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Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Giovani Lo Celso has responded to the scathing criticism thrown at him by his manager Jose Mourinho with an emphatic showing for Argentina on Friday morning.

The 24-year-0ld has been in and out of the Spurs squad for most of the season, starting just one of five Premier League appearances, and it appears that the Portuguese boss is rather unhappy with his fitness.

Following their win over Ludogorets in the Europa League, the Special One slammed the attacking midfielder, speaking to Sky Sports he said:

“[Lo Celso was] Good with the ball and not very good without the ball. His physical condition is not good. He didn’t have a pre-season.

“During the lockdown during the previous season he had problems – he didn’t train in that period when other guys were training so he has been up and down in his preparation.

“I feel that when he plays he’s not the Gio that we know, not the Gio that we know that he can be an amazing player.”

Well, the £31.5m-rated international delivered quite the masterclass in response this week.

Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni had to call upon the Spurs star just half an hour into their World Cup qualifier against Paraguay following a pretty serious injury to Exequiel Palacios, and playing as a no.8, he absolutely thrived.

Per SofaScore, Lo Celso recorded five tackles, three key passes (one more than Lionel Messi) and one successful dribble. He also made 88% of his 50 passing attempts, had 64 touches and won ten of 17 duels, so he was heavily involved.

Unfortunately, the South American’s couldn’t make the most of his influence as they drew at La Bombonera, the famous home of Boca Juniors.

Within 15 minutes of coming on, Lo Celso provided Nicolas Gonzalez with an assist for the White and Sky Blues’ only goal of the game.

The former Real Betis maestro has been lauded as “extraordinary” and called a “very, very good” player, so perhaps Mourinho has been a little unfair with his recent comments.

AND in other news, Forget Sanchez: Mourinho must blame “absolute freak” for his biggest Spurs problem yet…

أكد المدرب الألماني يورجن كلوب، المدير الفني لنادي ليفربول، أنه لا يتخذ قرارات من أجل جعل كل اللاعبين داخل الفريق سعداء، مُشيرًا إلى أن هدفه هو اتخاذ القرار الأفضل.

طالع | ليفربول يحدد موعدًا نهائيًا لتجديد عقد محمد صلاح

وعلى مدار الأسابيع القليلة الماضية، خرجت تقارير تُفيد بغضب ديفوك أوريجي، تاكومي مينامينو، بجانب أليكس تشامبرلين فضلًا عن جو جوميز، لحصولهم على دقائق لعب قليلة.

وقال كلوب خلال المؤتمر الصحفي الخاص بمباراة برايتون غدًا حول كيفية جعل لاعبيه سعداء: “لا أعتقد أنه من الممكن أن أكون صادقًا، ولا أعتقد أنني فعلت ذلك! يجب أن تسأل جميع اللاعبين في الفريق”.

وأضاف: “الشيء الذي يتعين علينا القيام به هو الفوز بالمباريات وخاصًة عندما تلعب مع ليفربول، اللاعب يعلم مُبكرًا القرارات التي يتخذها المدرب وعليهم تقبل ذلك بشكل واضح، هذا لا يعني أنهم سعداء دائمًا بالقرار، فهم يقبلونه فقط”.

اقرأ أيضًا – كلوب: لاعبو برايتون نفذوا أمرًا لا يصدق أمام مانشستر سيتي.. وهم تهديد حقيقي لـ ليفربول

وواصل: “ومهمة اللاعب دائمًا أن يكون لديه المزيد من التصميم، وأن يكون جيدًا في التدريب وأن يكون مؤثر حقًا في اللحظة التي يدخل فيها، أنا لا أحاول إسعادهم ، نعم أريدهم أن يكونوا سعداء لكني أريدهم أن يكونوا غاضبين أيضًا عندما نلعب مع خصم يريد نقاطنا”.

وأكمل: “لا أعتقد أنني حاولت فعلت ذلك! (يقصد إسعادهم) ولكن أود أن أؤكد أنه لم يحدث شيء حتى الآن، نحن لا نزال في الجولة الـ10 وهُناك 28 جولة قادمة!، لقد مررنا بلحظات لم نكن سعداء بها ولدينا أشياء يجب تحسينها هذا هو الشيء الوحيد الذي نهتم به، نحن علينا أن نكون مُستعدين للعب والدفاع بشكل جيد”.

