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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…

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has hit back at Patrice Evra after the former Manchester United defender called the Gunners “babies”.

What’s he said?

Evra spent eight years at Old Trafford, winning five Premier League titles, as well as the Champions League and the Club World Cup.

And he claims that he often referred to the Gunners as “babies” when playing for United, and has no reason to change that assessment following their 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United on Monday.

He said on Sky Sports, via Football 365: “Sheffield United deserved the win, but I’m not surprised about Arsenal. I said before the game that they had to make sure they didn’t fall into the trap.

“I used to call them ‘my babies’ 10 years ago, and they are still when I look at them and think they are ‘my babies’ and that’s the truth – I’m not being disrespectful when I say that.”

Xhaka, despite the Gunners’ defeat, hit back at the comments, though, insisting that they are “b*******”.

He said on Sky, via F365: “A lot of people speak too much.

“I have a lot of respect for him because he was a great player, but you have to be careful what you say.

“He knows what these situations well, but it’s not only him. A lot of people speak a lot of b******* and it’s always the same.

“For me, it’s strange because they [former players] have been in the same situation as us – maybe it was sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but like I said, if you speak b******* like this every weekend, then what they say doesn’t get respected.”

Stop losing

If Xhaka wants Arsenal to be respected, he needs to help his side to victories.

Instead, on Monday, his side surrendered meekly in the face of a Blades side roared on by a vociferous Bramall Lane crowd.

Xhaka claims that Evra should respect the fact that he went through difficult moments during his career too, but he more often than not ended up on the winning side. His trophy haul accounts for that.

The Switzerland international, by comparison, has won the FA Cup once.

Before he is to start hitting back against Evra, he needs to ensure that he adds some more baubles to his collection, and perhaps stop his side from losing against newly-promoted teams.

It is nearly time now.

Barcelona welcoming Inter Milan to the Camp Nou tonight as we head into the second group stage match of the new 2019/20 Champions League season.

The opening clash against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park was a slight disappointment for the Catalans as the two giants of European football shared the spoils.

And seeing how that was indeed a tough game on the road, Blaugrana should still be happy with a point for their troubles. But now, with the Champions League making a big return to the Camp Nou, there will be no excuses and Barcelona will be put to a real test.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Inter are no easy opponents, either.

Antonio Conte’s side are currently sitting pretty at the summit of Serie A, leaving the likes of Juventus behind them and their start to the ongoing 2019/20 campaign has definitely been more successful than their Wednesday night counterparts.

With a total of 13 goals scored and only two conceded, the Nerazzurri have been extremely prolific in front of the opposition’s goal and very tidy in front of their own, something we’ve come to expect from Conte’s sides.

The former Chelsea man will no doubt bring his A-game to Catalonia as well and seeing how his teams are usually well-known for their rigid and organised defensive systems, Barcelona will definitely have to get creative to unlock it successfully.

While scoring goals at the Camp Nou was never really a problem for the hosts, seeing how they’ve already scored 12 in just three games in La Liga this season, Inter are a completely different breed when it comes to tight defences and deep blocks.

Saying that the Blaugrana might struggle with breaking their guests down would not be a stretch and especially when we consider that both Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele are still out injured, leaving Barcelona with only a few natural wingers in the team.

In fact, looking at their squad and how likely everyone is to feature come Wednesday night, the only real wide option to stretch that tight defence of Inter might be the 21-year-old La Masia product, Carles Perez.

Until this season, the young winger has mostly been flying under the radar of the general public. But now, he has not only tallied one goal and three assists for Barcelona’s senior team but has also recently signed a new contract with the Catalans.

It seems that they believe he has a big part to play in their project for the future and so they decided to keep him in Catalonia until at least 30 June 2022, with two more years added to his existing contract.

Claiming Barcelona’s hopes and dreams of beating Inter lie solely on a 21-year-old’s shoulders is quite a damning and hyperbolic statement for all the Cules waiting for the game to start – but there may be some accuracy lying within it.

Perez is looking extremely likely to be the only natural wide man on the pitch for Barcelona, which means that he will have a unique job on his hands.

