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Mauricio Pochettino’s great story at Tottenham Hotspur was sadly abruptly wrapped up as the Argentine coach was sacked just over a week ago. In his place, as we all know by now, came none other than Jose Mourinho, who was a free agent for a while.

But now that Pochettino is finally free from Daniel Levy and is a free agent himself, there are certain clubs that should definitely try and snatch him as soon as possible.

So without further ado, here are three teams that should be looking to instil the Argentine at their helm in the near future:

Bayern Munich

The Bavarian giants are going through a transitional period themselves since they had recently sacked a manager of their own.

Niko Kovac’s stint at Bayern Munchen left them with mixed results and despite the Croat actually winning some silverware, the Germans simply decided he was not the right man for the job.

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Pochettino, however, just might be. We all know that Poch is definitely a good manager – having led Tottenham to the Champions League final and making them competitive in the Premier League – and even though he couldn’t bring any trophies back to London during his five-year stint at Spurs, he is very much a visionary and a man capable of achieving a lot with limited resources.

At Bayern, there would be no restraints and while he could help bring out the best in them, they could possibly show us the best version of him as well.

Worth a shot.

Real Madrid

Ah, the Pochettino to Real Madrid narrative is one we are all very familiar with and the links between the two have not stopped to this day. In fact, AS reported that Los Blancos have tried snatching him on multiple previous occasions, failing every time.

But still, even with that being said, one way or the other, this is simply one of the transfers or rather, appointments, that is seemingly bound to happen sooner rather than later and it’s easy to see why.

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Real Madrid have finally found their groove under Zinedine Zidane – seeing how they’ve managed to bag a total of 20 goals in the last six games they’ve played – but for all of Frenchman’s pedigree, having Pochettino at the helm could definitely elevate the Whites to a whole new level, which is the reason why Florentino Perez has been so adamant in pursuing him in the first place.

With them, he would have all the resources and the backing in the world and if a limited Pochettino was so impressive at Spurs, how good would he be when completely unleashed?

AC Milan

The last pick on this list is not as grandiose as the previous two probably were.

After all, the Rossoneri are barely keeping things from falling apart over in Serie A and needless to say, at the moment they are as far from that dominant European force they once were.

But that’s exactly what makes this gig so interesting. Pochettino is a young and aspiring coach that can bring out the best out of his players and develop them into contenders rather than necessarily buying them, as we’ve seen him do at Spurs where he achieved a lot without a multitude of real superstars.

He would probably not have the biggest budget in Italy but he would have a talented young squad at his disposal and we’ve seen him do magic with one such team before.

Would he win the Champions League or Serie A with Milan immediately? Probably not. But bringing them back to life would be a real fairytale story in itself.

Why not go for it?

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…

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is mulling over whether he will commit to a new contract with Arsenal, according to Goal.

Goal’s Arsenal correspondent, Charles Watts, had this to say about Aubameyang and his fellow attacker Alexandre Lacazette: “Arsenal have been trying for some time now to get Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette to sign new contracts, but so far the talks have proved unsuccessful.”

Watts suggests the talismanic Gabon international is said to want Champions League football, meaning he is wary of signing to stay at the Emirates despite his current deal running out in 2021, with the Gunners having failed to break into the top four in any of their three latest campaigns.

Lacazette is in a similar state of mind, though the Frenchman’s situation is not as much of an emergency, with his current deal coming to an end in 2022.

In Aubameyang’s case, this means Arsenal could potentially find themselves in a situation they have been in to many times: risking a player being poached when their contract is approaching or has reached its end.

In recent years, they have lost Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna and Santi Cazorla for free, with the quartet having a combined Transfermarkt value of £66.45m from the times they left.

The Gunners also had their hand forced by Alexis Sanchez, when he only had six months left on his contract, as a swap deal was eventually struck up with Manchester United for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

If a similar scenario to any of these is played out with Aubameyang, it could be the biggest loss of the lot for the Gunners.

This season, he has scored 8 goals in 11 Premier League games, as per WhoScored, with that number equating to half of Arsenal’s overall total, offering an indication into just how important his goals are for the team.

