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Mourinho v Pogba is exact same as Solskjaer and Van de Beek at Man Utd - Football365.com

Jose Mourinho fell out with Paul Pogba and his agent. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has no issue with Donny van de Beek. History is repeating itself.

Less is Mour One of the main talking points to emerge from these most recent Premier League fixtures is the plight of Donny van de Beek. Gary Neville deems his lack of playing time for Manchester United to be a “mystery”. Marco van Basten is not impressed. But the Daily Mirror website offers an entirely new angle. They know precisely what they’re doing with this headline: ‘Donny van de Beek’s advisor told to “shut his mouth” as Jose Mourinho issue emerges’ How on earth is the current Tottenham manager, who was last in charge of Manchester United almost two years ago, relevant to this situation? He isn’t, of course. That’s the trick. It is a conflation of about 20 different stories. The “shut his mouth” is from Patrice Evra. And it takes 26 whole paragraphs before Mourinho is even mentioned. That is definitely worthy of headline billing. After all of the preamble with regards to the recent comments of Sjaak Swart – ‘who represents Van de Beek’ when actually he is simply an agent for the company that represents Van de Beek – comes the first inclination as to what this actual story is about. ‘There are certainly similarities between this situation and one faced by Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.’ Do go on. ‘Back in 2018, Mourinho had a public falling-out with Paul Pogba – and the Frenchman’s agent was very much involved in the dispute.’ So one manager ‘had a public falling-out’ with one player two years ago, reportedly describing him as a ‘virus’ in front of his teammates – and now a completely different manager has signed but is yet to give a proper chance to a completely different player little over a month into the season. Both had other people publicly discussing the situation. That is bloody eerie. Enough to send a shiver down the spine. ‘There is no evidence to suggest lightning has struck twice.’ Oh. Then what the sod are we doing here? ‘Solskjaer has been relatively tight-lipped on Van de Beek, but doesn’t seem to have a problem with the midfielder, and certainly doesn’t appear to be punishing him.’ Same question. ‘Simply, he’s allowing Van de Beek time to adapt to this new surroundings, and apparently working out where he best fits into his system.’ So it is literally nothing like the ‘Jose Mourinho issue’ that has ’emerged’. He ‘had a public falling-out’ with Paul Pogba, whose agent spoke out and annoyed the manager. Two years later, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ‘doesn’t seem to have a problem’ with Donny van de Beek and isn’t ‘punishing him’ because he’s done nothing wrong and someone who isn’t his agent said something a few weeks ago. Aside from that, history is pretty much repeating itself. Taking the Mik Writes Dave Kidd in The Sun: ‘Arteta was in good voice – 90 per cent of his instructions barked out in Spanish. Rodgers, who speaks the Arsenal manager’s lingo, appeared amused by something his opposite number had said. But do Bukayo Saka or Kieran Tierney understand a word of it?’ Maybe not. He presumably speaks English to get tactical messages across to them when he needs to. How revolutionary. What is it about a man knowing more than one language that members of the media so innately distrust? Ozil-tempered Mark Irwin was also on Arsenal duty and spent much of his time discussing someone who was neither on the pitch nor in the stadium. No prizes for guessing who. ‘MESUT OZIL was at it again, tweeting footage of his goal in the 3-1 win against Leicester two years ago ahead of the game against the same opponents.’ What a d*ck. ‘What he failed to mention was that it was just about his last decent performance in an Arsenal shirt before being dumped from the squad by Mikel Arteta. ‘Now the only way he can keep himself at the centre of attention is by trying to embarrass the club on social media at every opportunity.’ Starting your opinion piece on a match for the nation’s best-selling newspaper with a few paragraphs about a player who did not feature, calling him out on his desire to ‘keep himself at the centre of attention’ in the process. That’ll teach him. October rain John Cross, meanwhile, was busy unearthing this absolute gem for the Daily Mirror: ‘Incredibly, this was the first time Arsenal had lost a home league game in 33 games in the month of October.’ That truly is, by definition, ‘very difficult to believe’. But why stop the caveats and qualifiers there? How about home league games they have lost in October on a Sunday? Or home league games they have lost in October on a Sunday to goalscorers with the initials J.V? Now that would be ‘incredible’. Concede defeat The statistics bug has even made its way to Martin Samuel of the Daily Mail: ‘They are yet to concede a goal in a game in which Mendy and Silva have started.’ So three games. Great stuff. Bench press ‘Solskjaer explains why he blames himself over Pogba’s Man Utd benching’ – Daily Mirror. Is it because he’s the manager? Most MailOnline headline of the day ‘Manchester United ‘still targeting a stunning £176m double swoop for Erling Haaland AND Jadon Sancho… with the Norway striker having a £68m exit clause in his Borussia Dortmund contract that can be activated in 2022” Thirty-five words. Two outside of quote marks that do not denote an actual direct quote. Stunning work. Football365 shithouse headline of the day ‘Owen tips Cavani for success at Man Utd on two conditions’ Striker will score ‘as long as United have pressure on the opponents’ and ‘they get crosses in’. So if they play well and supply him. Groundbreaking stuff from big Michael. Recommended reading of the day Jonathan Wilson on Kevin McCarra.

