Tottenham Hotspur fans have reacted to comments from Leicester City midfielder James Maddison praising Harry Winks, calling on the England international to come and join him in north London.

The attack-minded player, who is rated at £80m by the Foxes according to The Sun, was speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday night football in a feature length interview about a range of topics, and picked out the Spurs man for some plaudits.

The 22-year-old said: “The quality he has he was able to play through with a quick pass, two touch, receives it, turns and passes through.”

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Aside from the Carabao Cup and Saturday’s trip to Brighton and Hove Albion, Winks has started every one of Tottenham’s matches this season and become one of their most reliable performers – even when results and displays haven’t been at their best, including picking up an 8/10 rating from Football London against Olympiacos.

A player like Maddison, who continues to impress for Leicester and has three goals and two assists in eight appearances this term according to Transfermarkt, could be exactly the type of a addition who could be good for Spurs in the future, and it appears their supporters agree following his latest remarks.

While one said “come an join him in midfield next season”, another simply said “come and join us”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

It’s pretty safe to say that Ernesto Valverde is not really one of the most beloved figures at Barcelona at this very moment.

The Basque coach has been a prime target of harsh criticism as of late and many of the fans don’t seem to want him in charge of their club.

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Be that as it may, it turns out that according to Football World Rankings, Valverde is still the number one coach on the planet, even above the likes of Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola.

Needless to say, as soon as they realised that was the case, many Barcelona fans simply couldn’t believe it and started slamming both the association that made the rankings and their coach himself.

One fan even stated that Florentino Perez, Real Madrid’s president, must be behind that whole thing as a way of rattling the Cules.

You can see some of their reactions and comments down in the collection of tweets below.

Check them out…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Paul Scholes has revealed David Gill’s departure cost Manchester United just as much as the exit of Sir Alex Ferguson.

What did he say?

Whilst Ferguson’s retirement dominated proceedings at Old Trafford in mid-2013, Gill stepping down from his role as chief executive around the same time also served to increase the problems at United. The man who stepped in to replace the latter? Ed Woodward.

Now, Scholes has bemoaned the departure of Gill and the impact that it has had, and insisted he “didn’t get the credit” he deserved in his time with the Red Devils.

The indoor football skills in the video below have to be seen to be believed…

He said (as transcribed by Goal): “When you look five or six years ago, when Alex Ferguson left, the other person who probably didn’t get the credit he deserved was David Gill. He was a football man, he knew football. From the day he went, as well as Sir Alex, it’s been difficult.

“I think there were alarm bells straight away really when David (Moyes) took over and he signed Juan Mata and Fellaini for something like £70m, who are good players in their own right but I don’t think they were Man United players.

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“I don’t think Alex Ferguson or David Gill would have signed those type of players and I think from then on alarm bells have rang and we’re in the position we are now because of buying players who we don’t really think were Man United players, and Ole’s there now and he’s got the opportunity to put that right.”

Under-rated

As Woodward is proving, and the United faithful are bearing witness to, not everything comes down to the manager. The role of those on the board and amongst the upper echelons of the club’s hierarchy can be just as crucial, if not more. Whilst Ferguson dominated matters on-the-pitch, he could rely on Gill to mastermind things off it.

But since the duo’s respective exits, the Red Devils have lurched from one manager to the next, and from one player to the next too. There appears to be no coherent plan, and that comes down from the man with the decision-making powers – Woodward. As Scholes quite rightly points out, Ferguson leaving Old Trafford was massive. But Gill’s own departure simply exacerbated the issue.

يرى ساديو ماني لاعب ليفربول أنهم لم يتحلوا بالفعالية الكافية أمام ليدز يونايتد في مباراتهما أمس ببطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وتلاقى الفريقان في إطار منافسات الجولة الثانية والثلاثين، حيث تعادلا بهدف لمثله. أهداف مباراة ليفربول وليدز

وقال ماني في تصريحات لقناة “بي إن سبورتس” القطرية: “أعتقد أنها كانت مباراة صعبة، وكنا نعرف ذلك تمامًا قبل بدايتها، كنا نعلم مدى صعوبتها، في الشوط الأول قدمنا كرة قدم جيدة، وصنعنا بعض الفرص، وسجلنا هدفًا”.

وأضاف السنغالي: “اليوم لو كنا تحلينا بالفعالية، لاستطعنا الفوز بالمباراة، ولكن علينا أن نكون راضين تجاه النقطة التي حصلنا عليها، ومن ثم التركيز على المباريات المقبلة”.

