All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

With an average age of 28 years 4 months, it’s hardly surprising Crystal Palace have the oldest squad in the Premier League. Roy Hodgson’s side have struggled for consistency so far this season, with four wins out of eight games in the top flight.

The Eagles have suffered from a mixed bag of results, having beaten Manchester United in an emphatic 3-1 win at Old Trafford, before being on the receiving end of a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea. However, they’ve bounced back with a 4-1 win over Leeds United at Selhurst Park just before the international break.

It’s inevitable that players will get older, but that doesn’t mean that Palace chief Steve Parish can’t do something about it. There will soon come a point when Palace will have to revitalise their aging defence, that much is for certain, as it’s safe to say that Gary Cahill, Scott Dann, Mamadou Sakho and James Tomkins aren’t getting any younger.

So, Parish can solve Hodgson’s problems with one fell swoop by buying Ivan Nasberg from Valerenga.

The former Norway U21 international has been tipped to earn his first senior call-up for his country after an impressive start to the season. Per SofaScore, the 24-year-old colossus has made 23 appearances in the Norwegian Eliteserien this season, whilst he is averaging 3.3 clearances and 1.2 interceptions per game, helping his side keep 8 clean sheets in the process.

By comparison, even Dann has only mustered fewer than one interception per game in the Premier League, as per SofaScore.

It’s claimed that Valerenga would be willing to accept £1m for Nasberg, as per The Sun.

Once lauded as a “really good” player by his former skipper Adam Larsen Kwarasey, Nasberg has made over 100 appearances for the Norwegian side, whilst he has scored two goals and supplied two assists in all competitions.

Standing at 186cm tall, he isn’t exactly the tallest of centre-backs but he more than makes up for his relative lack of height with his defensive contributions at the back.

The Norwegian seems like a relatively risk-free signing to all intents and purposes with a low risk and a high reward. However, Parish will face stiff competition from Fulham for his signature. Get it done, Eagles.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace may forever regret not signing Real Madrid defender Ferland Mendy…

With a total of 67 goals conceded throughout 2019/20 in the Premier League, it is becoming painfully obvious that Aston Villa will simply have to improve their defensive record for the upcoming season.

Dean Smith might have managed to evade relegation somehow but without some heavy tweaking and improvements on all fronts, especially at the back, the Villains are bound to struggle once more in 2020/21.

And now, according to a new report from The Telegraph, Smith has identified Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier as the solution to their defensive woes.

Needless to say, this would indeed be a shock transfer and one that’s likely to be much more difficult to pull off than Villa might expect. Of course, the full-back is a former Tottenham Hotspur man and has also played a role in eliminating Liverpool from the Champions League as he started that incredible 2-3 game at Anfield.

His quality is not in question here but rather the availability and Villa’s power to actually lure him out of the Spanish capital and back into English top-flight.

The 29-year-old joined the La Liga titans last year and has been a big part of Diego Simeone’s squad since then. Smith wants him either on loan or permanently, whatever is more possible at the moment, and he would effectively serve as competition for Frederic Guilbert and Ahmed Elmohamady.

Despite suffering a niggling injury at the start of his stint in Spain, Trippier has played a total of 33 games across all competitions last season and would be a fairly difficult target to attain.

Verdict

Debating Trippier’s quality is not exactly the main question here at all. The full-back has shown to be capable of playing at the highest of levels so it goes without saying that he would indeed be a welcoming reinforcement.

However, is Smith trying to bite off more than he can chew here? Only time will tell but it does seem so at first sight.

Alfredo Morelos’ future at Glasgow Rangers remains up in the air.

As it stands, he is still a Gers player, but that may not be the case for too long. The Colombia international has been the subject of intense interest from Lille, with him even reportedly having agreed personal terms with Les Dogues, whilst he has also admitted that he would be open to a move away from Ibrox to a more prestigious league.

Steven Gerrard clearly hasn’t been too happy with his star man recently, with him even dropping him for the clash against Kilmarnock last week. The 54-time Scottish champions travel to Hamilton this weekend, and Gerrard was asked about Morelos and whether he will be included. Whilst he refused to say whether he will be in the squad or not, he did admit that Morelos had done well in training, and that he will select players based on how they perform leading up to the clash.

This has attracted plenty of attention from the Gers supporters, and it appears they are far from happy – it seems they believe the £13.5m-valued Colombia international’s (as per Transfermarkt) head has been turned and they therefore do not want him to be involved.

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

Let us know what you think!

Manchester United have been given a major boost after Manchester City pulled out of the race to sign Jadon Sancho this summer.

Pep Guardiola ruled out any chance of a move for Sancho, despite recent reports suggesting he could make a shock return to the Etihad.

Sancho has reportedly told Borussia Dortmund he wants to return to England, amid interest from Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City.

The England international, who moved to the Signal Iduna Park from City for £7m in 2017, is the club’s top scorer this season.

According to The Evening Standard, Guardiola has made it clear that there is no way back for the winger, despite the fact the Citizens are set to lose Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich.

Addressing a virtual news conference ahead of the clash with Liverpool, the former Barcelona manager dismissed the latest links.

Guardiola said “no, no, no. He decided to leave – why should he decide to come back?

“We wanted him to stay like Eric Garcia and Phil (Foden) now. He decided like Leroy now, myself, I decided to move.

“It’s going to happen. So when he decided to move to Dortmund it’s not because he is going to decide to come back one year later. It would make no sense.

“He didn’t want to be here, so that is why he doesn’t want to come back here.”

This will no doubt be a huge source of encouragement for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as another rival has now dropped out of the running.

Solskjaer has insisted Sancho remains his top priority, although Ed Woodward has preached caution, as he feels it is unrealistic to expect the board to splash the cash in these uncertain times.

You can watch Jadon Sancho and Manchester United play via a live football stream. Check out the fixtures page for every upcoming match via Sky Sports, BT Sport, NOW TV, Amazon Prime and more.

Chelsea, City and United had been planning for a long-term rebuild prior to the nationwide lockdown imposed in response to the pandemic, as they look to close the gap on Liverpool, who are the newly-crowned Premier League champions.

Although the Blues have already made the first move by signing RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner, the Red Devils are hot on their heels as plans are now moving forward.

United fans, do you think the board will sign Jadon Sancho in the summer? Let us know down comments below!

This season’s FA Cup final is now just hours away and Frank Lampard’s side will hope they can clinch their ninth title.

This evening’s Wembley clash will be doubly heated as two London sides prepare to lock horns in a fight that is guaranteed to entertain.

Arsenal will be eager to catch Chelsea on a bad day and beat the odds to secure some silverware to round off an otherwise poor season. However, Lampard has some seriously threatening options in his roster and one man in particular could be huge thorn in the side of the Gunners.

Christian Pulisic has already proved he is dangerous in attack, but team that up with a huge occasion and we could see a completely new gear to his influence. Since English football resumed, the winger has been involved in six goal contributions after making a superb comeback from an injury earlier this term (via Sofascore). His impact has impressed both fans and professionals with Lampard boldly claiming he could be as good as Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

Pulisic could really cause a headache for David Luiz, who has been majorly prone to errors this season. According to Sofascore, the Brazilian has been at fault for two opposition goals in the Premier League this campaign and has committed a worrying five fouls which led to a penalty.

If Lampard’s American goal-getter can target Luiz with his impressive pace and dribbling, the defender could have a mistake in him which could gift his former side a crucial goal at Wembley.

It’s likely Arsenal won’t want to push too hard too early, as to not leave themselves exposed to a Chelsea counter-attack.

However, the likelihood of wingers Willian and Pulisic pressuring Arteta’s defence into a mistake is high and Arteta will just hope his men can keep their heads.

How do you think the FA Cup final will play out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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…

Before a ball had been kicked at Vicarage Road in Saturday’s meeting between Crystal Palace and Watford, we outlined that Wilfried Zaha must be careful.

The Hornets are notorious for trying to wind the Ivorian up, with Etienne Capoue raking his studs down the forward’s Achilles in last season’s Premier League fixture between the two sides at Vicarage Road, an incident that affected Zaha according to Roy Hodgson.

Additionally, Watford’s mascot – Harry the Hornet – also dived in front of the former Manchester United man in an attempt to mock him, an act described as disgraceful by Hodgson.

On Saturday, these antics were present again as Capoue tried his best to rile Zaha up once more, while there were also some dark arts on show from Christian Kabasele who managed to get the Ivorian booked despite appearing to trip him up.

Capoue in particular appeared to stamp on the Palace No.11’s hand during a three-on-one combat, with a number of Watford players trampling around Zaha while he was on the floor which sparked a reaction from the former Cardiff loanee.

While the Eagles talisman remained on the pitch throughout the 90 minutes and managed to avoid a red card, he was perhaps slightly lucky following the Kabasele incident after doing something that got him sent off in a fixture against Southampton last season – a moment that he said he would learn from, but clearly hasn’t.

Zaha was seen sarcastically applauding Martin Atkinson’s decision to book him after Kabasele tripped him, and while the decision was dubious – especially as Atkinson was jogging away with his back turned – the referee very easily could’ve sent the 27-year-old off just like Andre Marriner did at St Mary’s last term, again for sarcastic clapping, after James Ward-Prowse successfully pushed the Palace man’s buttons.

Admittedly, it must be frustrating when opposition players actively target you, whether it be by force or through wind-up antics.

However, it comes as part and parcel of being a tricky winger – Eden Hazard received more fouls between now and Zaha’s Premier League debut having been felled 521 times, and one can’t recall the Belgian ever reacting or being wound up.

At 27, and with aspirations of playing in the Champions League, Zaha can’t allow himself to be this easy to wind up.

In other news, this Crystal Palace transfer target could work wonders for Christian Benteke’s career…

Chelsea legend John Terry has revealed he almost signed for Premier League rivals Manchester United, but for him it was always Stamford Bridge. 

The former defender has opened on the days leading to his youth contract with the Blues, and he has been through some twists and turns. Speaking to the Footballers’ Guide to Football podcast (relayed via The Mirror), Terry admitted he almost became a United player under the influence of his father.

“I actually went up to Man United for a year. I was travelling up in school holidays,” the 39-year-old said. “I actually went up with David Beckham when he signed his first pro contract. We went up in the car together. I was there on a two-week training camp.”

Terry went on to explain just how much his dad had wanted him to sign for the Red Devils. On the day they went to see Chelsea’s facilities, he made it known to his son that it wasn’t the club for him, Man United was.

“My dad never wanted me to sign for Chelsea, and on the picture of me signing my schoolboy form on the pitch, my dad refused to go on the pitch with me,” Terry continued.

The ex-defender spent almost his entire senior career with Chelsea, amassing a total of 712 appearances in total and scoring 66 goals. He also boasts an incredible collection of medals, winning the Premier League five times, five FA Cups and one Champions League title during his time in blue (via Transfermarkt).

“I had the option between Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United and, to be fair, all of them went above and beyond,” Terry said. “But the moment I walked into Chelsea, it just felt right.”

Luckily the former England international followed his gut and shut out the pressure from his father. If Terry would have opted for United over Chelsea, who knows how his career would have panned out. But what we do know is he certainly has a career dripping in gold that he and his family can forever be proud of.

What are your best memories of John Terry in a Chelsea shirt, Blues? Let us know in the comments below!

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

Chris Maguire was dropped for the fixture against Burton last week and although the change didn’t end Sunderland’s winless run, it is a decision Phil Parkinson must stick by.

On the chalkboard

Sunderland have struggled going forward this season but looked bright in spells against the Brewers on Tuesday, and would have added to their sole goal but for some good goalkeeping.

That was without Maguire, who on his day can be one of Sunderland’s better players, but he displays his talent too infrequently and that often comes as a detriment to the rest of the team.

Fans have accused him of being selfish and playing for himself, and when Will Grigg has been misfiring up-front that simply can’t continue.

It is Maguire’s job, as the attacking midfielder, to provide for the striker, and until the Northern Ireland international receives the required service his goal drought is likely to continue.

If Parkinson can teach his team to play with more teamwork and understanding – with Maguire acting as an impact sub – then that could be best for all parties, and finally, lead to an improvement in the attack.

More flexibility

Without Maguire in the side Parkinson has a variety of options available to him, and an ability to experiment should allow him to find the desired approach.

The versatile Luke O’Nien has played in several positions this term but he looked comfortable deputising for Maguire against Burton, and twice came close to scoring for the Black Cats.

His hunger allows him to take up promising positions, and that is what the 30-year-old lacks. If O’Nien can add a bit more quality and develop a partnership with Grigg then Sunderland will carry a greater threat, and that could mean they score two or more in matches more often.

So far they have managed that feat just once under Parkinson – against Tranmere – but without Maguire, there is potential for a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 system to be played, with more ambition and freedom going forward on display.

That could at least get fans on their feet to back the players, and any confidence boost would be of great help currently, so it is an option the manager should give serious consideration to.

Don’t miss out on MASSIVE savings with Fan Deal Drops – shop now for the latest deals (USING LINK HERE) on TVs, laptops, football shirts & much more.

Plenty of Manchester United fans have been looking back on their 2-1 win over Manchester City in 2011 in the season that saw them go on to win their 12th Premier League title.

Wayne Rooney’s spectacular overhead kick was the moment of inspiration that meant the Red Devils took all three points from the crunch clash. David Silva equalised just after the hour mark before Rooney’s spectacular winner. [via BBC]

It was voted as the greatest goal in the history of the Premier League in a Guardian poll and Rooney went on to become a legend at Old Trafford, scoring 253 goals and providing 146 assists in 559 appearances for the club.

Many supporters were delighted when looking back at the memories from the end of the Sir Alex Ferguson era and made their feelings clear on social media.

Here you will find some of the best comments from Manchester United fans:

Do you think Rooney’s goal was the best to be scored in a Manchester derby and in the Premier League? Have your say by commenting below!

Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to react after Jose Mourinho defended the Merseysiders from Vincent Kompany’s pre-match remark on Sky Sports’ Super Sunday.

The former Manchester City captain suggested that the Reds might not be able to cope with the pressure of playing such a massive fixture, a game that would’ve – and now has – sent them eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Following Kompany’s comments, Mourinho, 56, stepped in to point out that, while City are champions of England, Jurgen Klopp’s men are the reigning champions of Europe, implying they shouldn’t be underestimated.

Following the former Manchester United manager’s defence of the Reds, some Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to react.

One fan said that it feels “scummy” to see Mourinho defend them, whereas another supporter said that this is the “only time” that they will like the straight-talking Portuguese manager.

Let’s take a look at some more of the Twitter reaction…