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Tottenham Hotspur have been on a downward trajectory for the past 18 months or so.

The London club may have reached a Champions League final last season, but they won just three of their last 12 league games in 2018/19, and that poor form has unfortunately carried into this season.

Mauricio Pochettino was sacked after a poor start, and Jose Mourinho hasn’t been able to get the club back on track, with this week confirming that Tottenham will miss out on a Champions League spot for the first time since 2015.

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Of course, there are a lot of factors at play here, but it’s no coincidence that Tottenham’s downturn in form came shortly after the departure of Mousa Dembele last January, and despite bringing in two big-money midfielders in the shape of Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso, the Belgian still hasn’t properly been replaced.

Dembele was a midfielder who could do it all, his defensive contributions were fantastic, and his ability to dribble with the ball could kickstart attacks, and while it’s hard to find another player who can do that, they may be on the trail of a player who can at least partially replace him.

Piere Emile Hojbjerg is reportedly a target for Tottenham, and while he doesn’t possess the same panache Dembele had when going forward, his defensive output would replace the sturdiness that the 33-year-old gave Tottenham’s midfield.

According to WhoScored Dembele has averaged 2.1 tackles and one interception per game over the last 11 years of his career, and Southampton’s Danish midfielder trumps both of those numbers with his stats this season.

Creatively, he also matches up well with former Fulham man, with the Belgian averaging 1.1 key passes per game over the last 11 years, compared to an ever so slightly lower output from Hojbjerg.

The key difference is with ball carrying and decision making, Dembele’s 2.4 dribbles per game since 2009, trumps the Dane’s 1.3 this season, and his pass success rate is also much greater, but if Spurs can coach Hojbjerg into improving those areas of his game, they could finally replace what they lost when Dembele departed.

One of the big transfer sagas of the 2019 summer window, Wilfried Zaha ended up staying put at Crystal Palace after months of speculation linking him with a move to the likes of Arsenal. But now, it appears Newcastle have set their sights on the winger.

According to The Sun, despite the Magpies waiting for the Premier League’s approval of their proposed takeover, they have earmarked Zaha as a potential transfer target for this summer.

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The report claims that a major squad overhaul is planned, and that soundings have been made over the Ivory Coast international’s availability – it’s further suggested Zaha is valued at more than £60m by Palace.

After hearing about the links to the Premier League star, Newcastle fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on their reported transfer target.

Some Newcastle fans simply called Zaha “overrated”, and urged the club to steer clear.

At 27, Zaha is in the prime years of his career, and he’s been Palace’s talisman for the past few seasons now.

After failing to secure a move to Arsenal last summer, it’s difficult to see why the Ivorian would want to stay at Selhurst Park for another season, and Newcastle could take advantage of that and make a big splash for him this time around.

Alan Hutton has told Football Insider that Rangers midfielder Ross McCrorie, who is on loan at Portsmouth, must seek clarification from Steven Gerrard as to whether he will be in his plans moving forward.

The 22-year-old is spending the season with the League One side, where he has made 22 appearances in all competitions. As it stands, he has five assists to his name, with Pompey currently in fourth place in the second tier.

Moving forward, Hutton – who used to play for the club – believes it is vital for him to speak to Gerrard, who is currently the boss at Ibrox, in regards to whether he has a future with the Glasgow-based outfit. He said: “It’s a difficult one, he obviously wasn’t in the plans up there so he went down on loan which I think was a great idea. Portsmouth are doing well which helps. It just depends on where Gerrard sees him fitting in – does he need him at the moment, does he want to sign him to a long-term deal?

“If it was me personally, I would want to play every week and I would presume he would be the same so you really need to get that conversation out there – am I going to play or am I coming up to be a bit-part player? If so, it’s worth me moving because I need to play. I think that’s everybody’s dream when you’re a kid, you don’t want to be sitting on a bench week in, week out for years. It’s a conversation he’ll definitely have to have.”

Clearly the former Scotland U21 international was not at the forefront of the former Liverpool’s player’s plans after having made just 17 league appearances across the whole of the last season (Transfermarkt). Even though he has played for Portsmouth throughout this campaign, he is still not one of the first names on the team sheet so you would imagine Gerrard will have seen little to change his mind so far.

