[ad_pod ]Leeds United journalist Phil Hay has taken the risky move of praising Derby County manager Frank Lampard on Twitter.
The Chelsea legend is an unpopular figure around Elland Road due to the fallout of the spygate scandal in January.
What’s been said then?
The Yorkshire Evening Post writer published an article praising both Lampard and Bielsa for fantastic first campaigns. The piece drew some backlash from the Whites fanbase who questioned Hay’s view on Lampard’s first season as he hadn’t improved on the Rams’ sixth-place finish last season.
The Scot began replying to fans on Twitter, justifying his view by saying:
“It’s his first season in management, in a cut-throat division which did for Rowett and might do for Pulis. He’s done a good job.”
He replied to another fan who disagreed with his thoughts posting: “Potentially unpopular opinion but you have to see it for what it is.”
Unpopular for a reason
Lampard’s first season in management can’t be fully judged until the playoffs are done and dusted.
The Midlands club have been knocking on the door of the Premier League for a decade now, and if the 40-year-old is the one to lead them to the promised land then he will be heralded as a great manager.
As it stands though, Lampard has not eclipsed the achievements of many of his predecessors. The Rams have been in the playoffs three times in the past six years and each time it has ended the same.
This time more was expected of Derby due to the amount of financial backing they had during the summer, leading to the owner bending the rules of FFP so that the club could avoid sanctions.
With talent such as Harry Wilson, Mason Mount, Tom Lawrence and Jack Marriott all being brought in last summer, for Derby to finish in the exact same spot they did last season has to be regarded as a failure.
Unless they are promoted through the playoffs there is no reason for Lampard to be regarded as any more successful than Gary Rowett was last year.
PSG are interested in signing Hugo Lloris from Tottenham Hotspur this summer, per AS, to the amusement of a number of Spurs fans.
The France international has captained the club to the first Champions League final in their history, where they will play Liverpool on June 1. He also won the World Cup with France last summer.
AS report that PSG believe that striking a deal for Lloris would be less complicated than for their other targets, Manchester United’s David De Gea and AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma. Both the Spaniard and the Italian are seen as prohibitively expensive to extricate from their current clubs.
That has tickled a number of Spurs supporters, who believe that chairman Daniel Levy will demand a massive fee for the stopper.
Lloris, after all, remains the club’s first-choice goalkeeper despite the errors that appear to be creeping into his game.
Loads of West Brom fans have been reacting to some transfer news, as Burnley are reportedly interested in Craig Dawson.
According to The Sun, Burnley are ready to make a whopping £15m bid for Dawson.
The Clarets made a combined bid of £25m for both Dawson and Jay Rodriguez last summer, but both players remained at the Hawthorns.
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And while Rodriguez proved exactly why the Baggies kept him on board with a fantastic season in the Championship, Dawson was less convincing.
The 29 year-old did start 42 league games, but tends to split opinion amongst the fans.
Now, with Burnley seemingly ready to flash their Premier League riches once more, the Hawthorns faithful are urging the club to cash in on Dawson.
Mason Holgate and Tosin Adarabioyo both being at the club only on loan means selling Dawson would leave any potential new manager with a massive job to overhaul the defence, but nonetheless that is what the Twitter reactions down below are crying out for…
Lingard enjoyed himself as he got to watch Jaap Stam, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and their current manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tear Bayern apart.
Solskjaer, opened the scoring within the first five minutes and United never looked back. Further goals from Butt, Louis Saha, Dwight Yorke, and Beckham sealed the win.
Lingard would have been seven when the treble was won and Rashford only two-years-old.
It was a pleasure for both of the local boys to cover this match, but for fans it was probably a sad reminder of what they used to have and what they are now left with.
Lingard and Rashford need to take some inspiration from the legends who were on display and improve the standard of their performances next season.
Loads of Liverpool fans have been reacting to a surprising transfer rumour, as West Ham want to sign Xherdan Shaqiri for £22.5m.
