Victor Lindelof moved to Manchester United from Benfica in the summer, but the early stages of his career at Old Trafford have not gone smoothly.

The 23-year-old has barely featured for Jose Mourinho this season; in fact the defender has made just three outings.

Those appearances came in the Carabao Cup and Champions League, which suggests that he is not deemed ready to be thrown into Premier League action.

Lindelof has had better luck when it comes to selection for his national side as he started Sweden’s World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands on Tuesday night.

Unfortunately for the defender it was a night to forget as he made a howler just 16 minutes into the match.

While trying to clear danger in the box, Lindelof frantically ended up directing the ball into his raised hand, resulting in a penalty for the Netherlands, which was converted by Arjen Robben.

In the end, Sweden lost 2-0, but their superior goal difference means that they will progress into the playoffs, resulting in the Netherlands failing to make next year’s finals in Russia.

Much of the focus from the United fans was on Lindelof and his mistake.

Arsenal won their first away match in the English Premier League this season with a thumping 5-2 victory over Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.

The visitors’ performance was arguably their most accomplished of the season so far with their big hitters like Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil finally clicking into gear to punish Ronald Koeman’s side.

It was all going so well for Everton when Wayne Rooney gave them an early lead, but Arsenal were ahead by the hour mark and put on a late show to embarrass the home side in front of their own supporters and put significant pressure on the shoulders of Koeman.

The Toffees have now slipped into the relegation zone and haven’t won a match in five attempts. For some fans, enough is enough and they want Koeman to leave the club as soon as possible. After a high summer transfer spend, hopes were high going into this season but results haven’t been good enough.

Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his future…

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At the age of 26, Aaron Ramsey should be a top-class footballer bordering on world-class. Goalscoring midfielders are worth their weight in gold and even more so now than ever before; between 2010/11 and 2016/17, the percentage of goals from central midfielders, the number of central midfielders scoring goals and the number of goals from distance have drastically declined in the Premier League.

Ramsey should stand out as a rare talent, one the rest of the big six are desperate to pry from Arsenal’s clutches. Just look over at the other side of north London and how demanded Dele Alli is at this moment in time.

And yet, there is one vital ingredient missing from Ramsey’s game that has stopped him reaching his utmost potential as he enters his peak years – positional discipline. Indeed, Ramsey is now 306 games and ten seasons into his Arsenal career after being plucked from Cardiff City as a teenager, but it’s still not clear what kind of midfielder he actually is or what his best role is in the engine room.

He offers some of the dynamic qualities of an offensive box-to-box, but the goal threat, creative ambitiousness and movement of a No10, and has even spent some of his Arsenal career trying to influence from the wing.

In some instances, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing; Kevin De Bruyne has the tools to impact from countless positions and the aforementioned Alli can operate, in theory, as a central midfielder, an attacking midfielder, a wide forward or even a support striker.

But while that’s more a case of different positions bringing out different talents in high-quality individuals, Ramsey’s rotation around the midfield has been more a consequence of him not perfectly fitting any of them, because he’s never been moulded around a specific role and because the rest of the team hasn’t been geared around his greatest strength – chiefly, making smart and bold runs into the box to support the striker.

Watch the Welshman closely in any given Arsenal game; the number of times he bursts forward to become the spare man in a counter-attack or drifts to find a yard inside the box is actually quite exceptional. While some would label that typical Arsenal naivety, it can be an invaluable tool when used in the right way.

The problem though, is what happens when the ball’s turned over – Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez don’t drop deep to cover him, Granit Xhaka is left to marshal the whole midfield single-handed and the Gunners suddenly find the opposition marauding through the middle of the pitch towards their own goal.

The solutions are simple; either the team is shaped in a way that provides the protection for those ambitious forward runs, deploying Ramsey further forward, or the Welshman is trained to time those moments more accurately. But Ramsey’s potency has been evident since his unforgettable 2013/14 season and in the three years since, albeit disrupted by injury problems, Wenger has done nothing to facilitate or further embellish the defining attribute of his game. Instead, Ramsey plays his own natural game regardless of what position he’s deployed in, no matter how detrimental it may be to the rest of the team.

Of course, no player has the divine right to be a top-class footballer; it’s about so much more than god-given ability. But if a manager had moulded Ramsey to become one thing or the other – a supporting striker, an attacking midfielder, an offensive box-to-box – there’s every chance he would be revered as one of the best in the business right now rather than simply one of the best of the rest.

His performances for Wales are evidence enough; placed in a disciplined role in a disciplined team, and the fits and spurts of pure quality still stand out amid all the hard work. At Arsenal, he just isn’t given that same direction and the tactical naivety of his game is as evident as the attacking verve he offers.

The buck must stop with Wenger, not just because he’s overseen the vast majority of Ramsey’s development. Indeed, in recent years there have been abundance of Arsenal players not quite reaching their full potential who don’t quite belong to one position or role.

Theo Walcott still isn’t a relentlessly quick winger or a free-scoring poacher; Jack Wilshere isn’t quite a No.10, a box-to-box or a deep-lying playmaker; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is a winger modified into a wing-back who wants to play central midfield; even Calum Chambers finds himself somewhere between a right-back and a centre-half, while picking up game-time in neither.

There’s nothing wrong with versatility if you’re genuinely effective in more than one position. But do any of the aforementioned players truly have a full, in-depth understanding of any of the above roles? Have any of their games been natural modified and geared towards them? On the most part, it’s players playing their own games, just in slightly different positions depending on where they’re named on the team-sheet. Some top-class footballers do get that licence, but Arsenal surely haven’t produced so many that half the team can be selected in one position or the other, allowed to dictate terms of their own roles.

Of course, Wenger has always been one to enrich natural creative and technical qualities rather than tie players down with tactical theory, discipline and responsibilities. But there must be a balance and in many ways, Ramsey highlights the failings of the development at Arsenal over the last decade. Some great young prospects have emerged, but few have learned to use those their talent to become a functioning part of the team.

As a No.10 or central midfielder, Ramsey could be one of the very best. But now verging upon his peak, it already feels too late for Ramsey to truly mould into either.

Aleksandar Mitrovic has admitted that he is frustrated with his lack of action at Newcastle United in the opening months of the 2017-18 campaign.

What’s the story?

Newcastle have struggled for goals this season, with Joselu and Dwight Gayle managing just three Premier League goals between them.

Mitrovic has actually scored twice in four appearances for the Magpies during the 2017-18 campaign, but he has only played 49 minutes of Premier League football.

It appears that Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez does not trust the 23-year-old, which has led to a host of speculation surrounding the forward’s future.

Chronicle Live have quoted Mitrovic as saying that his patience ‘is almost to the end’, and whilst he wants to remain at the Premier League club, a lack of first-team action could force his hand in the January transfer window.

Since last June, Mitrovic has managed nine goals in 13 appearances for Serbia, but he cannot buy a Premier League start for his club.

How many clubs are interested?

Brighton & Hove Albion and Southampton have both been credited with an interest in the striker, whilst a host of Championship clubs are said to be in the hunt.

Mitrovic’s agent has also reportedly been contacted by a number of Chinese Super League clubs, who would be prepared to pay him a healthy salary to move to China.

One thing is for sure, there would not be a shortage of interest in the striker if Newcastle made him available for purchase at the start of 2018.

Mitrovic, who is valued at £9m by transfermarkt.co.uk, actually scored nine Premier League goals during the 2015-16 season, but he netted just four times in the Championship last term, and has a difficult relationship with head coach Benitez.

The striker has now revealed his frustration at Newcastle, and it seems likely that he will seek pastures new in the winter window.

Celtic are heading into the UEFA Europa League knockout stages with a point still to prove. After a group stage campaign in the Champions League that had more low points than highlights, questions marks still surround Brendan Rodgers’ side’s ability to compete with teams on the continent, despite securing European football in the new year.

Their final group stage match against Anderlecht last week was seen as a failure in the eyes of supporters and while it ultimately meant little in the context of their group, it was a credibility blow to the idea that the Hoops are learning the lessons they need to, to progress in Europe.

It’s unfair to single out a particular player for the team’s failings at European level but it’s clear that one area of the Celtic team is weaker than the rest and that’s their defence. Unless Brendan Rodgers fixes that with reinforcements in January or just good old-fashioned coaching, then their woes will likely continue at a level higher than the Scottish Premiership.

Obvious problems with deeper issues

Blaming the Celtic defence for their woes has been a cliché for years and while their actual defending of the Hoops box is well under-par, the team conceded more goals in the group stage of this year’s Champions League than any other, the issues at the heart of the defensive line go beyond traditional contributions.

The issue in the worst matches so far this season has been the team’s inability to build possession out from the back or show confidence on the ball to make that initial break into midfield where talented stars can push into the opposition’s third. That was most certainly apparent against Anderlecht last week, Celtic’s dress rehearsal for the Europa League.

Looking at Celtic’s official UEFA passing statistics for that match with a glance shows a defence able to find their teammates more often than not, the back four collectively averaged an 89% pass completion rate after all. However, looking at where those passes were distributed highlights exactly what Celtic are failing to do in matches they falter.

Nearly two thirds of Dedryck Boyata’s passes for example were between himself and Craig Gordon, Jozo Simunovic and Kieran Tierney. He only found the likes of Scott Brown a handful of times. While part of that problem is undoubtedly the Celtic midfield’s, who failed to take much responsibility at all, it demonstrates that the Hoops failed to play the way Rodgers wants them to.

Getting caught in nervous passing triangles is something that simply invites pressure onto a team that, on their night, are so capable when moving the ball around.

Underscoring this hesitant distribution were mistakes, with Boyata giving away possession cheaply a number of times, that could have easily have been punished against better opponents.

Massive opportunities

The truth is though that the Europa League is still a tantalising prospect for Celtic and their supporters. It’s a tournament of great potential and massive opportunities. The Hoops can make their mark on the competition if Rodgers manages to fix the issues over the next couple of months that have plagued their European season so far.

Whether that’s ensuring more technically proficient defenders make up the back four, changing his tactics to ensure the players are playing to their strengths or is about simply instilling more belief and confidence into his current group, the Hoops boss surely knows himself that changes must be made.

He has earned the right for patience and the breathing room to get on with the task without too many questions being asked, but it’s time to show Celtic supporters that solutions can be found.

Can the Celtic boss bring his domestic dominance into a grander arena? It’s a question we are no closer to answering after two seasons of Champions League football, but perhaps Europe’s secondary competition can provide them.

Southampton suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Leicester City and former manager Claude Puel at St Mary’s on Wednesday night, and Saints fans weren’t impressed with captain Steven Davis’ performance.

The Northern Ireland international returned to the starting XI having been named on the substitutes’ bench for the 1-1 draw against Arsenal on Sunday, but he struggled in possession and wasn’t able to find many forward passes as the south coast outfit found themselves 3-0 down at the break.

Things didn’t really improve for the skipper – who has become a fans’ favourite since joining the club five years ago – after half-time either, but the 32-year-old still played the full 90 minutes on a bitterly disappointing night for Mauricio Pellegrino and his side.

Southampton supporters were quick to have their say on his display via social media, and while one said it’s the “worst I’ve seen Davis play”, another said “he does my head in”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

The Wolverhampton Wanderers fans in the Transfer Tavern have been pleased by their club’s activity in the transfer market so far this summer, and recent reports suggest they will add yet another talented player to their ranks very shortly. 

The Breakdown

According to the highly-respected Wolves journalist Tim Nash (via City Watch) Wolves have agreed a £16 million deal for Man City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko following a bright season for the 21-year-old.

The report also claims that the Ukraine international now has a decision to make on his future with 1 other Premier League club also expressing an interest in his signature, although the identity of the club has not been confirmed.

Whether or not Wolves will be successful in their pursuit remains to be seen, but if they do ultimately bring him to Molineux they will be set to welcome a versatile technician with plenty of potential to develop in the future.

Zinchenko is an attacking midfielder by trade, but Guardiola regularly deployed him at left-back last season during home fixtures, but he was comparably reluctant to play him away from home due to his lack of defensive experience.

Where Nuno Espirito Santo sees Zinchenko fitting into his first-team remains unclear, but regardless of his plans he should also raid Man City once again for a youth player who looks destined to depart the club in the future, namely Tosin Adarabioyo.

There’s absolutely no doubt that the 20-year-old England youth international has a bright future in the Premier League on the evidence of a handful of cameo appearances he has made for the club so far.

However, with intense competition for places at Manchester City restricting his progress, a move away from the Etihad would certainly be in his best interests this summer.

What is most striking about Adarabioyo’s style is his desire to play aesthetically appealing football and distribute effectively from defence; kicking the ball long is always a last resort and his composure in possession ensures that he is able to make sensible decisions in pressurised situations.

Aside from his quality in possession, Adarabioyo is an intelligent reader of the game, strong in the tackle and commanding in the air. With extra focus on strength training in the gym Adarabioyo looks set to become a solid central defender at the top level, so Santo should at least be exploring the possibility of completing a double raid on Man City by bringing him to Molineux this summer.

Wolves fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

According to a report from The Sun, interest is mounting in Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster given he has yet to pen a contract with the Reds. The 18-year-old has been making a name for himself at youth level in the last few years to suggest that he has got a huge future in the game, hence the likes of Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly seeking to take advantage of his uncertain contract situation. 

And while Reds fans up and down the country have been excited by the deal to bring Naby Keita to Anfield this summer, securing an agreement with one of England’s brightest sparks in Brewster is just as important to Liverpool as that particular deal.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, it looked for all the world that 18-year-old Brewster would pen a new deal with the Reds back in June, with reports suggesting that the forward had agreed a contract with the Merseyside giants.

But he has yet to officially put pen to paper to keep his future far from certain, hence the interest from European heavyweights Juventus and PSG is something that must be of concern to manager Jurgen Klopp.

And that’s because Brewster is comfortably one of the most talented youngsters in the country having helped England win the Under-17 World Cup last summer, winning the Golden Boot award after netting eight goals for the Three Lions.

And with five goals and seven assists for Liverpool’s development squad in Premier League 2 last season, alongside one strike in their UEFA Youth League campaign under Steven Gerrard for the Under-19s, it’s clear that Brewster is slowly but surely edging his way closer towards first team football.

And given his enormous talent and undoubted potential, Liverpool have to do all they can to retain the 18-year-old, as letting him go this early in his development could turn out to be a cataclysmic move given just how good Brewster can become.

Yes, Keita’s addition to the Reds squad is an exciting one and one that will surely serve to help Klopp’s side in their quest for trophies next season, but with the Liverpool boss clearly readying things for an even brighter future at Anfield, retaining one of the best young players at the club is just as important this summer.

Liverpool fans… what do you think? Let us know!

According to the Daily Star, new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has made midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko available for transfer ahead of the 2018-19 campaign.

Bakayoko only joined Chelsea from Monaco last summer, but the Frenchman found it difficult to make his mark in the Premier League last term.

The 23-year-old made 43 appearances for the Blues in all competitions, but struggled for consistency, and failed to make the France squad for the 2018 World Cup.

West Ham United have already been incredibly busy in this summer’s transfer window, but it is understood that there is still money to spend.

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And the club’s fans have been discussing a swoop for the Chelsea midfielder this summer.

Jack Wilshere has arrived to boost West Ham’s midfield options, but Pedro Obiang is being linked with a move away, and it is worth remembering that Bakayoko was very impressive during his time at Monaco.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the West Ham fans can be seen below:

Gary Cahill is one of the last remaining remnants of the old Chelsea, and the Evening Standard report that a combination of low gametime last season and the impending arrival of Daniele Rugani have left the England international on the verge of the Stamford Bridge exit door.

The former Aston Villa man went from undroppable in 2016/17 to reserve within less than a season and with Maurizio Sarri likely to move from three at the back to four, opportunities could be even more limited this season.

Just as John Terry moved to the Midlands for one last hurrah when it became clear that he was surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge, Cahill may be tempted to do the same and big-spending Wolves certainly have the funds to bring him to Molineux.

So, we asked Old Gold fans whether they would like to see the Englishman slot in alongside captain Conor Coady and colossus Willy Boly in the back three, and it’s clear that they would be keen on a move.

76 per cent of them would like to see the Champions League winner pitch up at Molineux next season, as you can see from the full poll results below…

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