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Felipe Anderson has taken a sly dig at West Ham manager David Moyes, saying he has improved a great deal from playing under Maurizio Sarri instead.

The Lowdown: Anderson left Irons

In 2018, the Hammers signed Anderson from Lazio for £36m, a then club-record fee (BBC).

He had his moments at the London Stadium, scoring 12 goals and providing 13 assists in 73 matches in all competitions, but he returned to Lazio in the summer after an unsuccessful loan spell at Porto (Transfermarkt).

The Latest: Anderson makes veiled Moyes dig

Speaking to Football Italia, the Brazil international spoke about his move back to Italy. He said:

“I have improved a great deal already with the coach.

“I am convinced over time the whole team will understand fully what he wants from us. I always wanted to work on my consistency, even within a single game, and I’m getting there. The idea is to be constantly focused and ready from the first minute to the 90th.

“I know that I am capable of making the difference, but I used to struggle with the pressure when I was younger. It’s different now, I am on the right path. 

“Everyone knows I feel at home with Lazio. I’ve always expressed my love for Italy and the city of Rome. I never lost contact with my friends here, even after leaving. I feel that I’ve returned a more mature player.”

The Verdict: Didn’t work out

Anderson showed his talent at Lazio during his first spell at the club, scoring eight goals and providing nine assists the season before he moved to the Premier League. However, he was unable to replicate that form on a regular basis at West Ham.

With two goals and two assists in seven Serie A matches this term, he appears to be enjoying life back in Italy. Likewise, the Hammers are in good form, qualifying for the Europa League last term via the Premier League. It seems both parties are better off away from each other than together.

In other news, West Ham fans were far from happy with this Moyes call against Brentford.

West Ham return to Premier League action this afternoon as manager David Moyes returns to his former stomping ground, Goodison Park.

The 58-year-old faces a tough dilemma as the Irons embark on a run of seven games in just 22 days, starting with a trip to in-form Everton.

Nine of Moyes’ starting XI have started all seven of their league matches so far and that would have been ten had Michail Antonio not received a one-game suspension for the Manchester United defeat.

The Hammers’ boss has also revealed that he may be suffering with one or two injuries heading into kickoff and that’s the last thing they need with so many games coming thick and fast.

It could, therefore, be wise to rest a player that has been through the grinder since the back end of last season in Tomas Soucek, whose form has suffered in amongst some leggy outings that appear to have taken its toll on the midfielder.

He was one of the many West Ham stars to feature during the international break too, and whilst he excelled during the Czech Republic’s latest victory, as explained in more detail by Football FanCast here, he may well need a prolonged rest.

There are some key fixtures against the likes of Genk in the Europa League as well as Spurs, Manchester City and Aston Villa in the Premier League this month.

The 26-year-old box-to-box colossus was one of the standout stars of their sixth-place finish last season, in which he finished the campaign as their joint-top goalscorer on ten goals.

He is yet to hit the ground running in 2021/22, having scored just once in seven appearances. At that rate, he’ll struggle to score more than six times – a vast regression for the club’s current ‘Player of the Year’.

Elsewhere, his WhoScored rating has tailed off substantially, decreasing from 7.36 (highest in the squad) to 6.87 (sixth highest). Soucek is also averaging fewer interceptions (0.7 decrease), aerials won (3.3 decrease) and dribbles (0.3 decrease) per game, too.

The £45k-per-week star was once dubbed “unplayable” by former Everton winger Yannick Bolasie. but it’s clear that last season’s crucial run-in, combined with his appearances at Euro 2020, a lack of real pre-season and this campaign’s hectic schedule, have badly affected his form in the claret and blue.

It would be a wise call for Moyes to be brutal and axe the £45m-rated beast from his starting XI today. It’s a decision that could well benefit the squad in the longer term.

AND in other news, Moyes could save West Ham millions with 17 y/o gem who “could be the next Declan Rice”…

Tottenham’s Eric Dier came in for criticism from BBC pundit Noel Whelan following his performance in the 3-2 win away to Newcastle on Sunday evening.

The lowdown: Dier scored own goal but was quick to act in emergency

Spurs seemed to be cruising to victory at St James’ Park before the England international scored a rather laughable late own goal, chesting the ball into his own net in trying to defend a set piece, to leave the visitors’ nerves fraying.

However, he was thankfully quick to alert medical staff to get a defibrillator to a supporter who had required urgent medical attention towards the end of the first half, being jointly awarded Sky Sports’ Man of the Match with team-mate Sergio Reguilon, who was the first to alert referee Andre Marriner of the incident.

The latest: Whelan not impressed with Dier’s performance

Despite Dier showing proactivity in helping to ensure that the spectator in question received timely medical attention, his performance in the match itself was rather bluntly dismissed by Whelan.