Both Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann love to position themselves around the centre of the pitch, making Inter’s task of marking them a lot easier. But it will be up to Perez to constantly keep them on their toes and making sure they can’t just turtle up and block all of Barcelona’s passing lanes.

Of course, the Blaugrana squad will have to perform as a unit and everyone will have to pull their weight come Wednesday night but without other natural wingers available and fully fit, Perez will certainly have a key role to play.

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

Sheffield Wednesday banished their midweek woes with a victory against Wigan Athletic at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement for Garry Monk going forward.

On Tuesday night, the Owls struggled to see off a Hull City side in Steven Fletcher’s absence, despite recording four more shots than their opposition, who won 1-0.

Watch Sheffield Wednesday Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

While at the weekend, Massimo Luongo was handed his first start in the blue and white stripes, and he repaid the faith put in him by netting a 57th-minute winner.

The game itself was rather dismal for entertainment as neither side could muster up more than three shots on target while there were a gigantic 67 aerial duels won between both teams, per WhoScored.

On the Chalkboard

Monk surprisingly reverted back to a 4-2-3-1 system with Fletcher returning to the side as the sole striker with Luongo sitting behind him in the number ten role.

With just two shots on target all game, it’s fair to suggest that the tactic just didn’t work.

Football FanCast have previously highlighted why a 4-4-2 system can pay off in south Yorkshire and it’s a formation that had been working before the midweek loss – the first under Monk – but that had to be more down to the absence of their number nine rather than tactically.

The WhoScored map below shows the average player position of the Wednesday squad on Saturday afternoon – it indicates that Fletcher was actually deeper than their two wingers, Adam Reach and Kadeem Harris.

In addition, the following heat map from SofaScore, shows the areas of the pitch that the 32-year-old frequented with a heavily intensive area in and around the number ten spot.

This suggests Monk wanted to use him as the focal point of their attacks with players bombing on either side of his knockdowns – further proven by the above positional map.

Fletcher won just 50% of his aerial duels, conceded four fouls and lost possession a total of 17 times, per SofaScore. This quite clearly impacted the strength of their attack and could suggest that he was just given too much to do up there on his own.

Wednesday stuck four past Middlesbrough in just 34 minutes using two upfront with Fletcher getting his name on the scoresheet then.

That is what works.

Monk needs to ditch any formation that leaves the 6 foot 1 striker isolated and opt for one that can aid his goalscoring exploits like the 4-4-2, which gives him some much-needed support in attack.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

Despite coming up against a wounded Norwich side, Manchester City suffered a shock 3-2 defeat at Carrow Road on Saturday.

Snapshot

Having won the league last season, City had made an impressive start to the current campaign. Pep Guardiola’s side headed into Saturday afternoon’s clash with the Canaries having amassed a total of 10 points from a possible 12.

Watch Manchester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The beginning of the Champions League group stages this week may have given the City boss something extra to think about, and it undoubtedly played a part in the decision to drop star man Kevin De Bruyne to the bench.

In the end, it back-fired spectacularly on the reigning champions, with the Belgian’s impressive second half cameo unable to prevent the Citizens from falling to a defeat.

Off the bench

Speaking after the game, Guardiola admitted he left De Bruyne on the bench with a view to the fixtures coming up. That in itself speaks of a reasoning steeped in complacency. Surely the biggest game is always the next one? Could the Belgium international not have started the match against Norwich, given City a two or three-goal lead, and then be subbed off?

Instead, Guardiola brought De Bruyne on in the 56th minute when the Etihad side were already 3-1 down. The 28-year-old’s contribution after he came on underlines how much of a gaffe it was to leave him out.

The Belgian made three key passes, a total only bettered by Raheem Sterling, and put a game-high 13 crosses into the box. Sadly for City, the midfield maestro was simply given too much to do and not enough time to do it in.

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

After a campaign in which things were so neck-and-neck between the top two last season, it truly is baffling to see Guardiola take such a huge risk in the Premier League. Already, City find themselves five points behind table-toppers Liverpool.

The club’s Champions League group looks relatively straight-forward with no heavy hitters, and the Carabao Cup is surely at the bottom of the pile when it comes to setting priorities.

