Manchester United fans are still processing the club’s exit from the Champions League at the last-16 stage.
Jose Mourinho’s side were favourites to progress into the quarter-finals at the expense of Sevilla, but the Spanish team caused an upset.
United fans were incensed by the goalless draw in the first leg, and they did not feel much better when their club hosted the second leg at Old Trafford.
The team lacked desire and urgency, which ultimately led to a 2-1 defeat and an early departure from the elite competition.
The club may not have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but they will be competing in the final eight of the FA Cup this weekend.
The Red Devils will go head to head with Brighton at Old Trafford, with a semi-final spot up for grabs, but the supporters are not feeling very optimistic.
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The club posted a match preview on their official Twitter page, and the comments left were not the most encouraging.
West Ham confirmed this week that they have handed lifetime bans to the fans that invaded the pitch against Burnley, and it’s pretty clear who the fans are siding with.
It’s been a pretty toxic season for West Ham, as performances on the pitch have echoed the atmosphere in their new stadium – soulless.
While plenty were excited about the move to the Olympic Stadium, many fans were infuriated by the move away from the Boleyn Ground, and those concerns have proved justified since the move.
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Things reached boiling point in the recent loss to Burnley, as fans literally ran riot on the pitch and in the stands. Burnley won the match comfortably, but there was only one story after the match, as fans frustrations with David Gold and David Sullivan toppled onto the pitch.
The club have now announced that five individuals have been banned for their actions, and that they are continuing investigations into several other incidents.
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Fans have been reacting to the news on Twitter, and some of the best reactions can be found below…
Celtic dropped more points at home in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday night, drawing 0-0 at home to struggling Dundee.
On the march to a seventh successive league title, all the Hoops need to do is secure a couple of more wins to celebrate yet another major honour under Brendan Rodgers.
They were underwhelming against the Dark Blues however, failing to produce the chances to see off the visitors and were even at risk of conceding and losing the match.
One point of contention fans had coming out of the match was the absence of Chelsea loanee Charly Musonda, who was again an unused substitute.
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The 21-year-old hasn’t had any minutes for over a month, since coming on as a substitute in a Scottish Cup match against Greenock Morton. He hasn’t started since 18th February, one of only three since joining in January.
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Fans are now calling on him to be selected more, believing he possesses the kind of creativity that can break down deep defences like the Dees’.
They took to Twitter to share their thoughts after last night’s match…
A full-back by trade, West Ham United defender Aaron Cresswell has found himself lining up as a left-sided centre-back as part of a three-man defence for the Irons on a number of occasions over the course of this season – and in particular so far in 2018.
With Jose Fonte leaving for the Chinese Super League in February and Winston Reid and James Collins currently both injured, the 28-year-old, who is rated at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, once again lined up alongside Angelo Ogbonna and Declan Rice at the back against Stoke City at the London Stadium on Monday night, with Arthur Masuaku at left wing-back.
While his main role as a centre-back is clearly to ensure his team doesn’t concede, Cresswell, whom Hammers supporters slated on Twitter last month for his poor form, showed the attacking ability that he has and the impact he’s capable of making in the final third against the Potters, who took the lead in the 79th minute through Peter Crouch.
The former Ipswich Town man had a total of four shots at goal throughout the 90 minutes – with three of those being on target – while he also had more touches (92) than any other Irons player on the pitch, as well as making two key passes – including the assist for Andy Carroll’s late equaliser.
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While Cresswell has been needed at centre-back in recent weeks and months, his statistics against Paul Lambert’s side suggest that his manager David Moyes needs to play him in a more attacking role in the future, to help his team in the final third.
Manchester United are on the hunt for a revamped defence during the summer transfer window in order to transform their fortunes next season but it is unlikely to include Matteo Darmian.
Despite being an international right-back, the Italian – valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt – has been unable to get close to overtaking Antonio Valencia this season and looks surplus to requirements.
As United gear up for the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham on Saturday, it is unlikely that Darmian will be involved at all.
That means that thoughts have turned to where the Italian will go in the summer and his comments have hinted that he could well be off to Italian giants Juventus in the next transfer window.
It would appear that there isn’t a great deal of animosity towards Darmian but not a lot of United fans rate him and would happily see him leave.
Southampton’s goalless draw against Leicester City on Thursday and their 2-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday were just two more signals that they remain on course for the Championship next season.
Saints went into their must-win clash against the Foxes on the back of a 3-2 loss and collapse against Antonio Conte’s men at St Mary’s, well aware that they were running out of time to save themselves.
However, it seemed as though they were so determined not to lose and to keep things tight at the back – which was no surprise given they had suffered four successive top flight defeats and conceded 12 goals in the process – they didn’t really go and try and win a game against a Leicester side that were ultimately there for the taking, with Shane Long wasting their best opportunities.
It has left the south coast outfit on the brink and while they will be just four points from safety heading into their match against local rivals Bournemouth at home on Saturday, the fact that they have one league win in their last 21 attempts and have tasted success just five times all season – against 10-man West Ham, both Crystal Palace and Everton when they were in dire straits, and twice against West Bromwich Albion who are bottom of the standings and in an even worse position.
The cup encounter against Chelsea was a chance to put in a positive performance with the pressure off in many ways, and while the players did ok in the first half, to find themselves 1-0 down just 30 seconds into the second period summed up their whole season – especially as it could have easily been avoided from a defensive point of view.
Mark Hughes’ men now have four top flight matches to save themselves, and anything less than three wins from those will probably be not enough for a side that will likely be without Sofiane Boufal, who looks to have played his last game for the club.
Given they have only won five all season and have one Premier League win since the end of November – and with few signs of improvement from a defensive point of view especially – it is difficult to see that happening and the south coast outfit realistically need to start preparing for life in the Championship.
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It is a notoriously difficult division, and while the board and the majority of Saints supporters may be happy to keep the Welshman in charge next season should the worst happen, they should in fact consider appointing someone else instead.
While Hughes has proven he is a decent manager during his career, he has never managed in the Championship, and while Nuno Espirito Santo has done fantastically well with Wolves this term – albeit with plenty of help in terms of recruitment – it says it all that the likes of Neil Warnock, Slavisa Jokanovic and Gary Rowett are all challenging at the top end of the table.
They are managers that know the division like the back of their hands now, and they know what is required to win games on a consistent basis promotion.
The same couldn’t be said for Hughes, and given he is only on a contract until the end of the campaign, the Saints hierarchy should have been alerted to the news of Mick McCarthy quitting Ipswich Town earlier this month.
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The 59-year-old worked on a really tight budget at Portman Road for five-and-a-half years before his departure, and while he was unable to win promotion to the Premier League with Town, he did do achieve it previously with both Sunderland and Wolves.
McCarthy has proven himself as a more than solid boss at this level, and with some money behind him – with the parachute payments – he would certainly fancy his chances of taking Southampton straight back up to the top flight, and he would be a popular figure for the St Mary’s faithful because of his personality.
The club won’t have too much time to waste if they want an immediate return to the Premier League, and they should get the 59-year-old in place as soon after the current season has concluded as is possible, to ensure they are best prepared to get themselves sorted and hit the ground running.
The former Republic of Ireland boss may not be the long-term appointment that some supporters would be hoping for, but they need a manager that knows the Championship – even more so having seen Sunderland’s second successive relegation – to ensure they don’t find themselves in trouble again next term.
Arsene Wenger’s fairytale ending to life as Arsenal manager has turned into a nightmare.
The Frenchman had hoped to lead the club to Europa League glory before signing off permanently, but it was not to be.
Pressure was on the Gunners’ shoulders heading into Thursday night’s semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid in Spain due to the fact that they conceded an away goal in the Emirates tie.
The match sat at 1-1, with Arsenal knowing that they needed to score at Atletico’s ground to have any hope of progressing into the final.
It was a painful encounter for Wenger’s men as they were the better side for large parts of the game, but ended up losing 1-0 on the night following Diego Costa’s goal.
Arsenal fans were crushed by the result, and many aimed criticism at Hector Bellerin for his performance during the encounter.
While the Gunners support were suffering, their arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur were not feeling the pain as strongly.
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In fact, plenty of the club’s supporters took to Twitter to mock Arsenal’s failings, because not only will Wenger’s reign end without silverware, they will also fail to qualify for a place in next season’s Champions League.
Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat to Leicester City wasn’t an easy night for youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Making only his second Premier League appearance of the season at right-back, the Foxes clearly targeted the youngster due to his inexperience; 47% of their attacking play came down the left flank, which was essentially the source for Leicester’s first two goals.
A looped cross travelled from left to right before being finished off by Kelechi Iheanacho, while Maitland-Niles’ failure to contain Demarai Gray eventually saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan foul the English winger for a penalty kick.
And yet, despite the 20-year-old’s difficulties, there were still moments of individual quality that really shone through at the King Power Stadium. He actually created the joint-most chances, completed the most dribbles and made the joint-second-most tackles of any Gunners player, although the England U21’s 16 possession losses served as a key reminder that he still suffers from the inconsistency of youth.
Whoever replaces Arsene Wenger at the Emirates Stadium this summer will be desperate to make his mark on the squad via the transfer market, but the glimmers of huge potential Maitland-Niles has shown during his short Arsenal career suggest he could be even more valuable than a new signing for the north Londoners.
Rather than investing money in big names, Arsenal’s next manager should be investing his time in Arsenal’s promising young players instead – starting with Maitland-Niles. Not only will it help preserve the distinct Arsenal DNA Wenger will leave behind once he officially steps down, but it will also save the club a fortune in transfer fees.
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Wayne Rooney’s, expected move to MLS side, D.C. United is reportedly on hold after Everton sacked manager Sam Allardyce, according to The Sun.
Rooney spent the season with boy-hood club Everton, scoring 11 goals for the club and finishing as the team’s top scorer in the league.
However the ex-United striker struggled to find the net in the second half of the season amid rumours that he had a poor relationship with Allardyce – who was brought in mid-season to replace Ronald Koeman.
But with Allardyce out of the picture, Rooney reportedly wants to wait to speak to the new manager before deciding on his future, with D.C United rumoured to be ready to offer the Everton man a £300,000 a week contract.
Rooney showed with his performances that he still has the pedigree to offer value and goals in the Premier League and the five time Premier League winner could yet still stay with Everton.
Everton supporters have been reacting to the news all day on social media. Here is a selection of some of the best reactions…
It is safe to say that Moussa Sissoko is not the most loved figure at Tottenham Hotspur.
The midfielder was under immediate pressure when he signed for the club from Newcastle United on deadline day in the summer of 2016 for a £30m fee.
However, he was unable to impress and struggled to hold down a place in Mauricio Pochettino’s team.
When he did venture out onto the field, he struggled to win over the fans with his performances.
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This season, the 28-year-old started 15 Premier League games and came off the bench in a further 18.
Sissoko has often been criticised by the fans for not making an impact when on the pitch, so it did not come as a huge surprise that he was not selected to represent France at the World Cup.
The former Newcastle United player has, though, been included on the reserve list for the tournament.
Once Didier Deschamps announced his squad for Russia, Tottenham fans posted sarcastic and playful comments regarding Sissoko’s axe.
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