According to The Daily Post, the Irons are eyeing Shaqiri as they prepare themselves for a busy summer.
Under the guidance of Manuel Pellegrini and Mario Husillos, the east-London outfit signed ten new players last summer, and will look to strengthen the squad again this term.
According to the report, the Reds have set a £22.5m asking price on the Swiss international after he fell down the pecking order in the second half of the season, and the Hammers are willing to stump up the cash.
However, many Reds are taking issue with the reports, wondering why the club would cash in on a player who added some much-needed attacking depth this season.
On the one hand, the club would be nearly doubling the £13m they paid for him last summer (BBC), but there is no point building a squad if you take it apart 12 months later.
Take a look at the Twitter reactions down below, where fans are completely against a sale…
Liverpool’s team for this Saturday’s Champions League final against Tottenham is pretty much set in stone.
Alisson Becker in goal, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold at full-back, Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip at centre-half. The front three, fitness permitting, picks itself.
But the midfield three has had question marks lingering over it all season. Naby Keita, Georginio Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho have all been preferred during different periods of the campaign, while Adam Lallana and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain can be thrown into the equation as well – albeit as rank outsiders to start in Madrid.
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But a flurry of form towards the end of the season in a more advanced role, coupled with his captain status, suggests Henderson will start this one. Fabinho too, is Liverpool’s most unique midfielder – their only true holding player – and has featured in a lot of big games this season, including the full 180 minutes of the last two Champions League rounds.
With Lallana and Oxlade-Chamberlain only playing bit-part roles this season – the latter has only featured twice as a substitute in the Premier League after his year-long injury layoff – the final midfield slot would appear to be a question of either Milner or Wijnaldum.
Both of them have started 10 Champions League games this season, whilst also making one appearance from the bench, so it really is hard to tell who Klopp chooses for the final.
It would be extremely harsh to leave Wijnaldum on the bench after his two-minute double against Barcelona effectively got Liverpool into the final. The Dutch international admitted that he was ‘really angry’ with Klopp for leaving him on the bench in the second leg of the semi-final, so he’ll practically have steam coming out his ears if he gets sidelined again on Saturday.
Wijnaldum, formerly of Newcastle, has been excellent for the Reds this season, but you absolutely cannot discredit Milner’s experience and energy.
Soccer Football – Champions League Semi Final Second Leg – Liverpool v FC Barcelona – Anfield, Liverpool, Britain – May 7, 2019 Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum celebrates scoring their third goal with Jordan Henderson REUTERS/Phil Noble
The 33-year-old will be a valuable presence on the pitch if he plays, and a figure that the likes of Alexander-Arnold will turn to if things start to go haywire – Robertson name-dropped Milner as the guy who ‘didn’t even crack a smile’ when Divock Origi netted against Barcelona, instead waving his arms to the fans to demand more support.
To put the ball in Milner’s court though, if Liverpool are 1-0, 2-0 or 3-0 down on the night, will the former Manchester City man be a player who can enter the fray and bag a couple of goals? It’s in his locker, albeit perhaps a couple of assists more likely, but isn’t something you’d bank on either.
If Wijnaldum starts on the bench and things go array, we have already seen that he can come on and change the game in a flash; this could be valuable to Klopp as only Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri are other names who could provoke such a response from his raft of substitutes.
But we also know what we’re getting with Henderson and Fabinho. The former will be playing in a more advanced No.8 role where he will look to make an impact further forward, whilst also keeping things running smoothly in the middle.
Fabinho, on the other hand, will start as a No.6 in defensive midfield, where it is unlikely that he’ll go too far past the halfway line.
In that respect, Klopp must choose someone who can work around this, a player who will hoover up the space that Henderson and Fabinho leave vacant.
Both Milner and Wijnaldum tick the boxes for this role, as they have boundless amounts of stamina. They can help out defensively, they can be trusted in possession and they can support going forward.