Therefore, as Hutton says, it is imperative that the player speaks to his manager to seek some clarity about his future. At his age, it really is important that he becomes a regular fixture wherever it is he ends up so this could be a huge summer for him.

What do you think the future holds for McCrorie? Let us know in the comments!

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…

Former Manchester City superstar Yaya Toure has heaped the praise on Angelino after his recent performance for the club.

What did he say?

The left-back situation has been an issue for some time now at City. The likes of Fabian Delph and Oleksandr Zinchenko have had to step into the role in recent years whilst big money signing Benjamin Mendy has been injured.

Now, it seems that the City boss has found a man with great ability for his left-back spot.

Angelino has impressed since he has been brought into the side and still has only nine senior appearances for the club. And, in his latest display at Anfield, he surprised former City midfielder Toure.

He told Sky Sports: “Angelino played very very well, I was so surprised by the young lad at left-back, he was good and I appreciated him a lot.”

Making the spot his own

Ever since 2017, Guardiola has struggled to cement one man in this role. Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov both left in the summer of that year, as Mendy came in to replace them. However, the Frenchman has spent more time on the sidelines than he has on the pitch.

Now, perhaps Angelino is finally the man to take the left-back spot on a permanent basis.

Against Liverpool, the 22-year-old struggled against Mohamed Salah but showed fantastic attacking intent throughout. In truth, he was one of City’s best attacking players on that crucial day.

Although he has just two starts in the league so far, the former PSV Eindhoven man has averaged 1.8 crosses and 1.5 key passes per game – more than Mendy’s 0.7 crosses and o key passes per game.

Zinchenko is still injured and, for now at least, it looks like Angelino is Guardiola’s man.

Mikel Merino was signed by Rafa Benitez upon Newcastle’s promotion to the Premier League in 2017, but his departure a year later has led one fan to question why he was let go.

Supporters have responded with a variety of reasons, but the majority point to the fact that his release clause was activated by Real Sociedad and there was little that could be done to stop him from leaving once his mind was made up.

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It is understandable why he left considering he was offered a return to his native Spain, particuarly as he never really nailed down a first-team place for the Magpies, often being left out in favour of Jonjo Shelvey and Mohamed Diame.

Despite that, many fans enjoyed what they saw from the 23-year-old and are disappointed his stint in the north-east was cut short, though with youngsters like the Longstaff brothers coming through currently they may not ponder his departure for too long as it looks to be one of their strongest areas on the pitch under Steve Bruce right now.

Here are some of the reactions discussing the reasons behind Merino’s exit from the club.

Sheffield Wednesday head into the international break sitting just one point outside of the Championship playoffs after picking up a draw to fourth-placed Swansea City.

Garry Monk’s men were pegged back in injury time when Ben Wilmot slotted home from a corner, despite the Owls taking the lead just minutes before.

The game had three goals in the final ten minutes as Wednesday looked to have come from behind to snatch all three points until the Swans defender salvaged a result at the death.

Fernando Forestieri managed to net his first goal of the season after coming on as a second-half substitute, which has led to many wondering why he doesn’t start more matches.

One supporter labelled him as ‘absolute quality’ alongside two of his teammates while another claimed his introduction changed the whole game in the Owls’ favour.

A further member of the Hillsborough faithful believed the side would have battered the Welsh outfit had the 29-year-old been on the pitch the whole game with one more fan naming Forestieri as the best player at the club.

Here’s the best of the reaction:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

It didn’t take long, did it?

West Bromwich Albion returned to their top spot in the Championship table with an untroubling 2-0 victory over Stoke City on Monday night.

The west Midlanders were only knocked off their perch because the teams below them had played on Saturday afternoon, but now they have regained a two-point cushion over second-placed Preston North End.

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Either a sign of how competitive the league is or just how good West Brom are this season – or both.

After 15 matches in the second-tier of English football, the Baggies have earned 30 points, meaning they are averaging two points per game, which is almost like the proverbial barometer for promotion.

Though, that sort of chatter may have some substance after all.

If Albion can keep this up under manager Slaven Bilic, at the exact same rate for the rest of the season, then they will pick up a total of 92 points.

Last season, that figure would have beaten Sheffield United to the runner-up spot behind Norwich City so therefore they would have gained automatic promotion.

How does that compare to other seasons in recent history? Well, it’s majorly positive, so look away now if you can’t handle it West Brom fans.

In both the 2017/18 and 2015/16 campaign, the same number was enough to secure a return to the promised land of the Premier League by virtue of finishing as the second-best team in the division.

A total of 92 points was even enough to clinch the title in 2015 as Bournemouth won it with two fewer points – that year, the Championship was quite fiercely competitive too as Watford, Norwich, and Middlesbrough were separated by just five points.

Just once in the last five seasons has that figure not been enough to secure top-flight status as both Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion managed more points in 2017.

In short, West Brom just need to keep doing what they are doing, and come May, they’ll be popping the champagne open at the Hawthorns following the full-time whistle against Queens Park Rangers.

It also just goes to show how good they’ve got it under Bilic – a phenomenal turn around in such a short period of time.

It appears that Newcastle United fans have run out of patience with manager Steve Bruce and want him out of the club.

The former Sunderland manager took over the role from Rafa Benitez, as the Spaniard was unable to agree to terms for a new contract at St James’ Park.

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The Magpies find themselves in the relegation zone after nine games due to a disastrous start to the new campaign. Bruce’s side have only picked up just two wins and have only scored five goals while conceding 14 and losing five matches.

The question was pitched to the Toon Army on Twitter as they were asked to say something to the manager if they had the opportunity to do so.

One fan said that Bruce should swallow his pride and that he is not good enough to take the Magpies forward. He added that he should leave now for the love of the club.

Another supporter had no sympathy for the manager’s situation with one bluntly saying “mind shutting the door on the way out”.

Here you will find some of the best responses from Newcastle fans:

Arsenal were in good form once again in Europe as they beat Standard Liege 4-0 on Thursday.

The goals were scored by Gabriel Martinelli – twice – Joe Willock and Dani Ceballos as the Gunners enjoyed a comfortable night at the Emirates Stadium.

It was the perfect opportunity for Unai Emery to play some of his fringe players, such as Shkodran Mustafi, Rob Holding and Emiliano Martinez. However, there was one notable exception from the squad.

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The former Sevilla boss decided not to include Mesut Ozil in the side, saying that other players “deserved” it more.

It is another blow to the former Germany international, who has once again recently been linked with a move away from north London.

It appears as though the Arsenal supporters were very disappointed with Emery’s comments in particular.

They took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

In an interview with Spanish publication AS, Manchester City prospect Eric Garcia has opened up on his long-term future at the Etihad.

What’s the word?

The 18-year-old signed from La Liga giants Barcelona in 2017, and spent the majority of his first campaign at the Etihad in the academy sides.

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

Pep Guardiola handed Garcia his Premier League debut in the 8-0 thrashing of Watford in September this season, and then went on to play the full game in the League Cup victory over Preston North End.

Now, the teenager has delivered a cryptic message on whether his spell at City will end up being a successful one, but remained adamant he is currently happy with his situation.

He said (as transcribed by Sport Witness): “It was a complicated decision (to leave), because it is a different country and language. The sports project they offered convinced me. I think time will tell, but so far I am very happy. I am enjoying opportunities that I did not expect at first. At the moment I am very happy in Manchester and I still have two years of contract left.”

Opportunity knocks

Make no mistake about it, the spotlight is well and truly on Guardiola and his treatment of City’s abundance of youth talents. Phil Foden undeniably is the name on everybody’s lips, but Garcia’s assured performances in his limited game-time has raised the pressure up a notch on the Manchester side’s boss.

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The Citizens’ injury crisis at the back means a blundering Nicolas Otamendi, and a converted holding midfielder in Fernandinho are having to make do as a centre-back partnership. The summer departure of Vincent Kompany already feels like an irreparable wound, but in Garcia, they have someone who has shown the City staff signs of becoming a key talisman in the future.

Speaking back in February earlier this year, the club’s U18s boss Gareth Taylor hailed his Spanish captain’s ability to inspire from the back.

“His attitude is first class. We’ve got a guy in Eric who has played three Carabao Cup games this season and when he plays our games for the Under 18s it’s like he’s playing a first team game. He’s a tremendous leader and that inspires everyone else.”

Despite being in defence, Kompany would lead from the back and bring out the best in everyone else. At just 18, Garcia appears to be showing similar characteristics. It simply means Guardiola has no excuses but to turn to the Spaniard right away.