So for the City boss to make such a huge gamble is all the more perplexing, and it shows that despite his total mastery of the league over the last two seasons, he still hasn’t learned Premier League lesson 101 – anybody can beat anybody.

[ad_pod ]With all due respect to the Toffees, it was quite the career move when Idrissa Gana Gueye moved on to PSG this summer.The Senegalese midfielder swapped Goodison Park for the Parc des Princes, and on Wednesday evening he made his Champions League bow for the Parisiens.It couldn’t have been against tougher opposition either – Gueye had to face 13-time champions Real Madrid in his first Champions League match.In the end, it was a rather simple task as PSG comfortably beat Los Blancos 3-0, and Rio Ferdinand was full of praise for the former Everton man, as the stats show he dropped a midfield master-class.

Gueye was grateful for the praise, but Everton fans wanted to point out that they spotted his talents before anyone else.

The former Aston Villa man said that he would always respect the Goodison Park faithful for believing in him.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

It’s great to see a player who’s moved on to a bigger club acknowledging his former supporters and showing his old team great respect, and Toffees fans will no doubt appreciate the love from their former star.

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Andrew Gutman has walked out on Celtic, sources have told Football FanCast.

The 22-year-old American played as a trialist against St Mirren and Arbroath, and was expected in training last week, but hasn’t been seen since the 4-3 defeat to the latter club.

Gutman is a free agent after impressing with Indiana University and being offered a pro contract by Chicago Fire.

Initially he trained with Rangers at the Hummel Training Centre and although he was offered terms, he decided to take up an offer from Celtic.

After training for a week he played for 45 minutes in a friendly against St Mirren while an application was made for a work permit.

Following a further week of training with the reserve squad he was listed as a trialist for a friendly against Arbroath. After that match, which Celtic lost 4-3, he hasn’t been seen at the club’s Lennoxtown Training Centre.

It now seems highly unlikely that Celtic will continue their interest in the 22-year-old with Daniel Church and Calvin Miller available for the reserves, while Emilio Izaguirre and Jonny Hayes deputise for Kieran Tierney.

Nketiah didn’t blow his own trumpet as he made no reference to the goals he had scored. Instead, he simply focused on the results the team were picking up, and after picking up six points in their European Championship qualifying group after two games he was seemingly very pleased.

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Everton are now on the hunt for their new manager after sacking Rafa Benitez on Sunday afternoon, following a series of awful performances that has left the club in a vulnerable position in the Premier League, currently sixteenth in the league table and six points off a relegation challenge in the drop zone.

What’s the word?

Everton insider and journalist, Alan Myers, has given his perspective on who should be the next manager at Goodison Park, revealing his number one choice that hasn’t been reported as one of the clear favourites by Sky Sports.

Myers tweeted:

“My choice would be Christophe Galtier, wins the title with Lille, takes over a mediocre Nice side and now has them 2nd in the division, no ties, something fresh, passionate?”

The French manager is currently working at Nice as their head coach, in a rebuild project, and the club currently sit just behind Paris Saint Germain in Ligue 1.

Better than Rooney

Galtier is famously known for his incredible work at Lille, going into the club halfway through the season in 2017, saving them from relegation and finishing 17th in the table during his first six months in charge.

However, what followed was nothing short of miraculous as he led the team to the club’s fourth Ligue 1 title in their first title win in a decade in 2021, when they finished one point ahead of PSG.

The Frenchman left Lille in the summer of their title victory, in search of a new challenge which he found at Nice, who finished ninth in the table last season by injecting his philosophy of youth and development into the club.

He is currently flying high in the top flight French league again, sitting second, taking points from 16 of the last 21 games he has managed the side so far this term.

Wayne Rooney has been a favourite for the manager’s position at Everton long before Benitez was even sacked from the role, but Farhad Moshiri must not overlook or underestimate the success and impressive work Galtier has done over the last few years.

His influence and experience in taking teams in vulnerable positions and transforming their trajectory is fitting for the Toffees current situation, with that being said, he is a far better fit for the role than the Derby Country boss. Although he is striving to save them from relegation at the moment and is doing an impressive job of doing so, he still lacks experience, especially at the top table.