وواصل: “كما قلت مواجهة ليدز ليست بالأمر السهل، هم يركضون كثيرًا، وفي الشوط الثاني كانوا يرغبون في تسجيل المزيد من الأهداف، وصنعوا العديد من الفرص، ثم سجلوا هدف التعادل، وأعتقد أنهم كانوا يستحقون ذلك”.

واختتم: “كان علينا أن نتحسن كي نحصد النقاط الثلاثة أمام ليدز”.

Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe is apparently a huge Leeds United fan.Crowe is the narrator of ‘Take Us Home,’ Amazon’s latest sporting documentary retelling the Premier League promotion quest during Marcelo Bielsa’s first season in charge of Leeds. Speaking to Radio 5 Live in 2015, the New Zealand-born actor explained the origins of his love for a club based in West Yorkshire on the other side of the world.”I used to come home from sport in the afternoon, me and my brother, and watch Match of the Day. We’re talking about a period of time in Australia when we had very few TV channels.”Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Back in 2015, in the midst of the Massimo Cellino years, which we won’t ponder on for any longer than necessary, Crowe even teased a possible takeover to help ease his side’s pain.

Unfortunately, it never materialised. Crowe has, however, kept close tabs on the club’s quest to get back into the Premier League, and has been quoted saying:

“I know when it comes to sport that it’s not necessarily about money. It’s about culture, and I have learned a lot in nine years [in charge of the Rabbitohs]. And it would give me nothing but pleasure to see that white army marching on together, getting back into the Premiership and being back where they should be.”

Former stars like Jermaine Beckford, Luciano Becchio, Tony Yeboah, Brian Deane, Danny Mills, Rod Wallace, Paul Robinson, Peter Haddock, Chris Whyte and Neil Sullivan all swarmed upon West Yorkshire on Thursday night to celebrate 100 years of the Championship side.

From Robert Snodgrass to Chris Kamara, Michael Bridges, Dominic Matteo and Lee Bowyer, others each paid homage online with their favourite memories from being at the club, too.

Some Newcastle United fans took to social media to share their thoughts on Steve Bruce’s decision making after the Toon boss opted to start Jonjo Shelvey over Matty Longstaff against West Ham on Saturday.

Longstaff had started the Magpies’ previous three Premier League fixtures against Manchester United, Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers, but fell to the bench for his side’s trip to East London.

Shelvey, meanwhile, had not featured in the starting line-up since the North East outfit were held to a goalless draw by Brighton & Hove Albion, with his only outing since the Seagulls clash coming as a late substitute against Wolves.

Take a trip down memory lane to a time when Newcastle were giants on the European stage in the video below…

Bruce had to make changes to his midfield to face West Ham, though, as he was without Sean Longstaff after the 22-year-old was issued a three-game ban for his red card issued against Nuno Espirito Santo’s Molineux natives.

The returning Isaac Hayden, who had served a three-game ban for his red card shown against Leicester City, replaced the 22-year-old. Bruce also opting for Shelvey over the younger of the Longstaff brothers caused some uproar on social media, though.

Longstaff had been one of Newcastle’s better-performing players against Wolves last week, when the Toon product consistently called for the ball and picked out a couple of incisive passes, earning a 7/10 rating from Chronicle Live.

Shelvey, on the other hand, featured for just five minutes after drawing with Brighton.

So when Newcastle shared that Bruce had opted for a midfield partnership of Hayden and Shelvey against West Ham, these were some of the reactions…

England fans have been discussing the problems which contributed to the Three Lions’ defeat against the Czech Republic, with many pointing to the defence as an area of concern.

In particular, Everton’s Michael Keane has been singled out as a player who shouldn’t be near the side due to his lack of form for both club and country.

He has played a part in England’s previous three matches, in which they have conceded five goals, whilst for the Toffees he hasn’t fared much better, with 11 goals conceded in his past five matches.

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As a result, many believe other centre-backs are in better form, and Gareth Southgate has a number of options to choose from.

Some think Joe Gomez deserves to start ahead of him, but the Liverpool defender has rarely featured this season, with 390 minutes played, excluding the Community Shield, and his last outing saw the Reds concede three times against RB Salzburg in the Champions League.

Tyrone Mings has also been included in the squad while Burnley’s James Tarkowski is another who could replace Keane having featured previously, especially considering his current form, with a WhoScored average rating of over 7 and three clean sheets in eight games.

Here are some of the reactions from England fans discussing Keane’s place in the side.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking to MUTV (as quoted by The Daily Mirror), Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has slammed his forwards for being “non-existent” in the clash against Partizan Belgrade.