Klopp names star he and Liverpool coaches find it 'so easy' to work with - Football365.com

Jurgen Klopp says Diogo Jota "can be much better" and is doing things that are "not natural to him". But the Liverpool boss loves him.

Jurgen Klopp says “it is so easy to like” and work with new Liverpool signing Diogo Jota. Liverpool capped off a solid but difficult week by following up Champions League victory over Ajax with a 2-1 win from behind against Sheffield United. Roberto Firmino cancelled out Sander Berge’s penalty opener at Anfield but it was Jota, on his second Premier League start for the club, who proved the difference with a late winner. READ MORE:Liverpool eye £20m deal as Man Utd outcasts near exit Klopp was full of praise for the Portuguese, who joined from Wolves for £41m in the summer. “It is not too much about what he’s brought in the team,” he said, as quoted by Liverpool’s official website. “He is a good player, that’s why we signed him. I said it only a few minutes ago when I was speaking with my coaches that it is so easy – he is such a likeable person and so it is so easy to like him. That makes everything easier. “Then the player he is: he is quick, he has the physicality, he is strong, he is good in the air, he is good on the ground… a lot of good things. He has exactly the quality we need, so that helps a lot. “Tonight was a game where all four played up front together and you know how good Shaqiri was in Amsterdam and he is close. Taki is very close and so all these things help, of course. This is the area where we have in the moment options and long may it stay like this. “Diogo scored a super goal and was really involved in the game. He can be much better, 100 per cent, and that’s good news. “He is still adapting. In the moment, a lot of things we do are not natural to him but that’s only because Wolves play different – but a lot of things he did for Wolves are exactly what we want him to do. “Yes, that he is that close already is just a sign how good a player he is. As I said, if he stays fit, he’s 23 and the future is bright, let me say it like this. We will need his quality and I am really happy that he settled nicely so far.”

Rodon reacts to 'dream' move after £15m Tottenham transfer - Football365.com

Football News - Rodon has said it is a 'dream come true' to sign for Tottenham and play for his country in one week.

“As everyone knows, Jose Mourinho is one of the biggest managers in the world, and all I can do is be excited, learn every day and hopefully take it all on board. “Its a massive honour. This is a massive club, and I cant wait to get started… coming from my boyhood club to this position is only something I could have dreamed of. Its been a great week and to finish it off in this way is a dream come true.” Rodon will join central defenders Eric Dier, Davinson Sanchez and Toby Alderweireld in the Spurs squad. He will provide them with extra competition at the back and could become a first team regular if Mourinho is impressed. Spurs have had a good start to the season and overall look solid at the back. They recently beat top six rivals Man Utd 6-1, which was a statement of intent from the North London side. The result also demonstrated the attacking capabilities of Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane. Rodon is unlikely to make it for their game this weekend. However, he could make his debut in the Prem against Burnley on Monday 26th October.

Pochettino or Wenger wouldn't make Southgate's mistakes... - Football News - - Football365.com

The Mailbox can't fathom some of Southgate's England selections, while Man Utd should do the right thing for Harry Maguire...

Keep your mails coming to [email protected]… Steak and Southgate I’m not much of a cook, but I do make a mean steak. Get the pan (cast iron) super hot, perfectly season the meat, and cook it for the perfect amount of time to get it cooked to a perfect medium rare level. My problem is, that I’m not so good at the other stuff. So when I do the roasted greens and chips from scratch, I worry that I’ll screw them up and accordingly give most of my attention to the sides. The reality is that giving them extra attention doesn’t hide the fact that I just don’t cook them very well. But there’s a flip side – because I’ve given so much attention to the problem dishes, I’ve neglected the one that should have been the star, and the steak, and by extension the whole meal, suffers for it. This is Southgate’s problem. He’s been given a side stocked with top tier attacking talent (and full backs) but allocates 5 of his 10 outfield players to problem positions for England – defensive midfielders and centre backs. The best, most in form players are missing out, and so is England’s ability to be a strong attacking, top side, to attempt to paper over the cracks of the weak positions, creating a formation that just doesn’t suit the best players. Some comments: 1) The top 6 sides in England (by 2019-20 finishing position) all play a variant of 4-3-3, with a flat back four and three forward players. Some (Man City, Chelsea, arguably Man United) have centre back as their obvious weak link, but back their talent further up the pitch to more than cover for this – they don’t move to a back 3 to compensate. 2) Jadon Sancho was one of the players of the year in world football last season, yet didn’t get picked against Denmark and has struggled when forced into an unfamiliar role for England. He’d prosper as a wide forward in either a Man City (as a Mahrez/Sane-esque winger) or Liverpool style (Mane/Salah-esque wide forward) style front 3. 3) Jordan Henderson is the reigning FWA player of the year and 2nd in the PFA player of the year standings, excelling for Liverpool as a 6 and 8 in a 4-3-3, yet essentially always plays in a dual 6 for England when he does play. Either let him shuttle and link midfield and attack, or entrust him to anchor midfield, he’s far superior to Rice and Dier as an anchor. 4) Trent Alexander-Arnold is arguably the world’s premier right back (and 2x PFA RB of the year), playing as a normal right back in a deep playmaker role. Asking him to play as wing back and get high up the pitch negates his playmaking abilities. Just plonk him in at right back in a flat back four and let him do his thing. Alternatively Kyle Walker was the previous 2x PFA RB of the year, and a starting RB for one of the best teams world football has ever seen, and got dropped from the squad completely for a while and only seems to play as a centre half, which he’s never played at club level. It’s not that hard. 5) I know F365 hates Eric Dier, but managers all love him, and he seems like one of those players managers find a space for. Mourinho looked at him and realised he’s not a DM, but a CB – Southgate should follow suit and improve two positions in one go (and stop messing around with the likes of Mings and Keane). Similarly Joe Gomez is great for Liverpool in a back four and appears to be down the pecking order after one average game behind Harry Maguire (Maguire has had many) and right back Kyle Walker. It really isn’t as hard as Southgate is making it. I’m venturing dangerously into armchair football management territory here, but a 4-3-3 (emulating the systems the best players in England play in) with Pickford; TAA, Gomez, Dier, Chilwell; Henderson, Phillips, Mount/Grealish; Sancho, Kane, Rashford/Sterling puts square pegs in square holes, while ensuring said square pegs are also the best players England has, not system players from the 7th, 8th, 9th best clubs in the country. There’s a problem position in midfield if Phillips isn’t up to the role, but on the whole that side is far more balanced than the mediocre shambles that started today.Alex …3RB’s 2DM’s Brings on Henderson instead of Grealish Grealish Not Even Starting? Mount probably has Southgate’s and Fat Frank’s Nudes stashed somewhere for him to be starting regularly. Reminds of the previous Man Utd Managers and their obsession with Fellaini. In Conclusion, Ole Gunnar Southgate is a numpty. Get Arsene Wenger In You Cowards @FAMagnus Rating the players: England 0-1 Denmark England’s bigger picture It sounds as though Project Big Picture (should be called Stand and Deliver In my opinion) has rightfully been put to bed for now following the Premier League clubs meeting earlier today. Id like to suggest throwing another item into the sweet stack rather than the proposed shit sandwich. £8M a year or so