Tag Futebol

Liverpool are admirers of a marquee new defender, but they aren’t the only club who like him in the Premier League, according to a new report that has emerged.

Liverpool facing depth crisis at centre-back

The Reds have Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah and Joel Matip as their natural centre-back’s in the building as it stands, but the club have recently suffered a huge blow regarding the fitness of the latter. Last week, Matip was confirmed to have sustained a serious ACL injury, which means that he has been ruled out for the remainder of the season, so with Jurgen Klopp losing his stalwart and Quansah still so young, FSG should be eyeing replacements during the upcoming transfer window.

Barcelona‘s Ronald Araujo has been highlighted as a potential candidate, with the 24-year-old having worked his way up through his club’s youth ranks to become a regular feature of their first-team, making 127 senior appearances in total to date (Transfermarkt – Araujo statistics).

Liverpool are watching Barca star Araujo

According to 90min, Liverpool are interested in Araujo, but they are likely to find it difficult to prise him away from Barcelona and the Camp Nou in the coming weeks.

“Bayern Munich are interested in signing Uruguay centre-back Ronald Araujo, who would like to stay at Barcelona but has doubts over his place in the side in the long-term, sources have confirmed to 90min. Several clubs are keeping an eye on Araujo amid this uncertainty. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle United are all fans of his, but it is not expected that Barcelona will sanction an exit anytime soon.”

In La Liga this season, Araujo has provided a real physical presence at the heart of Barcelona’s backline. He’s currently averaging 2.5 aerial wins and 1.6 clearances per game, highlighting the impact he can make both on and off the ground (WhoScored – Araujo statistics).

Standing at 6 foot 2, Rivera’s native also has the versatility to operate at left-back, right-back and higher up as a defensive midfielder alongside his usual role at centre-back, so he would be a great player to bring into the building considering the cover that he could provide in various other positions outside of his own. He would even offer Klopp the chance to switch to three at the back if required, although that is not a system we have seen the German coach utilise often.

Centre-Back

177

Right-Back

20

Defensive Midfield

4

Left-Back

1

According to football talent scout Jacek Kulig, Araujo even gives off “prime Van Dijk vibes”, referring to the season in which the Dutchman landed second on the Ballon d'Or podium, and with the winning mentality and leadership that he will possess having won three pieces of silverware since the start of his career, this is a no-brainer of a deal to complete if the opportunity were to present itself in the coming weeks.

Mumbai received a boost with the return of pacers Shardul Thakur and Tushar Deshpande for their crucial clash against Vidarbha, and Puducherry’s home match against Manipur was shifted to Anantpur