وبسؤاله “هل تواجه صعوبات في اتخاذ القرارات؟”، أجاب: “أشكر الرب أنني أواجه صعوبة في الخيارات، هذا يعني أن لديّ العديد من اللاعبين، أنا عندما اتخذ قرارا يتعلق فقط بالوقت الحالي وما سيساعدنا على الفوز في المباراة”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. كلوب يُثير الشكوك حول إصابة فابينيو ويوضح موقف كيتا وألكانتارا من مباراة برايتون

وعن عدم حصول جو جوميز على فرص كثيرة، في ظل الاعتماد على كوناتي وجويل ماتيب: “هذا ليس بالأمر السهل على الإطلاق، هذا واضح، أنا لديّ خمسة لاعبين واختار اثنين فقط في الدفاع، ولكن نحن لسنا حتى في منتصف الموسم للحديث عن هذه الأشياء”.

وأردف: “نأمل ألا يصاب أحد، أنا لديّ خيارات عديدة وهذا لن يكون شيئُا سيئًا أبدًا، يُمكن أن يلعب كوناتي أو ماتيب، يُمكن أن يكون لديّ أي مزيج في الخلف”.

وأنهى تصريحاته قائلًا: “في الهجوم لديّ معضلات يجب حلها، وقريبًا الأمر سيحدث في وسط الملعب، إن إبقاء الجميع سعداء هي مشكلة أفضل من مشكلة الموسم الماضي المتمثلة في عدم وجود ما يكفي للاعبين للاختيار بينهما”.

Jarrod Bowen is undoubtedly an exciting talent for West Ham United, and he showed the threat he can pose during the 2-1 loss against Arsenal.

The 23-year-old showed plenty of running and was able to get himself into dangerous positions throughout his 83 minutes on the pitch.

This paid dividends when he played a role in the Hammers’ equaliser. Having broken forward with the ball, he spotted Ryan Fredericks overlapping and slipped the ball through to him, allowing the right-back to play a low cross for Michail Antonio to finish.

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It was a fairly simple thing for Bowen to do, but it is exactly what his side needed from him, and the former Hull City man could have done it more often if he had shown more awareness.

He didn’t make any key passes in his time on the pitch, while attempting four shots, three of which were blocked – some of the shots were very speculative.

There was plenty to be pleased with from Bowen’s game, as he put in a strong defensive display to help out Fredericks, alongside his involvement in the goal.

This was key, due to Arsenal carrying a large threat on the left through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Bukayo Saka and Sead Kolasinac, whom he helped stop for large periods with his two tackles and two interceptions.

It was far from a bad performance from Bowen, as he had a positive impact overall for the team, but it is his lack of awareness at times which prevented him from having a great game.

Losing the match to an 85th-minute goal from Eddie Nketiah accentuates how important these small margins can prove to be.

The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas has previously lauded the inverted winger as “amazing,” but clearly, there’s still room for improvement on the £22m signing.

Tottenham Hotspur’s 20/21 season has gotten off to a bumpy ride.

They opened their Premier League account with a home defeat to Everton before very nearly being knocked out of the Europa League qualifying stage by nine-man Lokomotiv Plovdiv.

And there’s been one recurring issue across both matches – creativity.

It’s ever so clear that the club have failed to properly replace Christian Eriksen who left for Inter Milan back in January this year.

Against the Toffees, Spurs only created two big chances with eight shots being fired inside the box, per SofaScore, whilst in Bulgaria, Jose Mourinho’s men had to come from behind to win, recording just 50% of their 12 shots on target.

Neither Dele Alli nor Giovani Lo Celso have stepped up to be that creative outlet, so it could perhaps be an area Steve Hitchen and Daniel Levy try to rectify before next month’s transfer deadline.

They ought to look no further than Eriksen’s current teammate Marcelo Brozovic as he’s the box-to-box sort that could thrive in the Premier League, something that Tanguy Ndombele has even failed to do.

Compared to Mourinho’s former talisman Frank Lampard, the 27-year-old is known for making late runs into the box and is pretty nifty with the ball at his feet.

Brozovic’s old boss Luciano Spalletti believes he has “a compass in his foot” whilst the Spurs manager has lauded him in the past too, claiming he’s a “fantastic” midfielder who can “control the possession of a game.”

Across the Italian top-flight and Europa League last term, the Croatian provided three goals and eight assists, averaging 1.2 key passes per game, via WhoScored.