allocated to the salary of the England Manger – the difference a top tier manager would make at International level is far greater than that at club level. Coaching rather than wading into the transfer market being a key differential. Pochettino for England? Yes please. I know it is not the prestigious job it used to be many, many….many years ago but throw cash at them and the opportunity of being the man who brought 54 years of hurt to a close has to be alluring to a top tier manager surely?Brian (whilst also happy with the the job Southgate is doing to be fair) BRFC …Am I mental or are all these commentators just naive? Maguire got sent off for the follow through Where hes taken the ball (shouldve seen red for the first booking mind) and its poor from Maguire. Yet the referee has 90 seconds later given a penalty for a follow through by Walker, he clearly kicks the bloke on the follow through and they cant see why its given??? Then with 5 to go Coady falls over, not a pen, never a pen and they are talking like England should have a penalty? Get real. No one mentions the real problems. Southgate is all too quick to give everyone a debut. So players dont play together as often on the 4/5 times a year they get together. Is far to loyal to people like Pickford, Maguire and Walker. Who all 3 are at the end of their international careers. Would happily play a combination of Rice/Henderson/Dier who are the same player with progressively awful hair cuts. Does have a discipline problem, because he doesnt set a precedent. 2 young lads break social distancing bringing a bird back, hung out to dry. 3 older more experienced players go on knees up at a party, arent? Where is the consistency? We beat the number one ranked team in the world on Sunday (that title means jack all by the way), and then against Denmark we are litter, aside from the sending off, we werent ever in the game. Listening after to Redknapp criticising the referee, no one is criticising the performance, the team selection. Does Southgate have another option bar rely on us getting a penalty and Kane smashing it home? I dont think he does, and for all the raving of Mason Mount, aside from die hard Chelsea fans I dont know many people who think hes the second coming of Jesus like hes made out to be, but I do think he fits the politically correct image the FA want, hell go see his nan every week, wont swear in church and is never going to get done drink driving. England care to much about trying to get a result, they dont try and win a game, put a side to the sword, when we do have the players to do that.Dean …Alex from London asked about bringing back a player in their prime who was either retired or had passed away to this England side, naturally with the nations Left Back issue Id suggest Ashley Cole, easily. However after yet another disaster from Jordan Pickford last night Id suggest the departed but never forgotten, the greatest English goalkeeper of all time and that would be Gordon Banks. Honestly I can see Pickford being the reason this impressive 2020/21 Everton side dont mount a season long challenge for the Top 4, he just isnt very good, has a proven consistency to make errors that often get punished one way or another, but back to England, surely it is time to hand the gloves to Nick Pope or Dean Henderson.Mikey, CFC Poor Harry F*ck Vikings and Viking civilisation?Bill …Its pretty obvious and sad whats happening to Harry Maguire at the moment. His head is nowhere in the right place to be playing top level football (good job he plays for England and United then LOL). Whether hes tired from last season, the drama in Greece has caught up with him or its something else (there is a pandemic on diven ya na?) even his harshest critic must accept that he doesnt make this many mistakes this often. Im genuinely worried hes got some mental health issues. United need to give him a month off to sort his head out. Its their own fault they dont have adequate cover but its more important for Maguire to get his shit together. Best of luck to him.Ash Metcalfe Nev’s problem with Alexander-Arnold This has been going on for quite some time now but after tonight I feel compelled to bring this to the Footy365 readership to see if Im the only one whos noticed. It seems to me that Gary Neville never misses an opportunity to say something utterly demeaning about Trent Alexander Arnold. Lets face it, hes one of … if not Englands most creative player. But youd never know that listening to Martin Tyler and Gary Neville. Always a subtle dig here and there about his defending; never says anything positive when he actually does do some defending. And when he gets benched by Southgate its because the manager doesnt fancy him at all… Seriously? Was that little dig necessary? For all we know England probably