Obviously, this extremely tough ultimatum rests at the feet of the former Borussia Dortmund boss, luckily for us.
However, if we were in the dugout inside the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday, we would probably choose Milner in our starting XI just for the sheer bundle of experience he has at his disposal – as well as the fact that Wijnaldum will be needed if Spurs take a stranglehold of the tie.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Everton have offered Leighton Baines a new one-year deal to stay with the Toffees until the end of the 2019-20 campaign.
As it stands, Baines will be a free agent when his current deal expires on June 30.
However, according to the Liverpool Echo, Everton have placed a contract on the table as the 34-year-old is still wanted as back-up to Lucas Digne.
It did not take long for Digne to replace Baines at left-back following his arrival from Barcelona.
In fairness, the Frenchman was outstanding for Marco Silva’s side last season, meaning that Baines was restricted to just eight appearances in all competitions.
According to the Liverpool Echo, the 5 ft 7 ace will discuss his situation with his family before deciding whether to stay at Goodison Park for another year.
The Everton fans have been on social media offering their views on the situation and a selection of their reaction – which is mixed – can be seen below:
According to the London Evening Standard, Manchester United will consider a move for Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Eriksen should Paul Pogba leave Old Trafford during this summer’s transfer window.
Pogba’s future at Old Trafford is far from secure and it would not be a surprise if United decided to sell the Frenchman for big money ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.
According to the London Evening Standard, should Pogba move on then the Red Devils could target Eriksen – out of contract at Spurs next June.
However, it seems that the majority of Tottenham fans are not overly concerned by the transfer report.
Indeed, United will not be able to offer Champions League football next season and many of the Spurs supporters feel that Eriksen would actually be making a step down if he moved to Old Trafford this summer.
A selection of the Twitter reaction from the London club’s fans can be seen below:
One of the transfer sagas of the summer could well involve Harry Maguire. The defender was the subject of interest from Manchester United last year but the 26-year-old is again firmly in their minds.
The Sun reported over the weekend that United were willing to meet Leicester’s mega £80m evaluation of the centre back with Ed Woodward set to cave into their demands.
A potential transfer fee that high seems absurd but some Foxes fans took to Twitter to claim that they still wouldn’t move him on.
The reaction was mixed but one supporter suggested that Leicester weren’t a selling club anymore whilst another said that money wouldn’t replace Maguire.
However, other fans were more eager to sell. A further supporter said they’d be fools not to accept an offer of £80m. One member of the King Power faithful meanwhile made reference to the number of central defenders already there.
Leicester’s number 15 played a part in 31 Premier League fixtures last season, scoring three goals in the process.
He also played a vital hand in England’s run to the Nations League finals this summer as they missed out on a chance of securing a trophy after losing to the Netherlands.
After finishing short of the Champions League places, Manchester United’s transfer policy in recent seasons of signing big-name superstars on massive contracts has come under major scrutiny.
As such, the capture of 21-year-old Daniel James from Swansea and what looks like the imminent arrival of England U21 international Aaron Wan-Bissaka certainly seem like moves in the right direction.
Now, according to The Telegraph, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are looking to France for the latest prodigy and are considering whether to sign Lyon’s 15-year-old starlet Mathis Rayan Cherki.
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After hearing the report that United would have to fend off some serious competition for the Frenchman’s signature, many fans of the Red Devils took to Twitter to voice their opinion on the rumour.
Many supporters felt encouraged by the side’s continued plan to target youngsters who have the scope and potential to grow at Old Trafford over the years to come.
Others however were slightly more sceptical and revealed their frustrations that the club weren’t adopting a ‘win-now’ mentality and targeting established first-team stars.
Indeed, whilst some acknowledged Cherki’s considerable talent, they felt United were getting their priorities wrong this summer and questioned whether they were planning to win the league in 2040.
Check out some of the reaction of United fans below: