Saturday, March 31, 2018

England’s World Cup No 1 has conceded more goals than anyone else this season

England’s World Cup No 1 has conceded more goals than anyone else this season
Dream Team FC
England’s World Cup No 1 has conceded more goals than anyone else this season

Before we get started, we just want to say that Jordan Pickford is almost definitely our first choice as England’s No 1 this summer. 

The Everton goalie is not just ‘the best of a bad bunch’ – he’s performed admirably for the Toffees this season in what has been an resoundingly difficult campaign.

Reuters Man in the spotlight[/caption]

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But even so, we can’t help but notice that Pickford has conceded the most amount of goals in the Premier League this season. 

In fact, Pickford has let in 53 goals in the league so far, after Man City’s 3-1 defeat of Everton at Goodison Park.

That’s more than Huddersfield’s Jonas Lossl (52) and (rather depressingly) England’s other option Jack Butland (51).

Reuters A regular sight this season[/caption]

He wasn’t too hot last season either, conceding 50 times for Sunderland as the Black Cats finished bottom of the Premier League.

We reckon had he started between the sticks ahead of Vito Mannone at the start of last season, then he probably would’ve finished behind Lukasz Fabianski (69) and Heurelho Gomes (64).

That’s mildly terrifying, when you think about it.

Rex Features He had a rough time last term, too[/caption]

But his manager Sam Allardyce has argued that his goals-conceded tally reflects the team’s general struggles this season and not the goalkeeper’s form.

He said: “He’s given Gareth a lot to think about with his performance the other night and his performances for us.

“People go on about him conceding a lot of goals for Everton but that is not the statistic you look at.

“You look at the saves he makes. He’s been far too busy on too many occasions for us but we have managed to reduce that during my time here from over two goals per game to 1.2 per game.

“He’s there when needed, he’s always been there when needed. All players make mistakes but his are few and far between.”

AFP or licensors Ahead of this guy[/caption]

Indeed, Pickford has been one of the few highlights of Everton’s grim campaign and has seen himself rise above Joe Hart as England’s first-choice, starting against Holland in the recent 1-0 win in Amsterdam.

Granted. Pickford didn’t have the busiest of nights against the Oranje in terms of having to make saves, but he seems to ooze confidence and is lovely with the ball at his feet.

Just look at this right here. 

There’s the difference and some justification for Jordan Pickford playing right there. pic.twitter.com/O3Z6hmXClb

— David Preece (@davidpreece12) March 23, 2018

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READ MORE:

England’s second-best player has to start on the bench at the World Cup We picked the England team on CURRENT FORM like Gareth Southgate promised How did your Dream Team favourites fare during the international break?

Friday, March 30, 2018

No ‘exotic tea’ or shisha – Russian football’s guide on doping

No ‘exotic tea’ or shisha – Russian football’s guide on doping
Football – Inquirer Sports
No ‘exotic tea’ or shisha – Russian football’s guide on doping

MOSCOW — The Russian Football Union is warning players against drinking “exotic tea” or smoking shisha pipes as it tries to avoid any doping cases ahead of its home World Cup. In a guide to help players avoid failing drug tests by accident, the RFU says players should be wary of accidentally consuming banned substances. […]

The post No ‘exotic tea’ or shisha – Russian football’s guide on doping appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

VAR causes utter confusion yet again as Italy awarded late penalty against England

VAR causes utter confusion yet again as Italy awarded late penalty against England
Dream Team FC
VAR causes utter confusion yet again as Italy awarded late penalty against England

VAR is coming to the World Cup this summer and boy are we excited. 

Having seen the farcical video assistant in action during the FA Cup this season, we’re not exactly over the moon with FIFA’s decision.

VAR will be a lot of fun at the World Cup. 😬

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 27, 2018

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While we definitely think the inclusion of new and ground-breaking technology in the modern game is certainly the right step towards improving the quality of refereeing, the chaos it ensues is bloody frustrating, isn’t it?

So far this season, VAR has made a right mess of Spurs’ replay clash with Rochdale, as well as their following game against Swansea.

And then there was that wobbly line incident with Juan Mata.

PA:Press Association A fairly regular annoyance during this season’s FA Cup[/caption]

And it returned with vengeance in England’s clash with Italy this evening, causing a helluva lot of confusion as Italy were given a late penalty against the Three Lions.

With five minutes or so remaining at Wembley and England leading 1-0, debutante James Tarkowski appeared to clip Federico Chiesa in the box.

VAR involved as Italy get a penalty after England debutant Tarkowski is judged to have clipped Chiesa! pic.twitter.com/LXjapgaFkf

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 27, 2018

The young forward goes over screaming and it certainly looked like Tarkowski stepped on his right foot, but nothing was given initially as Italy prepared to take a corner.

But then the the ref starts to have a gander at the screen and points to the spot, not that anyone inside Wembley knew what was going on.

Reuters “What’s going on?”[/caption]

Of course, it all kicks off. Kyle Walker finds himself in the middle of a big old scuffle, before Lorenzo Insigne steps up and smashes home into the bottom left, despite Jack Butland guessing the right way.

News Group Newspapers Ltd Insigne beats Butland[/caption]

One again, it was the right decision but it was badly executed. This technology needs some serious work, otherwise this summer’s tournament is going to be laughable.

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Monday, March 26, 2018

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Agent Confirms Bayern Munich Among Host of Clubs Scouting Dinamo Zagreb Goalkeeper

Agent Confirms Bayern Munich Among Host of Clubs Scouting Dinamo Zagreb Goalkeeper
All the latest breaking football news, transfer rumours, analysis, and match reports - 90min
Agent Confirms Bayern Munich Among Host of Clubs Scouting Dinamo Zagreb Goalkeeper
Bayern Munich are just one of the clubs that are understood to be watching Dinamo Zagreb's promising goalkeeper Adrian Semper ahead of the summer transfer window, according to the player's agent. Semper is currently on loan with Lokomotiva Zagreb but has already represented his parent club on 11 occasions, with two appearances coming in the Champions League last season. Goal journalist Ronan Murphy reported how Semper's agent confirmed that there was interest coming from Bayern Munich....

Friday, March 23, 2018

'I Know I Am At a Great Club': Newcastle Midfielder Keen to Extend His Stay at St James' Park

'I Know I Am At a Great Club': Newcastle Midfielder Keen to Extend His Stay at St James' Park
All the latest breaking football news, transfer rumours, analysis, and match reports - 90min
'I Know I Am At a Great Club': Newcastle Midfielder Keen to Extend His Stay at St James' Park
​Newcastle midfielder Mikel Merino has opened up about his future, revealing how much he is loving life at the club and his dreams of playing for the Spanish national side. The 21-year-old moved to St James' Park on a permanent deal from Borussia Dortmund after initially being on-loan, and has impressed during his time in England. He is a regular in Spain's Under-21 side and dreams of emulating the likes of Xabi Alonso and Andres Iniesta in their success for the first team. Merino believes he...

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Liverpool Supporters Want Star Defender As Reds Captain After Holland Appointment

Liverpool Supporters Want Star Defender As Reds Captain After Holland Appointment
All the latest breaking football news, transfer rumours, analysis, and match reports - 90min
Liverpool Supporters Want Star Defender As Reds Captain After Holland Appointment
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk was confirmed as Holland's new captain on Thursday, following former skipper Arjen Robben's retirement from international football last year. The centre-back, who joined the Anfield side from Southampton in January to become the most expensive defender in the world, will wear the armband for the first time when the Netherlands play England in Amsterdam on Friday, and Reds fans have reacted by calling for the Liverpool captaincy to be handed to him as well....

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Monday, March 19, 2018

Ronaldo vs Messi: Scoring race heats up in Spain

Ronaldo vs Messi: Scoring race heats up in Spain
Football – Inquirer Sports
Ronaldo vs Messi: Scoring race heats up in Spain
Ronaldo vs Messi: Scoring race heats up in Spain

MADRID — Regardless of who wins the Spanish league title, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will be battling it out to the end. Real Madrid doesn’t have much chance of keeping Barcelona from winning the league, but Ronaldo is making a strong run to snag the scoring title from Messi with nine matches remaining. Ronaldo […]

The post Ronaldo vs Messi: Scoring race heats up in Spain appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Man United handed nightmare FA Cup semi-final draw

Man United handed nightmare FA Cup semi-final draw
Dream Team FC
Man United handed nightmare FA Cup semi-final draw

Now it is really heating up.

After the FA Cup quarter-final weekend where all the favourites won, we now have two delicious ties for the semi finals.

Pedro’s extra-time winner secured Chelsea’s spot in the last four and they were rewarded with a tie against Southampton, but Man United will play Spurs.

Take that Olivier GiroudReuters

Spurs were the first team to make it into the last four as they swept past Swansea on Saturday afternoon quieting all fears that they are useless without Harry Kane.

The England striker is out for the next month at least but in the shape of Christian Eriksen, Heung-Min Son and Erik Lamela this could be the year Spurs finally don’t bottle it.

They’ve beat United this season already and even though Mauricio Pochettino assures everyone he doesn’t need to win a trophy to be proved right, he would love an FA Cup triumph.

CLAIM YOUR FREE £20 BET Sun Bets have this brilliant offer when you sign up and bet a fiver “We’re fine without him boss”Getty - Contributor

Jose Mourinho was still somehow furious with his team after they beat Brighton at Old Trafford in the snow.

Romelu Lukaku scored his sixth goal in seven games as he appears to be picking up form at exactly the right time, although I guess it would’ve been good against Sevilla in mid-week instead.

PLAY DREAM TEAM WEEKENDER Pick seven players to win £10k! Ironically Lingard has been carrying Lukaku for most of the seasonGetty Images - Getty

Southampton beat giant-killers Wigan, who dumped out Man City in the last round, earlier today in Mark Hughes first game in charge.

Despite missing a penalty and not playing well, the Saints beat the League One outfit 2-0 and now Hughes can look forward to the distraction of an FA Cup semi final while dealing with all the struggles of a relegation battle.

It will be the Saints first appearance at this stage of the tournament for 15 years.

would it still be a good appointment if he wins the cup but gets relegated?Reuters

The ties will be played on the weekend of April 21/22 and if you hadn’t already heard, all of Spurs’ game from now on will be at home.

If this isn’t Spurs’ year, I don’t know when is.

FA Cup semi-final draw in full Man United v Spurs Southampton v Chelsea

READ MORE:

Nobody can tell if Leicester’s pitch design is completely mesmerising or absolutely awful Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg kicked his own team mates in the balls while celebrating Salah apologised to the Watford keeper after scoring four past him

 

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Friday, March 16, 2018

Thursday, March 15, 2018

UP stays unbeaten after rout of UE; Gayoso nets four goals for Ateneo

UP stays unbeaten after rout of UE; Gayoso nets four goals for Ateneo
Football – Inquirer Sports
UP stays unbeaten after rout of UE; Gayoso nets four goals for Ateneo

University of the Philippine kept its undefeated streak after blasting University of the East, 3-0, in the UAAP Season 80 men’s football tournament Thursday at Rizal Memorial Stadium. The Fighting Maroons (7-0-2) remained atop the table with 23 points and are one win away from securing a Final Four spot, but head coach Anto Gonzales […]

The post UP stays unbeaten after rout of UE; Gayoso nets four goals for Ateneo appeared first on Inquirer Sports.

HALO 6: Everything about the Master Chief’s next brilliant game – trailer, release date, graphics and much more

HALO 6: Everything about the Master Chief’s next brilliant game – trailer, release date, graphics and much more
Dream Team FC
HALO 6: Everything about the Master Chief’s next brilliant game – trailer, release date, graphics and much more

Halo 6 will be arriving this year – so we’ve pulled together everything we know to ensure you’re in the loop.

Let’s kick off with the release date.

So, when’s it coming out?

We saw and heard absolutely nothing about Halo 6 at E3 2017.

This is likely to mean it won’t be making an appearance on store shelves over the next year to 18 months – taking a 2018 release date out of the question entirely.

When can we expect a teaser trailer?

We’ll likely see more information on the game at E3 in June 2018.

That could mean a release date of Q3/4 2018 – in line with previous Halo launches – but, as we said earlier, a 2019 release is far more likely.

Earlier last year a Microsoft recruiter posted an ad for graphics engineers that claimed the next Halo game ‘will be the biggest yet’ and that ‘the new game is going to be ridiculous’.

Our mouths are already watering.

Who’s going to be making it?

Halo 6 will be the third Halo game from 343 Industries – who took over from original series developer Bungie.

Bungie now channel most of their focus on to Destiny.

Will be enhanced for Xbox One X?

Yes, if Halo 5: Guardians was anything to go by, expect the X to get the best looking, smoothest version.

OK, so what about the graphics?

Believe it or not, the last game was powered by a modified version of the Halo 4 engine (Some people actually thought it looked worse)

It was no doubt a pretty game, but for a series known for its breathtaking visuals, it fell some way short.

Sadly, building a while new engine from scratch is far from ideal – so we’re almost certain it’ll use the same base software.

When can we expect a Halo 6 trailer?

It’s unclear when we’ll see Halo 6 announced – but a teaser trailer my make it’s way into the Microsoft show case at E3.

Will the story focus on the Master Chief this time?

Almost certainly – especially given that Halo 5 alienated some fans because you didn’t play as the Chief for a majority of the game.

Halo 3 did something similar, seeing the player jump between the Arbiter and Master Chief – and people were not pleased.

Speaking to GamesTM, franchise development director Frank O’Connor said the team “took some digs for the storytelling,” with Halo 5.

“We definitely marketed in a way that we hoped was going to bring surprise, but for some fans and certainly fans of Master Chief, it was a huge disappointment because they wanted more Chief.”


How will it play?

Chances are that Halo 6 will play very similarly to previous Halo entries. Multiplayer will feature online and offline co-operative.

Will Halo 6 be Xbox One X optimised?

I can say with certainty that, when Halo 6 does eventually arrive, it will run like a dream on the Xbox One X. Expect silky-smooth 60fps 4K gameplay to boot.

Make sure to check out GTA 6 explainer, too.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Monday, March 12, 2018

Jose Mourinho 'happy' Jürgen Klopp wasn't sent to the stands during Manchester United's win over Liverpool

Jose Mourinho 'happy' Jürgen Klopp wasn't sent to the stands during Manchester United's win over Liverpool
The Independent - Football
Jose Mourinho 'happy' Jürgen Klopp wasn't sent to the stands during Manchester United's win over Liverpool
Jose Mourinho 'happy' Jürgen Klopp wasn't sent to the stands during Manchester United's win over Liverpool
Referee Craig Pawson spoke to Klopp after he ventured out of his technical area but eventually decided the Liverpool manager could remain on the touchline

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Friday, March 9, 2018

Thursday, March 8, 2018