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According to recent reports, Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund are prepared to break their transfer record this summer: to sign £50m-rated Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha.
Continue reading “Borussia Dortmund express interest in Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha”
Following Wolves’ 2-1 win over Liverpool yesterday, the FA Cup 4th Round Draw took place. There are interesting ties set to take place but headlining the bill is Arsenal vs Manchester United, a fixture that has continued to intrigue in recent seasons. Continue reading “FA Cup 4th Round Draw: Arsenal v Man Utd – the headline tie”
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has confirmed that midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek will not be loaned out in the upcoming January transfer window. Is this another positive sign of progression or simply a waiting game for the Englishman? Continue reading “Ruben Loftus-Cheek set to remain at Chelsea: Another positive sign?”
Continue reading “Where next for Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham?”
The transfer deadline is fast approaching, so here are five Premier League players that need to be leaving their respective clubs before then… Continue reading “5 Premier League players who need to leave their teams before the window closes”
Goals from Alexis Sánchez and Yannick Bolasie ensured that both sides shared the spoils in this London derby – but it was yet another game that Arsenal themselves really should’ve won.
It was a must-win match for Arsenal, make no mistake about that. Considering their inconsistent form saw them drop rather dramatically from the Premier League title race, they needed to keep pace with Manchester City and Tottenham to avoid falling away in quite frustrating fashion – something that has happened all-too-often in previous seasons. From the early exchanges, you would’ve felt it was inevitable that the Gunners would seal the victory too – but Crystal Palace, in spite of their faltering league form since the start of 2016, were always going to pose a threat against their London counterparts.
Continue reading “Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace: Bolasie ensures Gunners squander yet more points”
A first-half strike from summer signing Yohan Cabaye was enough to seal all three points for the Eagles, as they took their chance against an unfortunate Southampton side.
Southampton‘s run of winless games in all competitions extended to a frustrating five as they succumbed to a narrow defeat at the hands of Alan Pardew‘s Crystal Palace side on Saturday afternoon. Yohan Cabaye‘s close-range effort, capping off a well-worked team move in the final third, was enough to seal all three points for the hosts, who were fully deserving of the victory.
Twenty minutes were on the clock before Paulo Gazzaniga was forced into making an important save, denying Yannick Bolasie‘s swerving effort – which seemed to be curling towards the top corner – with a smart parry over the crossbar.
In the absence of Maarten Stekelenburg, the visitors’ third-choice goalkeeper was certainly tested in the early exchanges.
Cabaye powered goalwards with a sweetly-struck volley, which was parried to safety. Then, Connor Wickham was unlucky not to score minutes later, his powerful close-range header was thwarted by the Argentine in-between the posts.
The goalkeeping masterclass was not over yet, though. At the other end of the Selhurst Park turf, Wayne Hennessey made an acrobatic stop to push Steve Davis‘ headed flick-on over the crossbar.
For his succession of important saves beforehand, Gazzaniga could do nothing to prevent Cabaye’s well-worked opener.
After a neat pass into his feet by the returning Wilfried Zaha, Bolasie span past Jose Fonté as though the Portuguese centre-back was not there, before firing a low ball across the face of goal. The classy Frenchman was on hand to turn the ball home into the bottom corner.
At half-time, Ronald Koeman‘s men were behind and needed a quick response. Bolasie and Zaha were both causing all sorts of problems in the final third throughout, but neither was able to double the lead. Gazzaniga kept his side in the game to deny both Wickham and Bolasie with respectively stinging efforts inside the area.
In stoppage time, Shane Long had a golden opportunity to level the scoring – with virtually the last kick of the game. Hennessey was alert to the danger though, blocking Long’s effort swiftly with his legs, as the home supporters roared with delight.
They certainly appreciated the magnitude of Hennessey’s save, it confirmed that all three points were firmly staying in London, and it was deserved. As for the visitors though, they had to travel back home with the disappointment of another bitter defeat, especially when they knew they could have snatched a positive result instead.
Admittedly, Boro cruelly fell at the last hurdle in the final at Wembley, but they’ll be strong favourites to eventually secure their place amongst the top sides in England this term – and they’ll be collectively stronger for the experience.
After impressing for Nottingham Forest in the FA Youth Cup, Chelsea were excited by the then-teenager, and didn’t hesitate to snap him up into their own ranks. So in 2012, for £1.5million pounds, Bamford was officially a Chelsea player. Signing a five-year contract, he initially started well within the reserve setup, before earning a loan spell to various clubs in search of competitive football.
The idea has always been, for the most part, to give young players the adequate experience they need to return to their parent clubs with the hunger and ability to establish first-team credentials. In a star-studded team such as Chelsea’s, you have to be immensely talented for even scouts, staff and respective coaches to look at you, let alone being able to sign professional terms.
The 2014/15 campaign was a breakout season for Bamford in terms of his overall development. He still doesn’t look the finished article yet, but the signs of progression were there: agility, strength, intelligent movement in-behind defences, flashes of flair as well as most importantly, the goals to show for it.
So you could excuse Patrick’s probable reaction to the news that José Mourinho had signed Radamel Falcao on a season-long loan deal from AS Monaco. Injuries have seen the Colombian forward’s confidence drop, and his performances have suffered for it.
After a forgettable season at Louis van Gaal‘s transitional Manchester United side, Mourinho vowed to try and help Falcao restore his world-class ability, which was infamously quiet for large parts of the previous season.
Bamford was consequently loaned out to fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace, in east London. Upon the surface, this deal didn’t look like a particularly bad decision given the circumstances – but at the same time, just a few months into it, the cracks are gradually starting to appear.
With plenty of viable attacking options at Alan Pardew‘s disposal, you’d be naïve to expect Bamford would be consistently starting just on merit from his success at the Riverside. Potentially three or four forwards ahead of him in the pecking order, he would have been told, it wouldn’t be easy.
It hasn’t been. So far this term, Bamford has been restricted to a mere 56 minutes of Premier League football. Regularly being named in the matchday squad, he can rarely seem to get his opportunity off the substitutes’ bench, and it’s understandably hurting his confidence too.
“It has been a frustrating time for me – I am not the same person when I am not playing football all the time. I would say this has been one of the most upsetting times since I have been playing football.”
Seeing his parent club Chelsea, struggling quite remarkably, will feel bittersweet for Bamford. On the one hand, he’ll feel frustrated that he has not been given his chance centre-stage yet, but also, he’ll take positives from the fact that when he does eventually return from his spell, he’ll get his opportunity.
After all, their options are looking increasingly bare at the moment. The talented attacking trio of Dominic Solanke, Isaiah Brown and Islam Feruz are all out on respective loan spells elsewhere away from Stamford Bridge – but they are expected to lead the club in the not-too-distant future.
That’s not to mention the likes of Tammy Abraham, Charly Musonda and Iké Ugbo, who are all showing signs of individual brilliance to suggest they’re all gems in a never-ending production line in west London.
If you see the direction I’m heading towards, you’ll recognise the aforementioned six players are relatively young, even in comparison to Bamford. The oldest, is 19. Bamford turned 22 back in September. The point is, he needs to be patient and keep working hard but also be quietly weary of the competition he has to battle with for a starting berth in the future.
“I have been doing all I can to get in the team and, hopefully, with the work I have been doing over the last few weeks I might get a few more chances.”
As Tim Notke once said, hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.
Mo and Sports 