What did he say?

The Red Devils laboured to a 1-0 win over the Serbian side in the Europa League on Thursday night, with an Anthony Martial penalty in the first-half the only goal of the game.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Speaking after the match, Solskjaer criticised his forward line for failing to press from the front, and issued a damning verdict on just how bad it was.

He said: “Second half I thought we dug in really well in the box, defended really well in the box. They played well in the second half and made us defend too deep.

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“I’m not happy with the defending at the front. I think that’s been one of our strengths this season but I thought that was non-existent in the second half. That needs sorting out because we don’t want to be a team who is just defending in the box.”

Worrying sign

It was supposedly one of the key elements of Solskjaer’s game-plan, the desire to press the ball and play on the front foot. But the Red Devils have not appeared to incorporate that style of play this season. Starting from their first Premier League game of the season against Chelsea, United have looked to sit back and counter teams on the break.

It is an approach that has worked well against the bigger sides this campaign, picking up notable results against the Blues, Leicester, Arsenal and Liverpool. However, against teams that are far less interested in dominating the ball, Solskjaer’s side have struggled immensely, falling to shock defeats to the likes of Crystal Palace and Newcastle.

If United are keen on remedying that, then they must show greater desire and emphasis on looking to defend aggressively from the front.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Everton’s Michael Keane endured yet another torrid game recently after he was held partially responsible for England’s defeat to Czech Republic over the international break, bearing the full brunt of the criticism from Three Lions fans.

The defender was dropped for Tyrone Mings in the following game because of Zdenek Ondrasek’s late goal, with Keane well out of position as the Czech man tapped home.

He has played every minute in the Premier League so far this season and has been a cause for concern throughout, conceding 13 league goals, which has left the Toffees in the drop zone.

However, despite his questionable form, manager Marco Silva can’t afford to drop the centre-back right now because of a lack of options around him. Should the Portuguese choose to keep him out, Mason Holgate would be the first point of call, but he remains fairly inexperienced at this level and given the club’s current form, it could be a risk to blood him now.

This season, Holgate has had just 17 minutes of Premier League action and in total, has made only 54 appearances for the Toffees at 22 years of age, 39 of which have came in the top-flight.

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Keane’s errors against Czech Republic and Kosovo casts further doubt over his ability as Everton’s main central defender, and it only adds to issues Silva has made in the transfer market. The former Watford boss perhaps should have delved deeper into the market to find backups for the likes of Keane and not have focused so heavily on forward players like Moise Kean.

Silva has only signed one centre-back permanently since he joined from Watford in Mina, with right-back Djibril Sidibe the only defensive addition this summer.

Now, ahead of the fixture against West Ham United, Silva has to hope that the former Burnley man can shake off this poor form and help keep the goals out against a confident Hammers side.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side have scored 11 goals so far this season in the league and have lost just once in the competition since their opening weekend defeat to Manchester City.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Having really broken through during Jose Mourinho’s tenure as Manchester United manager, Scott McTominay has come on leaps and bounds in terms of his ability and role in the first-team.

The Scotland international played 31 times over the course of the Portuguese man’s reign, before really establishing himself as a key part of the current United set-up under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. This season alone, the 22-year-old has played 13 times, including featuring in every single Premier League game.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

He will no doubt be hoping to continue that run when the Red Devils travel to face Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth in the Saturday lunch-time kick-off, and the academy product will be coming up against a man-mountain like himself in Philip Billing.

The battle in midfield is always one of the key contests of any footballing clash, and when McTominay and Billing collide at the weekend, it could prove to be the decisive match-up in terms of who comes away with the win.

On the chalkboard

At 6 foot 4, McTominay is one of the most physically dominant midfielders in the Premier League, and he invariably casts a literal shadow over his opponents. But on Saturday, he will experience the rare feeling of not being the tallest man in the middle of the park, when he faces off against the 6 foot 6 Billing.

The Dane arrived at Bournemouth from Huddersfield, and has quickly established himself as a key component of Howe’s side. He has averaged an impressive 2.3 tackles and 2.6 interceptions per game in the Premier League, and his long, rangy frame helps him cover the ground in imposing fashion.

Similarly, McTominay has been defensively strong this season, and in a standout performance against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, made an incredible five tackles, five interceptions and eight duels won.

If McTominay can overpower his midfield counterpart, and continue his fine recent form, then United stand an excellent chance of muzzling Bournemouth on Saturday. In the land of the giants, the Red Devils will need their 22-year-old to dominate the occasion.