New Philippines coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will arrive in Manila only on Friday, but the impact of his hiring has already been felt with players with Filipino lineage expressing interest to be part of the Azkals in future tournaments, particularly the AFC Asian Cup in January.
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Elenco homenageia Daniel na reapresentação. Leia em: https://t.co/alrIUJfcGL pic.twitter.com/iZ6NjxGgDs — São Paulo FC (@SaoPauloFC) October 29, 2018 Brazilian football was in shock on Monday after authorities announced the death of 24-year-old midfielder Daniel Correa, who was found almost decapitated with his genitals cut off. His parent club, Sao Paulo FC, whom he joined in 2015, […]
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The Philippine Azkals are making no secret of their ambitions to create an impact in their historic AFC Asian Cup appearance in January.
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Just two competitive appearances for England-born Zimbabwe Warriors defender Tendayi Darikwa and he is already a cult-hero among local football fans.
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The international break is well and truly behind us, but we’ll always the memories.
After all, England outplayed Spain in Seville and it was terrific. We won’t forget that in a hurry.
But we’re now fully-focused on the Premier League, and over the few days we’re going to be profiling some of the best players on show so far this season.
Today’s focus: Gylfi Sigurdsson.
SIGN UP – WIN £10k BY PLAYING DREAM TEAM WEEKENDER THIS WEEKEND 
PA:Press Association
It’s fair to say that Sigurdsson didn’t really enjoy himself too much last year.
Signed by Everton for an eye-watering £40 million in the summer of 2017, the Iceland international struggled under both Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce throughout most of the Toffees’ underwhelming campaign.
Often made to play out of position on the left, his frustration reached panic-level when his season was ended prematurely by a knee injury in March that threatened his place at the World Cup.
Reuters
But life under Marco Silva has been a different story.
Deployed in his favoured role behind the striker this season, his tremendous ability has shone through with four goals already – including a stunner against Leicester last time out.
He’s also been a bit of a Dream Team must-have this term – notching 54 fantasy football points – to make him one of the best midfielders to have on the game.
PA:Press Association
Gyfli has been a big part of everything good Everton have done this season.
The playmaker already boasts some impressive stats, including an increase in his key passes per game. His WhoScored rating of 7.58 tell you all you need to know.
Reuters
At Swansea, Sigurdsson was well-renowned for carrying the team. It was little surprise then, that the Swans’ relegation occurred the season he left.
But with the Toffees, his abilities are complimented by the impressive players he has around him.
With the likes of Richarlison, Bernard and Theo Walcott ahead of him, he’s certainly got plenty of attacking talent to work with.
Everton’s next few fixtures are a mixture of favourable and daunting.
They face the likes of Crystal Palace, Brighton and Cardiff at home, but they also travel to Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
At just £4.1m on Dream Team at the moment, he’s considerably cheaper than many of his midfield rivals – including Kevin De Bruyne (£6.5m), Christian Eriksen (£5.6m) and Paul Pogba (£5.4m).
SIGN UP – WIN £10k BY PLAYING DREAM TEAM WEEKENDER THIS WEEKENDREAD MORE:
The Dream Team Coach talks Jan Vertonghen replacements and upcoming fixtures The Premier League stars who picked up injuries during the international break Why Liverpool’s upcoming run of fixtures is great news for your Dream Team WATCH: Love of the Game – Part 2
The elephant in the room at Stamford Bridge has Real Madrid’s badge painted on the side.
Eden Hazard has started the season in top form, as good as we’ve ever seen from him.
While the benefits of prime Hazard are obvious (seven league goals and three assists already), such form inevitably turns the rumour mill.
The Belgian No10 has long been linked with a move to Real Madrid, mostly because he’s been transparent about his willingness to play for Los Blancos.
Few players better than this man right nowGetty Images - Getty
“Real Madrid is the best club in the world,” he told ESPN. “I don’t want to lie, it is my dream since I was a kid.”
“In my head, sometimes I wake up in the morning and think I want to go.
“Sometimes I think I want to stay. It is a hard decision.”
“It is like I have said a lot of times, if I leave I will be happy, I know if I stay I will be happy.”
Red DevilEPA
Naturally, such comments will worry Chelsea fans.
But there’s a lot to be said for his honesty.
Hazard is not a born and bred West Londoner, we can’t blame him for lacking an undying loyalty to Chelsea.
Like many footballers, he has always dreamed of playing for Real Madrid and so if he does leave to fulfil that ambition, he will not have ‘snaked’ the Blues.
Fans often feel animosity towards a departing player because they were deceived — take Fabian Delph’s Aston Villa exit for example.
Hazard could have easily curried favour with Chelsea fans by dispelling the Real Madrid rumours totally.
But that would have been dishonest.
You’d like to think the Stamford Bridge faithful would respect Hazard if he were to sign for Real in the future, because he admired them too much to lie.
Player of the Year so farPA:Empics Sport
Hazard’s honesty is as refreshing as it is surprising, take his recent comments about Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese manager’s last days at Stamford Bridge were marred by an apparent fractious relationship with his star player.
Hazard’s form dipped in 2015/16 as the wheels fell off Chelsea’s campaign.
Many believed Mourinho’s need for all his players to be defensively disciplined hindered Hazard’s performances.
Perhaps the pair’s relationship is not as bad as we think, however…
“Track back…”Carl Recine
Speaking to Belgian newspaper HLN, Hazard said: “If I’m now asked one coach with whom I want to work again, then I say Mourinho.”
“I do not regret many things in my career, but that I have not been able to work with Mourinho at Chelsea anymore [is one].
“We had a team to get a lot of prizes, but we just ended up in a negative spiral.”
Again, it would have been so easy for Hazard to throw Mourinho under the bus he loves to park.
He no doubt knows the wild speculation such comments are could spark in some areas of the media.
There’s no chance of Hazard signing for Mourinho’s Man United anytime soon, but he felt it was right not to hold Mourinho solely accountable for the sticky end to their partnership, and so he spoke out publicly.
There were plenty of good times as wellNews Group Newspapers Ltd
“In those twelve years of professional career, I have had one bad year – the last six months under Mourinho, and it was partly my own fault.
“After the title, we had asked Mourinho for extra holidays. I was totally out of shape at the start of the season.
“I remembered that lesson this summer – four weeks after the World Cup I was back in training at Chelsea.”
Honesty is the best policy.
NEXT: Remembering the Arsenal Champions League starting XI that should have ended football
Wayne Rooney has called on Manchester United’s players to stand up and be counted, saying that manager Jose Mourinho is an easy target for the club’s troubles. United battled back from two goals down to beat Newcastle 3-2 at the weekend but are languishing in eighth place in the Premier League, seven points off top […]
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It’s typical, isn’t it?
Just as we were getting back into the Premier League, we’ve been stopped in our tracks by another international break.
It’s a good job that Gareth Southgate and those England boys are so freaking lovable, isn’t it?
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Reuters Hey bae[/caption]
Still, post-Game Week 8 feels like the right time to assess our favourite Dream Team players and have a good old look at who’s hot and who’s not this season.
Undoubtedly, Eden Hazard has been the man of the moment, racking up a cool 102 points on the game so far while last season’s top dog Mohamed Salah has looked a little off colour.
There’s also been a few surprise names in the form of Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser and Wolves Matt Doherty.
So here’s who’s made our Team of the Season… so far.
PA:Press Association No.1[/caption]
Are you surprised? We’re not.
The second-most expensive goalkeeper in the world has found life relatively straight-forward in the Premier League so far this season, following his big-money move from Roma.
Helped out by the defensive brilliance of Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk (and not forgetting Dejan Lovren, of course), Alisson has kept five clean-sheets already this season and has only conceded seven times in all competitions for Liverpool.
Alisson vs Ederson
Which goalkeeper would you rather have in your side?
– Alisson
– Ederson pic.twitter.com/FNGABv7fYz
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) October 7, 2018
If we ignore that horrific blunder he made against Leicester – which saw him lose the ball to the Foxes Kelechi Iheanacho with some less-than-fancy footwork – the Brazilian has been a consistent presence between the sticks for Jurgen Klopp’s side and has been the darling of 21% of Dream Team managers.
Matt Doherty (Wolves) – 52 points
Reuters Surprise, surprise[/caption]
One of the best Dream Team bargains at this early stage of the campaign, we passionately applaud the 2.6% of you who opted for Wolves Doherty in your back-line.