got strict instructions from LFC not to overuse Trent with the Merseyside derby coming up this weekend. Plus, like Henderson, hes not too long ago got back from an injury. There could be a million and one reasons why Southgate didnt pick him other than he just doesnt fancy him or theres no room for him in the way England want to play. Bollocks. Belgium was the toughest opponent this time round and England doesnt win that match without Trents creativity. For someone whos won 13 PL titles and countless other trophies Neville sounds remarkably bitter about a 21/22 y.o. player whos still developing. Probably some sort of professional jealousy there, but whats Martin Tylers excuse? These two commentators need to get a grip. Theyre embarrassing themselves with their bitterness and overt pro-Man United bias. Its bad enough that even on their more neutral days they sound a right pair of Liverpool-hating bellends… Be as unprofessional as you want, but know that you cannot demean and belittle a young player without demeaning and belittling yourselves. Idiots.Karen A. Brown (Soon to be Dr Brown) Feeling blue What an awful decision, somebody somewhere has to be held accountable and take the rap. This decision could have a long standing effect upon the future of our national team.Obviously who ever took it expected a handsome victory on the back of the win over Belgium and thought this an ideal opportunity to milk the situation, but nobody is going to go out and buy that blue shirt now, England, at home, wear white!Howard ( that ref was sh*t wasn’t he) Jones Bonnie Scotland I’ve written a few mails in recently bemoaning the lack of quality in the Scotland team. The fact that we look slow and ponderous, have very little in the way of attacking quality and have been incapable of creating decent chances. They are all comments I would stand by and are illustrated by the fact that we have had 2 shots on target in the 300 minutes of football we have played this international break. And yet. Somehow, those 2 shots on targets have led to 3 wins. We’re unbeaten in 8. Win our next match and we qualify for Euro 2020(21). More remarkable and hilarious than that, win 1 of our final 2 Nations League games we will win promotion to Tier A, mixing it up with the likes of France, Spain, Italy and of course, England. It’s not without luck. The Czechs could easily have scored last night, as they could have in the reverse fixture. However, you have to give credit to Steve Clarke, who clearly has thought, if we’re terrible up front, we need to be incredibly solid at the back. 3 clean sheets in a row shows that we are. It’s still not thrilling football but this break has the been the most positive set of results Scotland have had for a long time. We’ll be underdogs against Serbia, but if we defend like we have in the past 3 games, we’ll at least have a chance.Mike, LFC, London Project Big Picture Im a middle aged Swindon fan, and have been here (here being faced with an uncertain future) before. I write this before the England game tonight, so this may get lost in the response to that tomorrow. But like being an England fan, my loyalty to my club is born out of geography and therefore something I couldnt choose. Project big picture shows as Tom Reed points out how greedy some owners are, and how little they think of the fans, dressing the plan up with altruistic motives in their veiled attempt to seize power. It also details how much the game – in terms of its ownership and finance – has changed. Is it irevocable though, as his article seems to come to the conclusion, or at least it doesnt offer any solutions? What would happen if we chose to let the structure fail? Could this be used as an opportunity to allow the big six or those that wanted to leave and create a European super league the opportunity to do that, but to the benefit of the rest? Like Liverpools pivotal sale of Coutinho to fund a successful squad rebuild, could the English game cast out those that want to go, under a negotiated (have to be massive massive) parachute payment to the rest of the clubs / league. Allow the remaining (struggling not to go off on a Johnny Nic style analogy of Brexit) to restructure under the knowledge of a much lower tv revenue, adopt the much praised German 50+1 fan ownership, salary caps, bin off the Elite Player Performance Plan, and make the leagues about developing players and sustainable clubs for the fans (I leave the simple details of making the league system better to those much more well versed than me) It would aim to leave a competitive rejuvenated structure, but one that would be like a clean olympics, to whatever European – steroids allowed – super league franchise the dissenters went off to join. Both would be good and have their benefits of watching. And as