prompted Michael O’Neill to call him up for recent World Cup Qualifiers and he made his international debut in the crucial play-off against Switzerland.
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If Rangers can get the business done for him January they could be securing a real emerging talent and one who can improve further surrounded by better players at Ibrox.