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2018

Manish Pandey built an important stand with Dinesh Karthik•AFP

Left out of India’s limited-overs squad for the series in Australia and New Zealand, Manish Pandey has been handed the Karnataka captaincy across formats.ESPNcricinfo understands that Pandey’s availability for the next two months was central to the KSCA’s decision of a leadership change, one “taken with outgoing captain R Vinay Kumar’s consent.”Pandey had already taken over the limited-overs captaincy from Vinay halfway through their Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign.”Looking at the future, we wanted to start grooming another captain and Manish was the best choice,” KSCA secretary R Sudhakar Rao said. “We consulted Vinay as well and given his commitment to the sport and the the team, he was willing to play under anyone. We have a good leadership group and it augers well for the team.”Vinay, a domestic veteran with over 400 first-class wickets, took over full-time captaincy from Robin Uthappa during the 2012-13 season. He went on to lead Karnataka to back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles for the next two seasons, apart from sweeping the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Irani Cup.Vinay will continue playing all formats, although his workload is set to be monitored. He missed the previous game against Railways because of a sore knee, which meant he had to pull out late.Vinay confirmed being consulted about the captaincy change. “I was part of this selection process,” Vinay told . “I knew I had to gradually hand over my captaincy to someone suitable. Manish is a good friend and I will keep giving my inputs. He is a wonderful guy and will lead the team very well.”Mumbai receive Thakur, Deshpande boostMumbai have received a shot in the arm ahead of their crucial Ranji Trophy clash against defending champions Vidarbha in Nagpur, with quicks Shardul Thakur and Tushar Deshpande returning to the fold. Both were nursing hamstring injuries, Thakur having broken down on Test debut against West Indies and Despande in the first innings of the Gujarat clash last month. While Thakur has not played a single match this season, Deshpande missed the previous three against Maharashtra, Baroda and Saurashtra.With Mumbai requiring nothing less than an outright win to stay in contention for the knockouts – although other results would be just as important – 20 wickets will be paramount, something they have managed only managed once in six matches this season. Still, the selectors erred on the side of caution in the case of captain Dhawal Kulkarni, who has been left out despite having made a full recovery from the ankle injury he had sustained in the match against Gujarat. The rationale behind Dhawal’s exclusion, according to chief selector Ajit Agarkar, was that it would have been a “risk” to field three bowlers returning from injury in the XI.”It would be tough to risk three bowlers coming back from injury in the XI, so unfortunately Dhawal misses out this match,” Agarkar told on Thursday. Curiously, Dhawal was picked in the squad for Mumbai’s previous match against Saurashtra, but he pulled out two days prior to the encounter, citing match-fitness as a concern.Puducherry shift home to AnatpurPuducherry’s home match against Manipur on December 30 has been shifted to a neutral venue in Anatpur. The BCCI took the decision following the abandonment of the Puducherry-Uttarakhand fixture at the CAP Siechem Ground in Puducherry due to the inconsistent nature of the pitches there. The Puducherry-Uttarakhand encounter was first affected by rain, with play getting underway only on day three, but 8.2 overs into Uttarakhand ‘s innings, the umpires took the players off the field after the openers Vineet Saxena and Karn Veer Kaushal suffered blows to the body.ALSO READ: Puducherry-Uttarakhand match called off after restartThe original pitch was declared unfit for play and the match restarted on the adjacent surface on day four, this time with Puducherry batting, but fifteen overs into the innings, the match was called off due to the variable bounce on offer. It remains to be seen whether Puducherry’s final match against Nagaland on January 7 is also played at Anantpur. “As of now, the next match will be played in Anantpur. We will take a call about the last game later,” BCCI’s GM, Cricket Operations Saba Karim told .

Raj’s manager had harsh words for Harmanpreet Kaur in unprecedented outburst, calling Raj’s treatment “completely uncalled for”