Alli, Lo Celso and Ndombele all combined for eight assists between them in the PL last season, which speaks volumes at the lack of creativity in north London.

As a runner-up at the World Cup, the box-to-box playmaker could add something huge to Mourinho’s squad. It’s time for Spurs to convert that mooted interest into a proper bid.

Valued at £45m by Transfermarkt, he’d be quite the coup.

AND in other news, Daniel Levy is delivering Spurs a transfer masterclass for just £27m…

Charlton Athletic have emerged with interest in Love Island star Dennon Lewis, who has previously been linked with a move to Sunderland.

With seven players having already left the Stadium of Light, it is expected that boss Phil Parkinson will welcome a variety of new faces to the club and Lewis was linked with a move to the League One club earlier this year.

The Sun reported that Parkinson had joined a whole host of clubs with interest in Lewis, who shot to fame after appearing on the 2019 summer edition of Love Island, where he was dumped after just four days.

Sunderland join the likes of Huddersfield, Oxford United, Leyton Orient and favourites to sign the forward, Charlton Athletic, who are now said to have pushed forward with their interest.

Lewis netted an impressive 14 goals and provided 11 assists during the 2019/2020 season which ultimately helped Wealdstone clinch the National League South title.

The 23-year-old initially began his footballing career with Championship side Watford before having spells with Woking, Crawley Town, Falkirk and Bromley.

The Sun report Charlton are now ready to make a solid move for the attacker as they look to beat off interest from elsewhere.

Quite whether or not Lewis is ready for the step-up to England’s third tier remains to be seen but he has gained plenty of interest after his non-league performances.

Sunderland are in desperate need of some new attacking options and Phil Parkinson must look to bring in some new faces soon. If the package to sign him isn’t much, he may be a gamble worth taking for the Wearside club given his form last term.

Do you think Sunderland should make a move for Lewis? Let us know in the comments section below…

A recent transfer report has left plenty of Leeds United supporters brimming with excitement this week.

According to Football Insider, the west Yorkshire outfit are ‘closely monitoring’ San Lorenzo striker Adolfo Gaich ahead of a potential summer move upon their long-awaited return to the Premier League.

It’s claimed that the Argentine forward has a release clause of £12m and has attracted interest across Europe, although his preference is thought to be a move to Italy’s Serie A.

And many at Elland Road would love to see him arrive…

The 21-year-old has bagged five goals in 13 appearances this campaign despite only playing 680 minutes, via Transfermarkt.

It’s led to one supporter likening the forward to Martin Palermo, who one played for Villarreal whilst others believe it would be a “big statement” to land him.

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Some other members of the United faithful were quick to suggest that this sort of news probably means that manager Marcelo Bielsa is going to stay.

There were even some lauding Gaich as the ideal sort of striker the Argentine likes as he’s “mobile” and runs about a lot.

Leeds currently have Patrick Bamford and RB Leipzig loanee Jean-Kevin Augustin to call upon to lead the line with the latter having an obligation to buy should the club clinch promotion in these final nine matches.

Therefore, it raises questions to if these reports are accurate, although one fan believes it could push the 26-year-old closer to the exit door.

AND in other news, Leeds fans go wild over Ben White report…

Wolverhampton Wanderers must consider signing Mohammed Salisu after transfer news emerged from El Desmarque that they are one of a high number of clubs interested in signing the Real Valladolid central defender in the upcoming summer transfer window.

As per the outlet, Southampton and Watford, amongst other teams outside of the Premier League, have all courted Salisu and may be looking to pounce for his signature once the window opens.

Indeed, the centre-back is valued at 11 million euros (roughly £9.9 million) and has made an appearance in every game in La Liga in this season so far, according to Transfermarkt.

In those matches, the left-footed centre-half wins 4.5 duels on average, and also averages five clearances, 1.4 tackles and 1.1 interceptions, keeping a total of seven clean sheets (via Sofascore).

Given those relatively impressive stats and the fact that he is left-footed, Salisu could arguably slot in nicely as the left-sided man of Nuno Espirito Santo’s back three.

It is a position that Romain Saiss has had to fill in Transfermarkt).

If Salisu plays on the left side, then captain Conor Coady can play in the middle of the three central defenders and Willy Boly can play on the right given that he is right-footed.

At a potentially bargain price, and given also the apparent competition for his signature, Wolves should at least consider the Ghanaian as a possible swoop.

WWFC fans, do you think Salisu would be a good signing? Comment below!