To add some further context to just how well the striker has done since moving to north London, he is the seventh-fastest player in Arsenal history to reach a half-century of goals for the club.

As much as the results have not been great for Arsenal in recent seasons, Aubameyang has been a driving force for the club, so it seems unfathomable that they could lose him for free, especially as his valuation is £63m, just £3.45m less than the aforementioned four combined.

Keeping an eye on Leeds United fans on Twitter this week has made for some incredible reading.

Supporters haven’t been happy with a lot, and one thing is clear, they don’t think that their manager is selecting the correct lineups.

Fans have been crying out for changes in the starting XI. Whether it’s debating Patrick Bamford or praying for Luke Ayling to be dropped, the supporters have been giving their opinions on what Marcelo Bielsa should do.

Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

There are several differing views about how Leeds should lineup against the Owls, so here’s the XI that we think the Whites should go with.

The first thing to note is that the back five stay the same.

Jamie Shackleton and Liam Cooper are both available for the game, but it’s unknown how sharp those two will be after injury layoffs.

Ayling received a lot of criticism after the Preston game, but due to Leeds’ need to play Stuart Dallas in the middle for this match, he stays at right-back.

Onto the midfield, and with Pablo Hernandez still out injured Helder Costa retains his place on the right.

Jack Harrison stays on the left after assisting the Whites’ only goal on Tuesday, and of course, Kalvin Phillips keeps his spot.

We mastered the trick in the video below in 8 attempts… could you do better?

The centre-midfield positions are where this gets interesting.

Mateusz Klich should be dropped from the starting XI for the first time since Marcelo Bielsa’s arrival at the club.

The Pole wasn’t at his very best against Preston, and he looked as if he was more suited to a deeper role, but that position should be occupied by Stuart Dallas this time around.

The Northern Irishman is the player that Bielsa called upon in his midfield to combat the mistakes he made against Garry Monk last term, so he slots into the midfield alongside Tyler Roberts.

Roberts made a great account of himself on Tuesday when he came on as a sub, so he more than deserves this shot.

The striking choice in this team will immediately upset a few people, but there is a reason behind this choice.

Eddie Nketiah may actually be a better player when he comes off the bench, and against quality opposition like Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds may need Bamford’s work rate and energy in order to carve out chances early on, while the 20-year-old may be more effective if he’s brought on towards the end of the game.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Moussa Sissoko featured for France in their victory over Turkey on Monday but he showed Mauricio Pochettino that he will only be suitable for one position in the Tottenham team.

The 30-year-old has regularly featured in the middle of Spurs’ midfield this term and was one of their best performers last season, being named the Tottenham Legends’ Player of the Year for the 2018/19 campaign.

However, last time out he featured at right-back, against Brighton, but struggled as his side conceded three, failed to make an interception and managed a WhoScored rating of 6.3.

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For France he was also played out of position – on the right flank – and he didn’t look comfortable at all, leading to criticism from French supporters.

It is a role he has played on occasion for both club and country but he did not perform to the best level he can, and that should act as a warning sign to Pochettino.

The best example of that was the fact he won only 2/10 duels, as per SofaScore.

His lack of success in that area could be due to a lack of understanding of the position, as although he has played there before he was unable to sit deep in order to deal with his opponent, and may have been less able to read the danger.

Sissoko only made one tackle, too, which supports the idea that his positioning could have been better, and is an indication to his Spurs boss that he is better suited to a central role.

However, there were some positives to take, and that was his ability on the ball.

Aside from failing to find the target from his three shots he was very assured in possession with a pass accuracy of 91%. That success shows he can keep the ball effectively but it is a further indication that he might display his best when playing in the middle.

It shows that he is able to find his teammates consistently and that would be of most use to Spurs from the centre of the pitch, as it would grant him more space and a wider range of passing options.

Another positive from the Turkey match was Sissoko only losing possession on 10 occasions, but he could be even more effective if moved back into the middle – as he only lost possession eight times from central midfield against Newcastle.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Wolves condemned reigning Champions Manchester City to their second defeat of the season with a shock 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The result means Pep Guardiola’s men now sit a vast eight points behind league leaders Liverpool while for Nuno Santo and his side, it is three straight wins in all competitions.

Watch Wolverhampton Wanderers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

It’s been quite some turnaround for Wolves, who less than a month ago were smashed 5-2 by Chelsea at Molineux to put serious doubts over whether they would be able to replicate last season’s historic season of reaching seventh in the Premier League.

One key issue that attributed to their poor start to the season was the underwhelming performances from those who run the strings in the heart of midfield, but this City showing could prove that one of those figures is simmering back towards his best.

Joao Moutinho was one of Nuno’s most influential players last season as he recorded a team-high eight assists in the top-flight, but so far this season, he has only been able to manage the one.

Though he is recording more dribbles on average per game this season than he did during the 2018/19 campaign.

However, he’s not only being utilised as a creative outlet as this term he has seemingly added more defensive attributes to his game, which could make him a James Milner of sorts; a fine wine – only getting better with age.

Against City, the 33-year-old registered five tackles, three interceptions, one key pass and one successful dribble, per SofaScore.

You could say that Moutinho was all over the pitch, and his WhoScored heat map would back that up entirely – just going to show how vital he is to Wolves’ success through the midfield.

Football FanCast have previously highlighted how Moutinho has regressed this season, but if he can back this showing up after the international break, the Portuguese playmaker would fully be worth his reported contract extension.

In today’s West Ham United roundup, we take a look at what news has been making the headlines for the Hammers. Gary Neville believes the Hammers have a good chance of making the top six after defeating Manchester United, chairman David Gold questions VAR, and Arsenal are willing to let Stan Flaherty undergo a trial at West Ham.

Gold questions VAR

Report: West Ham chairman David Gold has taken to Twitter to call for a rule change in red card situations now that we have the addition of VAR. Gold believes teams should be able to appeal the second yellow card, after Arthur Masuaku’s double yellow against Aston Villa.

He tweeted: “Would it be fairer to be able to appeal a red card following two yellows after all he and the club could be punished twice, once for the sending off and two for the ban from the next game when on reviewing the incidents one of them was not worthy of a yellow.”

Verdict: Whether you love it or hate it, VAR is here to stay and will seemingly split opinions for the foreseeable future. Although, what has been one of it’s biggest flaws is not necessarily the decisions, but the manner in which it is used and what it is used for. For example, referee’s can overturn a straight red card if deemed an incorrect decision. However, officials cannot overturn the decision of a second yellow card, despite the outcome of the player leaving the pitch still the same as a straight red.

Quite frankly, as Gold alluded to, it doesn’t make sense to have VAR help straight red cards, but not a second yellow – the player will still leave the pitch and a ban will still take place. Truthfully, if we have the technology to right a wrong, it should be used to correct every bad decision and not just pick and choose what can and can’t be helped.

West Ham have a ‘really good chance’ of top six, says Neville

Report: Ex-Manchester United man Gary Neville believes West Ham could make the top six this campaign. He said on his podcast: “If West Ham and Leicester keep their squads fit, they have got a really good chance of getting into that sixth or fifth position.

“I looked at Manchester United’s team for instance on Sunday compared to West Ham and you would probably swap quite a few players into it.

“It’s the same with Leicester for the likes of (James) Maddison, (Youri) Tielemans, (Jamie) Vardy, Demarai Gray and others. They would get into this Manchester United team or bench.”

Verdict: It can be argued that this West Ham side has the best chance of cracking to top six since the club finished seventh in 2015-16 under Slaven Bilic. Back then, the club was led by stars such as Dimitri Payet, who scored nine goals in that year. Now, the likes of Sebastian Haller already has three goals, whilst Andriy Yarmolenko has two this season.

In midfield, Mark Noble continues to impress after his Man of the Match for his display against United, alongside Declan Rice who has so far averaged a performance rating of 7.05. Indeed, this West Ham side has massively improved it’s attacking options now and with Manuel Pellegrini at the helm, the club continues to get better.

It is, of course, still early days. Although, based on the poor start to the campaign from the usual top six contenders, the Hammers do have a great chance at finally breaking that top six barrier. It may take a bit of luck and hope of little injuries, but as of now, West Ham fans have a right to be excited.

Flaherty set for trial

Report: According to Football Insider, Arsenal youngster Stan Flaherty is set to undergo a trial at West Ham. The report suggests that the 17-year-old is hoping of transferring from the Gunners to a fellow Premier League club after been given the green light by the club.

Verdict: Flaherty is able to play in various positions on the wing and through the middle, and after scoring two goals and providing an assist in 11 games for Arsenal’s U18’s, the Englishman has seemingly caught the eye of West Ham.

The Hammers would also be bagging a man inform, after Flaherty scored with his first touch last weekend and netted a free-kick towards the end of Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Norwich, as per the report from Football Insider.

It is often good news if West Ham are planning on investing in youth talent, as they have such a positive track record throughout their history in bringing through some incredible players. This transfer could only be good news for both Flaherty and West Ham.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left erupting as some comments emerged from Steven Gerrard.

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match at home to Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday afternoon, the English manager has now claimed that the club need to ‘spend big money’ in transfer windows in order to be able to compete, citing that in the last two windows they ‘haven’t spent a penny’.

This comes after the Light Blues lost 1-0 away at Sparta Prague in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night, after losing their opening game 2-0 at home to Lyon in the competition (BBC Sport).

They have also drawn and lost a match in the SPFL already as well, and so question marks have been raised over their performances this season compared to last.

Nonetheless, several Light Blues seemed to be taken back by his subtle dig at the board.

Rangers fans on Gerrard comments

These Gers supporters erupted as the comments were shared on Twitter:

“That’s a statement and a half”

Credit: @TobyJamieson4

“First time we’ve heard him express his disappointment at the transfer business we have done. Sounded like a wee dig at the board.”

Credit: @FacelessRanger

“Is that a dig at the board for us not spending any money?”

Credit: @CarrieCummings4

“The board won’t be too happy with that last comment, but he’s correct.”

Credit: @Motor_Ted

“Steven Gerrard making it clear to EVERYONE you need to spend money to improve and challenge in European competitions. Money he hasn’t been given in the last 2 transfer windows so why should we expect this team to keep doing it, year after year?”

Credit: @CF3Loyal

“2 poor transfer windows. Not spent a penny. Manager having a dig at the board here?”

Credit: @TheFamousRFC

In other news, find out whose display against Prague left RFC fans fuming here!

After failing to regain the Premier League title last season after winning it for the first time in 30 years during the 19/20 campaign, Liverpool have got their current season off to a good start, winning four and drawing three of their opening seven league games.

Despite the Reds still being unbeaten in the league and having scored more goals than any other club with 17, it seems as though the Merseyside club are keen on strengthening their squad in the near future.

What’s the news?

It was recently reported by Italian media outlet Tuttosport that Liverpool are interested in signing Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic.

It’s claimed an auction may occur over the striker but the Reds will face plenty of competition for his signature with Juventus and Atletico Madrid also interested.

Since joining the Italian club back in the 2018 summer transfer window from FK Partizan Belgrade, the 21-year-old, who is currently valued at £36m according to Transfermarkt, has made a total of 92 appearances for Fiorentina across all competitions in which he has managed to score 35 goals and provide five assists along the way.

Firmino replacement?

Last season Vlahovic the striker rack up an impressive 21 goals in 37 Serie A appearances so he is quite evidently a deadly proposition.

So far this season, the 21-year-old, who editor in chief at Forza Italian Football, Conor Clancy described as a “complete” number nine, has already managed to score six goals in eight appearances across all competitions for the club.

Taking all of this into account, it’s easy to see why Liverpool are apparently interested in adding the striker to their squad.

In our view, he could be a vast upgrade on Roberto Firmino.

The Brazilian isn’t getting any younger at the age of 30 and he also has a lack of goalscoring consistency with that factor being brought into question at times in the past. He has failed to score more than nine league goals in his two previous Premier League campaigns, so we feel that a potential move for Vlahovic could be a great way of securing a future replacement.

Most importantly, he would add a bit of extra goalscoring power to their squad as they look to secure some more domestic and European titles.

Moving forward, if Liverpool do decide they want to sign a striker at some point in the future, either to replace Firmino or not, Vlahovic should definitely be an option they consider.

In other news: Edwards could seal Liverpool masterstroke by signing “magical” £31.5m-rated ace – opinion

Everton may have only spent £1.7m on new players during the summer transfer window but the Toffees have a plethora of selection dilemmas and quandaries.

Rafa Benitez will not have expected injuries to Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin to occur which has left them in a sticky situation.

Yet, with the aforementioned duo out, it’s called for a few players to stand up and be counted.

Demarai Gray has caught the eye with three goals and Andros Townsend has also netted three times since his arrival.

Sadly, others haven’t fared too well. Salomon Rondon has now endured two shoddy performances leading the line as he struggles to achieve match fitness after a lack of pre-season.

Alex Iwobi has also gained two successive starts for the club but has failed to impress.

The Nigerian was signed for £34m from Arsenal in 2019 but has only ever found the net on five occasions after penning terms.

It’s a disastrous record but it only seems to be getting worse for the attacker. His performance against Championship opposition, QPR, on Tuesday evening was extremely poor.

As Benitez’s men crashed out on penalties, he only completed 75% of his passes.

Furthermore, the winger won just 22.2% of the defensive duels he was involved in and lost the ball every 3.1 touches.

With that in mind, the manager should consider casting his attentions elsewhere.

One player who deserves more of a run is Anthony Gordon. The 20-year-old has played for the Everton first-team on 23 occasions but very rarely have any of those outings been starts.

He did play from the off against QPR and looked mightily impressive. No one created more than Gordon’s four key passes while the youngster also showed his nerve by scoring from the spot in the penalty shoot-out.

He is yet to score a senior goal but if Benitez focuses on his development instead of Iwobi’s game time, he’ll surely begin to improve rapidly.

After all, the traits he possesses would cause trouble for a whole host of defenders.

Speaking to The Athletic, David Unsworth commented: “His balance sprinting with the ball and his balance going past people is something you don’t see every day. He’s got unbelievable pace and he’s a Scouser too, so he’s tough.”

Iwobi is quick-footed as well but ultimately, his end produced eludes him on a regular basis. He is incredibly frustrating and Everton would surely benefit more from unleashing one of their young prodigies instead.

AND in other news, Kenwright masterclass: £100k-p/w gem sees his value fall by £23m after leaving Everton…

Celtic may have signed 12 new first-team players during the course of the summer but Ange Postecoglou’s squad is already depleted down to its barebones.

The Hoops have suffered a number of injury blows over the last few weeks with Kyogo Furuhashi now ruled out for over a month.

Giorgos Giakoumakis is also missing due to a lack of fitness and now Greg Taylor will have to undergo surgery on a shoulder problem.

Liel Abada will be absent from the game with Real Betis on Thursday evening due to religious reasons but Postecoglou has now been rocked with another big setback.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the manager admitted that Callum McGregor would miss the encounter in Spain, citing a “knock.”

It remains to be seen how long the skipper will be out for but in a game of this magnitude, he will be a massive miss for Celtic for a whole host of reasons.

First and foremost, Postecoglou is likely to be gutted because he loses his captain and the man who really sets the tone in the middle of the park.

Though, McGregor’s influence extends far beyond his leadership qualities.

He has experience at international level and has performed admirably in big games over the last few months.

The midfielder scored for Scotland against Croatia at the European Championships, found the net against Midtjylland in the Champions League qualifiers and also shone for his country in a remarkable win over Austria during the last international break.

McGregor has been nothing short of exceptional this season and his ability to disrupt the play would have been crucial against Betis.

The Spanish side may sit ninth in La Liga but they have enjoyed the third-highest average (61.5%) for possession in the league.

No player in Celtic’s midfield has managed more tackles – 1.4 per game – than McGregor this term which only exacerbates the blow at hand.

Postecoglou will be able to choose from Ismaila Soro and James McCarthy as his replacements but the latter is yet to start a game for Celtic since signing in the summer.

Consequently, he may not last the entire game in Seville this evening.

AND in other news, Desmond could land dream McKay successor at Celtic in “respected” 58 y/o CEO…