owners wanted to buy clubs / create franchises they could do it in the same cities with brand new teams and leave the existing clubs alone.STFC fan …The cynic in me is screaming that the whole PBP issue this week was the top 6 dipping their toes into the Covid-19 water. Project Super League may have been knocked back last night but it most definitely wont be going away anytime soon. Lets see them exercise more leverage if (God forbid) clubs do start going under. I wrote on Monday that there is no such thing as a free lunch and I still dont get why the PL clubs want to give £250 million to the EFL. Its not out of the goodness of their hearts thats for damned sure, so why are they doing it? What do they care if lower league clubs go under? Wouldnt affect their broadcasting revenue would it? Is it purely a PR stunt with each PL club coughing up a measly £12.5 million each for the purpose? Would be most grateful if any F365ers could put me out of my misery as I cant see what advantage it gives the grasping bastards.Mark (Im not going to watch the England game, Im not going to watch the England game, Im not, oh bollocks). MCFC. Save the venom for the hypocrites It did make me wonder, when Paul Murphy asked to save the venom for the American owners, and the media in general have lambasted the project and were quick to talk about embarrassing climb downs, that it appeared to become, first and foremost, anti-American. Lord knows Trump is not helping them win love overseas. I was just thinking how loved Mike Ashley is and how one couldn’t meet a lovelier pair in Sullivan and Gold – moving the team to the wonderful London stadium. I nearly forgot Vincent Tam, the Cardiff owner, voted worst owner in sports in 2013, the MCFC Emiratis who engaged in some investment skullduggery to circumvent Financial Fair Play. I couldn’t forget Sunderland’s Simon Grayson, a real live David Brent, who came off as a complete knob in Sunderland ’til I die. Of course, they should be loved and not loathed because, after all, they are non-Americans. Then we have the oh-so, very, very inscrutably English FA Chiefs, who all say how badly run the FA is/was, seemingly with no acknowledgement of their stint at the helm of this august body. NOW they think something should be done – mostly to thwart those dastardly Americans. In the case of FSG, it is clearly better to be a bad non-American than be a good American. Finally, in looking at the ‘other 14’ it was never going to be a starter. If ever there was a poor excuse for sportsmanship, one only has to look at this crowd. Play in neutral venues? Never, we need to play at home, because we did so well at home before the COVID break. Scrap the league? Yes, lets declare it null and void and have no one relegated. Give money to the lower leagues? Never, they are all swimming in it and the last thing we want is to fund a future competitor. Yup, all completely fit, proper and looking at the bigger picture. My arse! If we ever, ever, ever wanted to see hypocricy in football, we have seen in it in spades.Paul McDevitt United have spent So NPR, THFC thinks Utd haven’t been able to spend big and dominate thanks to the Glazers leveraged buyout?? You do realise that bar City they have the highest gross and net spend in Europe.This doesn’t include the fact they got Sanchez on a “free” & ended up paying him nearly £600k per week. Since Fergie retired they have spent over £1billion and no manager has outspent Ole since he took over in December 2018. They appointed Moyes on the say of the legend that is Fergie(yes it didn’t work out but imagine the reaction if they didn’t appoint him despite Fergies say so). LVG made sense at the time(Holland did well at the world cup and he had a great cv.)Jose was appointed as they wanted to win a big trophy(a league or CL within 3 years) which he generally delivered previously but is clearly a spent force.They were right to sack him.His last game-the 3-1 defeat at Anfield-was a shambles.He kept Pogba on the bench and brought on Fellaini instead.The only thing Fellaini did was hit a steward with a wayward shot…it happens except the steward was by the right corner flag by the Reebok stand at the time and Fellaini was shooting at goal from the left side of the box on the other side of the pitch!! Hindsight is 20/20 with these appointments, as it is with signings.Remember people scoffing in that Klopp was paying the same for Mane as Utd were for Mikitaryan and that Klopp was going for a Chelsea reject in Salah whereas Jose was going for it by buying Lukaku for £75m.No one could have known how big the purchases of Salah and Mane would turn out to be. Utd have spent more then PSG,Juventus and Munich(& Liverpool!!) so it’s very wrong to say the PL clubs should thank the owners for Utd not dominating.Ferg,Cork.