Everton will be happy with a point against Manchester United after a patched-up team took to the pitch and threatened to take three points back to Merseyside.

Such were the lack of options that Duncan Ferguson decided to play Mason Holgate in a midfield role, and the Toffees’ woes got worse after Lucas Digne was forced off with an injury in the first half.

Fortunately for Ferguson he had a greatly experienced player to call upon in Leighton Baines, and the 35-year-old barely put a foot wrong throughout despite coming up against the pacy Dan James.

Did he play for Everton? Simple question but a lot tougher than you think…

He also took a brilliant corner which led Everton to open the scoring, and that left many fans appreciative of the left-back’s efforts.

The former England international was only drafted back into the matchday squad by Ferguson for the clash against Chelsea last week, and his short cameo appearance against the Blues was his first appearance of the campaign.

It was a terrific and unexpected performance from him, therefore, to subdue Manchester United for large portions, and it is no wonder that fans are full of admiration, as he could have very easily struggled due to a lack of game time.

His fitness levels are a testament to his professionalism, too, and if he maintains that he could still have a role to play for Everton this season, which could prove important if Digne is out for a period of time.

In other Everton news, fans have been critical of a regular in the team who’s performances have tailed off this season to the detriment of his team.

بدأ اليوم البرتغالي نيلو فينجادا عمله كمدير فني للاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم، بجمع البيانات والمعلومات اللازمة لطبيعة مهمته، وذلك فور وصوله القاهرة.

وكان فينجادا قد أجّل قدومه إلى القاهرة للحصول على الجرعة الثانية من لقاح كورونا في بلاده.

وترددت أنباء عن نية اتحاد الكرة في فسخ التعاقد مع فينجادا بسبب تأخر وصوله إلى القاهرة.

وتعاقد الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم مع فينجادا لتولي مهمة المدير الفني للجبلاية، وهي المهمة التي يبني عليها الاتحاد آمالا كبيرة لوضع استراتيجية فنية لمنتخباته الوطنية ومسابقاته المحلية بجميع مراحلها السنية وفئاتها المختلفة.

إقرأ أيضا.. إبراهيم عبد الله: اتحاد الكرة ضد الزمالك ورحيلنا “شائعة”.. وأعتذر للجماهير عن تصريحي بشأن الخطيب

جدير بالذكر أن البرتغالي نيلو فينجادا سيتولى منصب المدير الفني لاتحاد الكرة خلفًا لمحمود سعد الذي أقالته الجبلاية من منصب المدير الفني.

أكد محمود فتح الله المدرب العام لنادي بيراميدز، أن مباراة وادي دجلة كانت صعبة، مشيرًا أن اللاعبين ليسوا آلات وتلاحم المباريات يؤثر عليهم.

ونجح بيراميدز في الفوز على نظيره وادي دجلة بثلاث أهداف مقابل هدف، ضمن الجولة العشرون من الدوري المصري الممتاز.

وقال فتح الله في تصريحات إذاعية عبر أثير راديو “الشباب والرياضة”: “موقف وادي دجلة في جدول المسابقة زاد من صعوبة المباراة وكنا نعلم ذلك، أهدرنا ركلة جزاء وبعد ذلك دخل مرمنا هدف، وكان رد فعل اللاعبين جيد جدًا وكنا موفقين في تسجيل الأهداف”.

طالع أيضًا.. مدرب بيراميدز: أشكر اللاعبين على الأداء الممتاز أمام دجلة.. ونحاول تجنب فقدان النقاط

وتابع: “نعذر اللاعبين، هم ليسوا آلات، نحن نلعب مباراة كل يومين أو ثلاثة أيام وهذا مستحيل، في الدوري المصري منذ زمن لم تصادفنا مثل هذه الأمور، لعبنا 10 مباريات في شهر واحد”.

وأردف: “نلعب في أكثر من بطولة وهذا صعب جدًا ومجهود كبير على اللاعبين”.

وأكمل: “نسير خطوة بخطوة، ولا أريد أقول أننا متواجدين في المنافسة بالدوري أو بعيدين عنها، ولكننا نحاول إلا نخسر نقاطًا في المباريات المقبلة بالمسابقة”.

وعن تطورات إصابة رمضان صبحي، قال: “إصابته ليست قوية، وسيخضع لفحص طبي لتحديد موقفة من المشاركة في المباراة المقبلة”.