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2018

ICC/Getty

The Indian women team’s decision to drop their senior-most player Mithali Raj for their semi-final against England on Thursday – a match they lost – has sparked a controversy with Raj’s manager publicly criticising captain Harmanpreet Kaur on various fronts on Twitter. Raj’s manager, Annisha Gupta, called Harmanpreet a “manipulative, lying, immature, undeserving captain” and also said the women’s team believed in “politics not sport”.”Unfortunately @BCCIWomen believes in politics not sport. After witnessing what @M_Raj03 ‘s experience could do in IndvIre it’s shocking that they went with what pleases @ImHarmanpreet -a manipulative, lying, immature, undeserving captain,” Gupta’s tweet read, soon after India were knocked out of the Women’s World T20.In another tweet, she called Harmanpreet a “manipulative, lying, cheat”.On Friday evening, Gupta confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the unverified Twitter account belonged to her and defended her statements, saying that the harsh criticism came “from the right place”. However, her account was deleted a couple of hours after she confirmed that the tweets were by her.*”I’d like to say that I don’t know what is going on on the inside but, now that the matches are being telecast, we can see who is performing and who is not,” Gupta told ESPNcricinfo. “And we can see the kind of treatment that Mithali has received despite her brilliant performance and despite showing stability and consistency. The kind of treatment she has received is completely uncalled for and there is something deeper than we need to look at than just the statements that have been coming out.”There are statements coming out that they wanted to give younger cricketers a chance but you don’t drop your senior-most, most experienced players in a semi-final against a country like England. It goes beyond giving the youngsters a chance.”When asked if she regretted what she wrote earlier on Twitter, Gupta said: “Maybe I was a little angry but I think it comes from the right place because I don’t stand for unfair treatment. The kind of favouritism that has been shown is very apparent. I think everybody can see the kind of favouritism that is being shown to certain members of the team.”India decided to not include Raj in the semi-final of the World T20 even though she had recovered after missing their last league game against Australia because of a knee injury. Before that, Raj had scored back-to-back half-centuries against Ireland and Pakistan in India’s then unbeaten run in the tournament. But against England, India collapsed from 89 for 2 to 112 all out, without their leading T20I scorer and most experienced player.”We were going with a winning combination,” Harmanpreet said after the loss. “We did really well against Australia. And that is the reason we just wanted to go with the same combination.”Raj has been an integral part of the Indian set-up for several years and even scored an unbeaten century – 105 off 61 balls – in a T20 against Australia A at home just before departing for the World T20. Overall, she also has the best average among Indians in women’s T20Is, and has scored 17 half-centuries in 80 innings. The next best is Harmanpreet with six half-centuries and a century in 82 innings. However, Raj is often criticised for her slow batting in the T20 format. Having played 22 of India’s 25 T20Is this year, Raj’s strike rate stands at 105.89, behind seven of her team-mates.Harmanpreet had been appointed captain of the India T20 team two years ago and there have been reports of a tiff between her and Raj, the oldest player in the team, in the Indian dressing room. During a T20I tri-series in Mumbai earlier this year involving England and Australia, Harmanpreet had even urged the team management to find more players who could run around the field the whole day and not just stand in the 30-yard circle.*1645GMT: The story was updated after her account was deleted

Sri Lanka’s profligate use of their reviews came back to haunt them as England edged the first-day honours

Andrew Fidel Fernando23-Nov-2018In general, umpires do not need an excuse to do their job badly in Sri Lanka. Over the last four years, there has been an abundance of botched decisions, over-officiousness, as well as a banning of bands in the stands while the over is in motion, so that the umpires can supposedly hear edges better. Not that stopping the bands has helped them. Replays have demonstrated several out decisions in which the bat has clearly been in a separate administrative district from the ball.In the umpires’ partial defence, they have it especially tough in Sri Lanka. The prevalence of spinners and dustbowls means there are faint nicks, bat/pad chances and lbw opportunities galore. In some games, there are almost more appeals than runs. And, although there have been none at the grounds in this series, it is possible there are wilfully insubordinate bands playing elsewhere on the island, despite being told repeatedly that they confound the umpires’ sensitive hearing, and generally confuse them. I mean, when there is a highly serious Test match being played, is it not time the ICC imposed a nationwide ban on fun?And yet, while it has been well known for some time that umpires are junkies for terrible decisions in Sri Lanka, the nation’s own cricketers have enabled them, routinely burning their two reviews early in the innings.If umpires were shoddy drivers, then Sri Lanka’s cricketers would still hand them the keys to new luxury cars and point them in the direction of the nearest power pylon. If they were known public urinators, Sri Lanka would ply them with gallons of soft drink and follow them around putting fire hydrants in their vicinity.On Friday, for the second consecutive innings, Sri Lanka lost both reviews at an unacceptably early stage of the game. In the second innings at Pallekele, they had waited with relative patience until the start of the 27th over to squander their second review. At the SSC, they were both spent before the end of the 22nd – the first on a prospective caught behind off Jonny Bairstow in the 15th over; the second being an lbw appeal against Joe Root, in which Root’s front pad was shown to be closer to his childhood home in Yorkshire than the line of off stump when it was struck.Party to both terrible review decisions was wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella. With the bat, in limited-overs cricket, Dickwella is the dynamic, hyper-energetic opening batsman, sending the third ball of the match over the wicketkeeper’s head, sweeping and reverse-slapping with abandon, and generally attempting to be the man who Dickscoops his way into a nation’s hearts (the Dickscoop being his particular version of the Dilscoop). But in whites, 24 Tests in, he is yet to step up as a batsman. Worse, he is prone to fits of acute DRS fancy. If there was a Dickwella DRS flowchart, all the arrows would ultimately point to the box that reads: REVIEW IT! At nightclubs, if he hears a song he doesn’t like, you can imagine him racing up to the DJ, making a “T” with his forearms, disbelievingly shaking his head.In a series in which Sri Lanka have had dollops of bad luck, losing their captain to a groin strain, losing all three tosses, and generally being on the receiving end of the umpires’ bumbling, of course the squandered reviews would come back to floor them. Ben Stokes should have been out lbw on zero off the bowling of Dilruwan Perera, but that appeal was wrongly turned down, and Stokes would go on to smack 57 off the next 75 balls, putting up a 99-run stand with Bairstow in the process. Later in the day, Bairstow would himself miss a sweep off Lakshan Sandakan to a ball that would have taken out leg stump, but was ruled not out. In the first two sessions of day one, it seemed it would have been easier to get the umpires to sign over deeds to their houses than get an lbw decision out of them, and Sri Lanka had no recourse to challenge.Towards the end of the day, Sri Lanka’s DRS misadventures were put into sharp relief by England. In between being dropped twice, by Dickwella and Dimuth Karunaratne at slip, Moeen Ali was given out lbw twice, and overturned those calls on both occasions. Unlike Sri Lanka, England had saved their reviews until the umpires’ inevitable mistakes actually came against them.