The former Leeds striker told Football Insider: “That own goal was one of the worst ever and the problem with Eric Dier is he makes these mistakes too often.

“For an experienced England international, you have to question whether he is good enough for Tottenham. At times, he looks nowhere near.

“He’s a good competitor and no-one can question his commitment to Tottenham. But, you look at his performances and he is hardly a reliable centre-back at the top level.

“You compare him to Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, Ledley King, that kind of players, and Dier is a long way from that level.”

The verdict: Stats don’t look great but Dier deserves praise

If looking purely at the statistics from Dier’s performance yesterday, it is easy to see where Whelan is coming from.

Aside from the own goal, the 27-year-old – who has started every league game for Spurs under Nuno Espirito Santo – contributed little going forward and did not win a tackle or make an interception (SofaScore). He also received his lowest WhoScored match rating of the season from the win on Tyneside and was criticised for defensive lapses last term, as Whelan highlighted.

However, the context of what happened with the stricken spectator at St James’ Park should be considered, and Dier’s alertness in immediately calling for a defibrillator to be brought to the person who needed it made any performance-related shortcomings trivial.

He came good yesterday when it was most needed, and hopefully he can turn around his performances to continue receiving Man of the Match awards for more typical reasons.

In other news: One former Premier League goalkeeper has ripped into Spurs players amid recent reports stemming from the club

Manchester City made no mistake in picking up another three points in their latest Premier League outing away at Brighton & Hove Albion with a 4-1 victory.

Next up for Pep Guardiola’s side is a Carabao Cup clash against fellow Premier League side West Ham United in midweek as they try and secure the trophy they’ve won four times on the bounce in recent years.

On the chalkboard

One player who came off the bench against Brighton and managed to get on the scoresheet that we feel should be in the starting XI to face West Ham is 30-year-old winger Riyad Mahrez.

So far this season, Mahrez has made 12 appearances for City across all competitions in which he has managed to rack up seven goals and two assists.

In the Premier League, Mahrez has only started two out of the seven league games he’s played in but has managed to score a goal every 127 minutes, showing he is a useful figure for Guardiola when called upon, which is why we feel he should start against West Ham.

In addition to this, the winger, who is currently valued at £37.8m according to Transfermarkt, has racked up an average of 1.7 shots per game, 1.1 key passes per game and an average of 90% accurate passes per game, showing just how brilliant he is for the side when he’s on it.

City signed Mahrez back in the 2018 summer transfer window from fellow Premier League side Leicester City for a reported fee of £60m. Since then, the Algerian has made a total of 154 appearances for the Manchester club across all competitions, managing to score 46 goals and providing 39 assists in the process. As a result, he’s been described as a player of “special quality” by his manager.

Looking ahead to the West Ham game, given how Mahrez has started all three of their Champions League matches and their previous Carabao Cup match against Wycombe Wanderers, it seems as though Guardiola trusts Mahrez to do the job for the side outside of the Premier League, even though has shown he’s capable of doing it in the top-flight as well.

Moving forward, we feel that if Mahrez starts against David Moyes’ side, he would give them a great chance of winning as he has shown he can be a game-changer for the club this season.

In other news: Guardiola must unleash “fantastic” £67.5m-rated MCFC ace on Sat, he’d terrify Brighton – opinion

As per Calciomercato, Tottenham Hotspur have joined the ‘auction’ to sign Bayern Munich ace Corentin Tolisso on a free transfer next summer as they seemingly eye some reinforcements for under-fire boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

The Lowdown: Paratici sets sights…

It has been a big summer of change at Spurs with the arrival of not just Nuno but also new managing director Fabio Paratici, who elected to appoint the former Wolves boss over other possible candidates.

Amid the mounting pressure on Nuno’s position, especially after a week of dismal results and performances once again, the Italian transfer chief has one eye on upcoming transfer windows to see how he can improve Spurs through reinforcements.

As a claim emerges from Italy, it appears both Paratici and Spurs are now back in the running to sign Tolisso – coming over four years after former Lilywhites boss Mauricio Pochettino wanted him back in 2017 (L’Equipe).

The Latest: Spurs join Tolisso ‘auction’…

Indeed, according to Calciomercato, Tottenham are now ‘in the running’ to sign the World Cup winner alongside European heavyweights Inter Milan, Juventus, Paris-Saint Germain and Atletico Madrid.

As per the Italian source, a ‘small auction has already been unleashed’ to sign him as a free agent with his contract set to expire in the summer of 2022.

The Verdict: What Nuno needs?