Kevin De Bruyne 'doesn't care' if Lionel Messi moves to Man City - Football365.com

Kevin De Bruyne says he isn't bothered whether Lionel Messi joins Man City or not: "There are enough good players at the club."

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is nonplussed over the prospect of Lionel Messi becoming his team-mate at the Etihad. Messi demanded to leave Barcelona this summer when it was reported that City were at the front of the queue to sign the Argentina genius. But the Barca star backed down to avoid facing his boyhood club in court after the Catalans refused to allow him to leave for nothing. It is expected, though, that Messi will again seek to quit the Nou Camp next summer, when City will again be in the hunt. Not that De Bruyne is getting carried away about the potential of playing alongside Messi in the City attack. I dont really care to be honest, he said. If he comes its a good thing, if he doesnt there are enough good players at the club who I enjoy playing with, so that is not for now. De Bruyne has also discussed his City future and the prospect of a new contract.

Leicester sole opponents of Premier League pay-per-view scheme - Football News - - Football365.com

Football News - - Leicester went against the other 19 Premier League clubs in Friday's vote for controversial plans to show games on pay-per-view TV.

Leicester City were at odds with the other 19 Premier League clubs as the only ones to vote against plans to show games on a pay-per-view basis. While there have been PR puff reports suggesting Manchester United’s Ed Woodward was no fan of the plan, Leicester appear to be the only club to actually formally oppose the scheme. Daily Telegraph reporter John Percy tweeted that Leicester were the only opponents of the scheme, describing them as a “lone voice of reason”. Understand #lcfc were the only club to vote against pay-per-view at today's Premier League meeting. Result was apparently 19-1. A lone voice of reason …. — John Percy (@JPercyTelegraph) October 9, 2020 The interim measure was confirmed on Friday after a clubs meeting, and means the non-televised games will be available via the BT Sport Box Office or Sky Sports Box Office platforms, for a reported price of £14.95 a game. A solution for screening the matches had to be worked on after the planned return of spectators from October 1 was scrapped by the Government due to a rise in coronavirus cases. FEATURE: Everybody Loves football programmes a memento to every matchday The Premier League said in a statement: The Premier League today confirmed all fixtures until the end of October will continue to be made available to fans to watch live in the UK. Under these new arrangements, the current live match selections will remain in place and will be broadcast as normal. In addition, the five matches per round not already selected will be made available to supporters on a pay-per-view basis, accessed via BT Sport Box Office and Sky Sports Box Office platforms. Clubs today agreed this interim solution to enable all fans to continue to watch their teams live. The Premier League has worked closely with Sky Sports and BT Sport to provide this arrangement and is grateful for their support. The agreement will be regularly reviewed in consultation with clubs and in line with any decisions made by Government regarding the return of spectators to stadiums. Football is not the same without supporters at matches. The Premier League and our clubs remain committed to the safe return of fans as soon as possible. The decision has already been met with criticism, though. This is a really bad move by the @premierleague to charge £14.95 for single matches that have been shown free for 6 months! Manchester United great and Sky pundit Gary Neville said on Twitter. This is a really bad move by the @premierleague to charge £14.95 for single matches that have been shown free for 6 months ! — Gary Neville (@GNev2) October 9, 2020 Last weekends Premier League matches were all shown live on either Sky Sports or BT – something we highlighted among five brilliant things about this stupid, daft season. In September, matches were shown on those two broadcasters plus Amazon and the BBC. All 92 matches of the restarted 2019-20 season were televised, with 33 of those games made available free to air. The Premier League joined forces with the EFL and the Football Association to call on the Government to provide clarity over the road map to getting supporters safely back into stadiums. The organisations chairman, Gary Hoffman, sits on the Sports Technology and Innovation Group (STIG) which looks at how technology can be harnessed to get fans back into venues. It is understood each match will be on either the BT or the Sky pay-per-view platform, rather than on both at the same.

Sancho 'one step away' from Man Utd before 'Glazers interfered' - Football365.com

Manchester United were on the cusp of signing Jadon Sancho at the end of July, before they restructured the deal. Football News -

Manchester United were reportedly “one step away” from securing a deal for Jadon Sancho in July, before they decided to restructure the deal. Sancho was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s top target this summer, but the England international will stay at Borussia Dortmund after United failed to stump up the £108million required to land him. READ MORE: Which Big Six Premier League side has the strongest squad? And Fabrizio Romano has revealed just how close United came to signing him. He told the Here We Go podcast:”Jadon Sancho was really one step away from joining Manchester United at the end of July and the start of August. He was one step away. “It’s also been confirmed by some agents who were in contact with United because of other players, they met with United’s board in these days at the end of July and the start of August and everyone said, ‘United have signed Sancho. It’s just a matter of details.’ “What happened? They changed the structure of the payment of Sancho, saying like, ‘We’re going to pay 80m with add-ons.’ “United were really convinced that before deadline day, and at the end of September, that Borussia Dortmund would be ready to accept a different bid – not just 120m but 90m, more add-ons, payments in two or three years to try to sign Sancho. “They said, ‘Okay it’s the coronavirus summer, we need money, every club needs money, let’s try at the end of the summer.’ “But the position of Dortmund was still the same, ‘We will sell the player for 120m.’ “They said they had the deadline but if United would arrive with 120m, also on deadline day, Dortmund were going to sell Sancho. “It was just a matter of money, of paying immediately 120m.” The Athletic claimed Joel Glazer was unwilling to improve their offer after the bid of £80million plus add-ons was rejected, which the Express say ‘suggests that the idea to try and restructure the deal for Sancho would have come from above Ed Woodward as they sought to keep costs down.’

Barcelona angered by Man Utd target's transfer window conduct - Football365.com

Football365 - Ousmane Dembele has angered bosses at Barcelona for refusing to leave the club in recent weeks.