CSA has confirmed that Chris Gayle will be part of the Mzansi Super League opening weekend

Liam Brickhill02-Nov-2018CSA has confirmed that Chris Gayle will be part of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) opening weekend and will turn out for his team Jozi Stars’ first fixture against Nelson Mandela Bay Giants at the Wanderers on Saturday November 17.Gayle is also due to play for Kerala Kings in the T10 League in Sharjah from November 23 to December 2, but CSA chief executive Thabang Moroe set aside doubts about Gayle’s availability for Jozi Stars’ first round of matches at the MSL, which starts on 16 November and runs until 16 December.”We are excited to have Chris part of this tournament from the start and he is looking forward to linking up with his Jozi Stars team-mates,” Moroe said. “Seeing the ‘World Boss’ back in South Africa and playing cricket – we and the fans could not have asked for anything better than one of the most popular players that have ever played the game.”Gayle, 39, is still an in-demand commodity in T20 leagues around the world, and in October he was part of the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League, where he helped Balkh Legends to the title with a string of fifties. Gayle has also had a previous stint in South African domestic T20 cricket with Lions, for whom he played in the 2014-15 Ram Slam T20 Challenge, topping the team’s run-scoring charts with 257 runs at a strike rate of 141.98 including a century against Warriors.Gayle’s homeground with Jozi Stars will be the 34,000-seater Wanderers in Johannesburg, where he scored the first ever century in the shortest format of the game in the opening match of the World T20 back in 2007. He will join a line-up that also includes Kagiso Rabada, Reeza Hendricks and Beuran Hendricks.

تحدث عمرو صلاح أمين صندوق الاتحاد المصري لكرة اليد، عن أزمة لاعب فريق كرة اليد بنادي طلائع الجيش محمد عدلان المنتقل حديثًا إلى صفوف الأهلي.

النادي الأهلي كان قد أعلن يوم الأربعاء الماضي عن ضم محمد عدلان بشكل رسمي من فريقه طلائع الجيش، إلا أن اللاعب خرج في تصريحات عبر وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي مساء السبت، يوضح فيها رغبته في اللعب إلى نادي الزمالك وليس الأهلي.

طالع التفاصيل | ميدو عن انضمام محمد عدلان إلى الأهلي رغم التوقيع لـ الزمالك: “سنفضح الجميع”

وقال صلاح خلال تصريحات عبر برنامج “الماتش” المذاع على قناة “صدي البلد”: “اتحاد اليد لا يُدار عن طريق السوشيال ميديا، بل عن طريق مخاطبات رسمية من الأندية، نحن كاتحاد لم يصل لنا أي شكوى أو استفسار من أي من الناديين المتنافسين على اللاعب، وبالتالي الموضوع بالنسبة لنا كاتحاد مُثار فقط على السوشيال ميديا”.