An established France international with 27 caps who also appeared at Euro 2020, the midfield ace has been lauded as a ‘very dangerous’ asset by former Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

However, getting the plus points aside, Tolisso’s injury record isn’t exactly flawless with the 27-year-old missing 23 games through fitness issues last season alone (Transfermarkt).

Signing him as a free agent would be relatively low risk from a financial point of view, but on the pitch, it could be seen as a waste of time if he is barely able to showcase his ability for Nuno – if the Spurs boss is indeed still in charge by next summer.

In other news: Paratici may now be willing to offer ‘frightening’ player over £200,000-per-week to join Tottenham, find out more here.

Everton are believed to be keen on the signature of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks as new manager Rafa Benitez looks to bolster his engine room options.

What’s the story?

According to CaughtOffside, the Toffees are one of three Premier League clubs to have shown interest in the 25-year-old, with Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion also listed as potential suitors.

The report states that: “Winks is keen to move away in January in an attempt to secure regular playing time…Although any potential move for the Englishman in January is only likely to be a loan move, the interest in securing his signature is high.”

It then goes on to claim that they have the longest-standing interest in Winks, who is reportedly seen as an alternative target to Manchester United’s Donny van de Beek.

Marcel Brands must swoop

After rising through the ranks at his boyhood club, Winks has made 179 appearances for Tottenham in all competitions and started their 2019 Champions League final defeat at the hands of Liverpool.

The technically gifted talent featured prominently during the reign of former manager Mauricio Pochettino, who lavished praise on the midfielder after a late winner against Fulham two years ago.

“He deserves the praise because the whole action is amazing,” said Pochettino. “He recovered the ball like a full-back, we started to build from the back, and then he arrived for the cross from GK, which was fantastic – we have to praise him too.

“It’s amazing, amazing, because we were talking in the last few weeks that he had to score and to have more presence in the opposition’s box because he has the quality to do it. I’m so happy.”

However, the England international slipped down the pecking order under both Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo and is unlikely to feature prominently under new boss Antonio Conte due to his high-pressing, counter-attacking style.

This season, Winks has only been awarded 61 minutes of top-flight action at the north London outfit, and his potential arrival at Goodison Park could offer a significant upgrade for Benitez’s charges.

With star midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure currently sidelined through injury, the Everton chief has fielded both Tom Davies and Jean-Philippe Gbamin alongside Allan with disastrous results, losing their last two matches.

Gbamin’s performance last time out against Wolves was so poor that he was hauled off at half-time, with his horrendous injury luck over the last couple of campaigns appearing to have taken its toll. During his 45 minutes on the field, he made just 13 passes and lost three of his five duels.

Therefore. Everton’s director of football must swoop for the £18m-rated Winks over the coming months, providing Benitez with the strength in depth he needs for a successful season.

And, in other news…Forget Godfrey: Everton liability who lost possession 17x had a shocker vs Wolves 

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left gushing over some manager news on Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

As per Italian football journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, talks have now been scheduled with the former Gers player over potentially becoming their new boss, following the departure of Steven Gerrard to Aston Villa this week.

He is reportedly on the list with two other managers and is ‘interested’ in the job, as the board will start ‘official contacts’ during the weekend.

Van Bronckhorst is a popular choice among a lot of Gers supporters, given that he is a two-time Premiership winner as a player with them and boasts an impressive managerial record with Feyenoord in particular, guiding them to their first Eredivisie title in 18 years back in the 2016/17 campaign (BBC), as well as winning four other major trophies with the Rotterdam club.

Rangers fans on Van Bronckhorst manager news

These Rangers supporters gushed as the manager news was shared on Twitter, with one Ger saying that they were ‘excited’ over the update from Romano:

“Let’s make this happen”

Credit: @briansav5252

“Why’s it got to start at the weekend and not now? At least the club are going for the right man I’m so excited”

Credit: @woofly32

“Bring him home”

Credit: @sbulloch93

“Massive W”

Credit: @BrandonLes_

“Yes please!”

Credit: @MattATTurvey

“Here we go”

Credit: @JohnMcIntosh19

In other news, find out what earlier manager news had these Rangers fans buzzing

Lots of Glasgow Rangers fans have been left buzzing as some news emerged on their U18’s team.

As shared by the official Twitter page of Rangers B & Academy, the U18’s beat Celtic U18’s 2-1, thanks to goals from James Graham and Rory Wilson.

Graham is 17, and Wilson is only 15 years of age, as the Ibrox faithful certainly look to have a lot of young talent coming through the Academy.

Of course, it is always extra sweet to beat your rivals as well, as several Light Blues supporters seemed to lap up the win against Celtic.

Nonetheless, new manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst would have been keeping a close eye on the result and performances of some of the youngsters, who will be hoping that there is now a path clear for them to break into the first team.