Everton are yet to reveal if they have began speaking to or have made an offer of appointment to any manager, but with the side involved in the early kick-off against Aston Villa, they will surely be looking to appoint somebody as soon as possible.

In other news: Graham Potter not interested in becoming Toffees boss

Everton are back in Premier League action today with an early afternoon kick-off against Aston Villa at Goodison Park in what will be Duncan Ferguson’s first game in charge of the team since he was appointed as caretaker manager following the sacking of Rafael Benitez after their disheartening 2-1 defeat against Norwich City at Carrow Road last weekend.

On the chalkboard

In terms of which players Ferguson could pick to be in his starting XI to take on Steven Gerrard’s side, one Toffees player who did not start against Norwich but we feel should be in the team from the outset on this occasion is Richarlison, who is currently on £110k-per-week according to Salary Sport.

After coming on with 54 minutes on the clock against Norwich, the 24-year-old not only managed to pull a goal back for the visitors with a brilliant bicycle-kick goal, he also completed two of his three dribbles and completed 11 of his 12 passes and won four duels, showing how much of an attacking threat he was for Everton and how much of a nuisance he was for the opposition.

This cameo performance earned the Brazilian an overall match rating of 7.3/10, making him Everton’s highest-rated player on the day according to SofaScore, highlighting the quality he has and showing the sort of impact he can have on the team.

With this in mind and the 24-year-old having 46 goals in 131 appearances for Everton across all competitions, it shows why having him in the starting XI to take on Villa would give Ferguson a great chance of getting his tenure off to a flying start, especially if they can pick up all three points.

Richarlison’s attacking talents have been praised in the past by former Toffees manager Carlo Ancelotti, who has previously hailed the Brazilian as “outstanding” in February 2020.

In terms of who could make way for the Brazilian if Ferguson decides to start him today, Salomon Rondon has only scored one goal in 13 Premier League appearances and register just one shot at goal in the defeat at Norwich, so perhaps he should be the one to drop out on this occasion.

Looking ahead to today’s game, if Ferguson can secure a win for his beloved Everton, this would surely be a massive boost for the club by moving away from the relegation zone and pulling to within just one point of Gerrard’s men in the table.

In other news: Everton must avoid another manager disaster with “arrogant” 58 y/o, he’d be Rafa 2.0

Celtic followed up their cup triumph at the weekend with a disappointing 0-0 draw away at St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday night.

Ange Postecoglou’s side would no doubt have been bouncing following their victory in the League Cup, but were unable to break through a resilient defence that staved off a whopping 31 shots on goal.

The Hoops could have, and really should have put the game to bed, let alone just win, and one man who really will be fearing for his place in this team, is Mikey Johnston.

The 22-year-old was given the chance to start once again by Ange, but failed to take his opportunity with both hands.

As per SofaScore, out of the six attempts that he had on goal, only three of them found the target, and there were a number of occasions where he just rushed his effort or couldn’t keep his composure to stick the Hoops in front.

Only three of his six attempted crosses meanwhile found its target, while he also lost possession 13 times over the course of the game – the third-most of any Celtic player on the pitch.

And, writing in his post-match player ratings for Football Scotland gave him a five, before saying: “Tested Dean Lyness early doors but his final ball and composure in front of goal let him down.”

It was the kind of performance that will raise some serious questions about Johnston’s long-term future at Parkhead, and whether actually in the short-term, Postecoglou should be taking him out of the side completely – a record of no goals and just one assist in 17 games in all competitions this season certainly isn’t the kind of standard Celtic expect.

Indeed, former Celtic man Frank McAvennie was very clear in insisting that Johnston simply isn’t good enough for the Hoops,  saying: “He’s barely getting a game and when he does play he is really struggling.

“Sell him. I would like to see him moved on for the benefit of his own career. Ange gave him a chance with Jota out and he’s not done anything. Some fans might disagree but he’s simply not good enough for what Ange is trying to build.”

Johnston’s display on Wednesday did nothing to silence the critics, and his time in the starting line-up is surely up for now.

Meanwhile, this Celtic man cost Ange dearly vs St Mirren…