Spanish giants Barcelona are reportedly furious with Man Utd target Ousmane Dembele over his conduct during the recent transfer window. Dembele was linked with a move to Old Trafford as an alternative for Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho. Rumours intensified on deadline day as Dembele missed training with his teammates. But neither transfer materialised after Dembele decided he wanted to remain in Spain and Dortmund rejected all offers for Sancho. FEATURE: Ranking the 15 transfer windows of Ed Woodward at Man Utd… According to Spanish source AS (via the Daily Mirror), Barcelona have been angered by the player’s actions as they wanted to sell him to make up transfer funds. The report states that Barca officials aimed to sell the Frenchman to free up money for their pursuit of Lyon’s Memphis Depay. However, Dembele apparently refused to leave the club as he aims to force his way back into the first team. This is despite his talks with Barca manager Ronald Koeman, who told the player he is seventh in the pecking order going forward. Koeman wants to prioritise players Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Philippe Coutinho and Ansu Fati ahead of the 23-year-old. Even club youngsters Francisco Trincao and Pedri are deemed to be ahead of Dembele in the squad. It’s unclear what this means for United’s pursuit of the player. They could still look to sign him next year if his time at Barca is up. A transfer would depend on Dortmund’s willingness to sell their prized asset Sancho. The winger is one of the most valuable players in Europe right now and could fetch a huge sum. Dembele has had a poor time in Spain since moving from Dortmund in 2017. In three years he’s featured just 52 times in La Liga, scoring 12 goals. Should Barca wish to sell the player, they will want to recoup a decent amount of the reported £117 million they paid for him. Back then it looked like they had signed one of the best young players in the world, but now his future is less certain.

Man Utd consider deal 'without a medical' for injury-prone star - Football365.com

Man Utd are reportedly looking into the possibility of completing a deal for Ousmane Dembele without the player completing a medical.

Man Utd are looking into the possibility of completing a deal for Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele without the player completing a medical, according to reports in Spain. Dembele has struggled with injury issues at Barcelona following his 105m move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017 and could now be set to leave the Camp Nou. The Red Devils have been heavily linked with Dembele as one of many ‘Jadon Sancho alternatives’ but reports have ramped up on Monday with numerous outlets pushing the Dembele to Man Utd narrative. BLOG: Transfer Deadline Day follow it live with F365 There was a story on Friday that Paul Pogba had phoned his France team-mate to convince him that a move to Old Trafford was right for him. Reports in Spain claimed today that Man Utd would make one last offer for Dembele, while journalist Duncan Castles said the 23-year-old has agreed to join Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side. And now Spanish publication Sport has revealed that Barcelona ‘does not throw the towel’ in over a potential deal to allow Dembele to leave the club for Man Utd. Apparently ‘the lack of time and the inability to do a medical examination is a stumbling block’ and Barca and United are ‘studying the possibilities of the operation being carried out without a medical review’. Dembele’s lack of game time is said to be a ‘concern’ to the Red Devils. Surely not, Ed…

Lampard unsure of Hudson-Odoi future amid Bayern interest - Football365.com

Frank Lampard has admitted there is “no definitive answer” on whether Callum Hudson-Odoi will stay at Chelsea beyond the transfer deadline.

Frank Lampard has admitted there is no definitive answer on whether Callum Hudson-Odoi will stay at Chelsea beyond Mondays transfer deadline. The Chelsea boss insisted he wants to keep Hudson-Odoi at Stamford Bridge amid renewed interest from Bayern Munich in signing the young England winger. The 19-year-old made his first Premier League start since February as Chelsea thumped Crystal Palace 4-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. OPINION: Chilwell heeds Cole advice as Chelsea defence leads the way Hudson-Odoi is understood to favour staying at Chelsea, and Lampard has reiterated his desire to keep the young star in west London. But the Chelsea boss conceded he could never say never when it comes to top-level transfers. Asked whether Hudson-Odoi will be staying at Chelsea beyond the deadline, Lampard said: There is no definitive answer. By Monday we will know the answer. They (Bayern) might have declared their interest, which is one thing, but as I have just said there in terms of the squad, everything that happens by Monday will be things that are firstly good for us as a club, because Callum is our player, and what Callum wants comes into consideration. It has to be right for everybody. At the minute I want Callum as part of my squad, especially with what he offered up today and the second half against West Brom. That is where I am at. Hudson-Odoi signed a new, lucrative five-year contract at Chelsea in September 2019, dimming at least in the short-term the admiring glances from Bavarian powerhouses Bayern. But now the Champions League holders have again shown strong interest in their long-term target. Lampard hailed Hudson-Odois performance in the comfortable win over Palace, however, which saw Ben Chilwell and Kurt Zouma find the net, while Jorginho converted two late penalties. I liked Callums performance today, especially in the second half when he was more aggressive and getting at the full-back on the outside, said Lampard. He has the ability on the ball and the pace to do that and put crosses into the box, which he can absolutely do. Callum is absolutely part of my plans here. We have Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech injured before Christian came back in today. We need options and what Callum showed today and the second half against West Brom is exactly what he needs to show. I am pleased with him. Big Weekend has branched out to the big screen to preview Batman v Superman. Please do give it a watch, a like and a share after subscribing, you little scoundrels.