Rangers fans on U18 win

These Teddy Bears buzzed as the result was shared on Twitter, with one Ger even going as far as to claim that it was ‘excellent’:

“Derby day in Glasgow belongs to Rangers!”

Credit: @UberAlly95

“Only one show in town, well done lads”

Credit: @Iswhatitis99

“A fitting victory for Walter to look down on… Well played young Gers”

Credit: @BillyMcKie3

“Brilliant lads, well played.”

Credit: @jockstrat

“Excellent well done”

Credit: @ConnerRabby

“Yessss I wanna beat them at everything”

Credit: @timmys_tears

In other news, find out what Premier League manager’s admission has RFC fans buzzing here!

Phil Hay has dropped an update concerning Leeds United’s planned January transfer business.

What’s the latest?

In a recent post on Twitter, The Athletic journalist relayed comments made by Marcelo Bielsa following Leeds’ 2-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, with the 66-year-old appearing to suggest that the Whites may not be overly active in the winter market due to their financial investment in previous windows.

In his tweet, Hay said: “Bielsa asked about [the] January window and whether he needs to add players. Says it would depend on getting better players than he has, and they can be expensive. Says adding to the group ‘should not be evaluated without looking at the economic possibilities.’

“Re-iterated again that he feels Leeds have already invested heavily in players on his watch. Says a lot of suitable players fall into the £20m/£30m bracket.”

Fans will be fuming

The suggestion that Bielsa may not be looking to delve into the January transfer window is sure to leave Leeds fans fuming, considering just how short he is in a number of areas throughout his first team squad at Elland Road, along with the high number of injuries Leeds players have sustained so far this season.

Indeed, at present, the Whites have four senior options at centre-back, one at left-back, four in central midfield and one (not including 19-year-old Joe Gelhardt) at centre-forward.

When taking into account that the likes of Patrick Bamford, Luke Ayling, Raphinha and Rodrigo all missed the trip to Spurs on Sunday due to injury, Bielsa has often been left with no other choice than to fill his bench with a number of the club’s academy graduates. While such exposure will be good for the youngsters’ development in professional football, is not exactly ideal when chasing a result in a cut-throat Premier League fixture.

It would appear that Hay agrees with this view, as the journalist stated in a further tweet: “The first half of Spurs away was impressive but injuries and absences are a constant weight on this Leeds United squad. It’s increasingly hard to avoid the feeling that some business in January, even a little, would be in everyone’s interests.”

As such, should Bielsa indeed be reluctant to splash the club’s cash in January, and Leeds continue to pick up injuries over what remains of the current campaign, their current 17th-placed standing in the Premier League will almost certainly turn into a relegation scrap come the crunch stage of the season.

In other news – Huge boost: Cross gives quadruple Leeds injury update which is sure to have fans buzzing

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to bounce back when they make the trip to Burnley in the Premier League this afternoon.

Antonio Conte was left bitterly disappointed by his side’s humiliating Europa Conference League performance against NS Mura on Thursday night. He now needs to see a reaction in the English top-flight as Spurs can move into the top six with a win.

The Italian head coach rotated the bulk of his starting XI over in Slovenia and it would be a surprise to see many of those remain after such an embarrassing display.

What sort of lineup could we see from the 52-year-old today? Here’s what we are predicting…

There could be eight changes from the side which tasted defeat to Mura in midweek.

Between the sticks, club captain Hugo Lloris is expected to resume his no.1 league duties over Pierluigi Gollini, whilst Davinson Sanchez is the only defender to keep his place but that is due to Cristian Romero’s absence through injury.

[snack-amp-story url = “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/tottenham-hotspur-latest-team-injury-team-news-updates-transfers-gossip-rumours-antonio-conte-thfc” title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer updates and much, much more!”]

Both Eric Dier and left-back Ben Davies return to the back-three, with Sergio Reguilon and Emerson Royal back involved on either flank, meaning that Ryan Sessegnon and Matt Doherty are axed.

In midfield, Oliver Skipp should remain, having served his one-game suspension, and he’ll likely partner Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the midfield engine room. That means there is no place for Dele Alli (25) or Byran Gil (20) in Lancashire this afternoon.

The third and final player to keep his spot in the starting XI is Harry Kane up top and he should be accompanied by Heung-min Son and Lucas Moura, just like against Leeds last weekend.

Predicted Spurs XI (3-4-3): Lloris; Davies, Dier, Sanchez; Reguilon, Skipp, Hojbjerg, Emerson; Son, Moura, Kane

AND in other news, Conte must axe “lazy” £27m-rated Spurs passenger today, he’s been shocking for seasons…