He netted his first Premier League goal in their 1-0 win at Crystal Palace at the weekend and even chipped in with two assists last month as the newly-promoted side went unbeaten in September.
Aymeric Laporte (Man City) – 53 points
Reuters Solid as a rock[/caption]
He’s relatively pricey for a defender – valued at £4.0m on Dream Team at the moment – but you get what you pay for with Man City’s rock at the back.
In City’s first major test in the league this season – against Liverpool at the weekend – Laporte was one of City’s best players in the goalless draw, denying Salah twice in the first half with his tackles and often on hand to cover for the marauding Benjamin Mendy.
He’s been a consistent fantasy football points-scorer and should be one of the first names in your team at the moment.
Marcos Alonso (Chelsea) – 61 points
REUTERS Goal-scorer[/caption]
It’s always the same old story with Alonso, isn’t it?
The Spaniard has once again proven to be one of the best players to pick for your Dream Team, topping the Dream Team points-table as Chelsea have proven to be title-contenders again under Maurizio Sarri.
In fact, he’s by-far the best player you can pick for your team so far.
Andy Robertson (Liverpool) – 45 points
Getty Images - Getty Mr. Dependable[/caption]
Robertson was one of the stars of Liverpool’s run to the Champions League final last season, and their right wing-back has continued this term in the same vein.
He racked up a lovely 31 points from the Reds opening five games as they threatened to run away with things, proving that – along with Alonso – wing-backs are the secret to success on fantasy football at the moment.
Paul Pogba (Man United) – 55 points
Reuters Pog-boom[/caption]
Amidst all the in-house fighting with Jose Mourinho and rumours linking him with a move to Barcelona, World Cup-winning midfielder Pogba has enjoyed another fairly fruitful season in terms of fantasy football.
Goals in United’s first two games of the season as well as a brace in their Champions League opener with Young Boys has been his main source of points, but he’s also been front and centre in their biggest performances of the season so far – picking up the Star Man award three-times already.
Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth) – 58 points
Reuters Bargain delight[/caption]
Perhaps the worst kept secret of fantasy football this season has been the brilliance of Fraser.
The £3.2m-rated midfielder has been key to Bournemouth’s excellent start to the season, with goals against Cardiff, MK Dons in the cup and Leicester, coupled with another three assists to his name this season.
If he keeps this up, the big clubs will come knocking for his signature in January.
Eden Hazard (Chelsea) – 103 points
Reuters The man in form[/caption]
Just try and stop ‘im.
Hazard has been the main man so far this season, spear-heading Chelsea’s fine start to life under Sarri with eight goals and three assists in all competitions.
Barring-injury, we all know he’s capable of keeping up this kind of form all season-long, which is a scary thought for defenders everywhere.
Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal) – 58 points
Reuters Can’t stop scoring[/caption]
With four goals to his name in the Premier League – equal with his strike-partner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – it’s safe to say Lacazette is enjoying life under Unai Emery.
Signed from Lyon in the summer of 2017, we’re pretty sure a lot of Arsenal fans were left rather disappointed by the goal-scoring exploits of the Frenchman last season – as he failed to live-up to his billing having previously dominated in Ligue 1.
But he seems much more settled this term and has formed a lethal double act with Aubameyang, which was evident from their run out against Fulham at the weekend.
Sergio Aguero (Man City) – 62 points
EPA Everyone loves Aguero at the moment[/caption]
Will this be the season Aguero finally wins the Golden Boot?
The Man City striker has long-been considered one of the most lethal attackers in the Premier League, but has never quite netted enough to challenge for the league’s top-goalscorer award.
But with five goals to his name so far – just two behind Hazard – maybe this will be his year.
Harry Kane (Spurs) – 61 points
Reuters Golden Boot incoming?[/caption]
Missing out on his third-consecutive Premier League Golden Boot must’ve stung a bit, but Kane made up for it over the summer by finishing up as the top-scorer at the World Cup.
And he’s started the new campaign as strong as ever, already netting five-times and even breaking his infamous August drought with a goal against Fulham.
He started the season priced at an eye-watering £8.0m – making him the joint-most expensive player on Dream Team from the start, along with Salah – but that didn’t seem to put many of you off, as over 50% of managers currently have the Spurs man in their forward-line.
WATCH: Love Of The Game: Leyton Orient (Episode 1)