وأضاف: “أنا أغلق الموضوع، لأننا لم يصل إلينا أي ورق رسمي أقول من خلاله من صح ومن خطأ”.

وأوضح أمين صندوق اتحاد كرة اليد المصري على سبيل المثال: “إذا كان نادي (أ) يمتلك عقد لاعب، أرسل الاستغناء إلى نادي (ب)، إذا يصبح اللاعب من حق نادي (ب)”.

وبسؤاله ماذا لو اللاعب قال إنه يريد الانتقال لنادي ثالث؟، رد: “في هذه الحالة اللاعب إذا وقع سيتعرض للإيقاف، لكن يتم دراسة الأوراق بشكل عام، وكونه لاعب دولي هذا يُصعب الموقف، لأنه من الممكن الإيقاف يكون لمدة كبيرة تؤثر على مستقبله، فنحن لن نستطيع أن نجزم بشيء إلا بعد الاطلاع على الأوراق”.

وبسؤاله ماذا لو رفض لاعب الانضمام إلى النادي المباع له، قال: “إذا يعود اللاعب إلى ناديه الأصلي، مع تغريمه ماليًا”.

وأتم: “لو لا توجد رغبة من اللاعب في الانتقال لأحد الأندية وناديه أرسل الاستغناء الخاص به، هذه مشكلة النادي الأصلي، إما أن يقيد اللاعب في صفوفه أو يتفاهم معه من أجل الموافقة على الانتقال لناد ثان”.

MatériaMais Notícias

O futebol da Seleção Brasileira não chegou a encher os olhos dos torcedores. No entanto, após uma convocação que foi tumultuada por sete cortes (inclusive de astros como Neymar, Casemiro e Coutinho e jogadores em ascensão como Gabriel Menino), a vitória por 2 a 0 sobre o Uruguai aumentou em Tite a certeza de que consegue moldar uma base de trabalho sólida e capaz de se adaptar a cada desafio até a Copa de 2022.

– Prefiro estabelecer uma relação de conjunto, harmonia e equipe. Claro que um jogador vai evoluir mais, um vai aparecer mais… Espaços que podem aparecer, em um jogo acontece e no outro não acontece… – declarou Tite.

Para suprir a falta de um jogador fora de série como Neymar, o comandante recorreu à transpiração e fortaleceu sua defesa, buscando dar espaço à criação. O meio seguro com Arthur e Everton Ribeiro e a linha de frente composta por Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino e Richarlison evidenciam seu pensamento.

-Tínhamos um problema do lado esquerdo de ataque do Uruguai, direito nosso, uma marcação dobrada deles, então tínhamos que reajustar. O reajuste foi feito trazendo o Everton Ribeiro para onde ele fica mais confortável. É um jogador criativo, pé de pano, com uma qualidade técnica grande, num plano mais atrasado e com jogadores agudos, agressivos, à frente dele. Isso deu evolução à nossa equipe – afirmou.

A engrenagem teve momentos oscilantes no Estádio Centenário (assim como na partida contra a Venezuela, no Morumbi). Por isto, diante do Uruguai, houve a necessidade de Tite mudar Richarlison de função:

– Seríamos mais exigidos defensivamente, mas teríamos mais espaço ofensivo, e precisaríamos demais do Richarlison atento à marcação para ter mais espaço do outro lado…

A Seleção soube fechar os espaços e em raros momentos permitiu chances de perigo da equipe celeste. A aplicação tática culminou em uma vitória que soou mais convincente do que a atuação diante dos venezuelanos.

‘CADA JOGO É UMA HISTÓRIA’

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A Seleção iniciou a partida formando um 4-1-4-1 e, aos poucos, foi se ajustando novamente em um 4-4-2, no qual cabia a Gabriel Jesus e Richarlison formarem a linha de frente.

O “Pombo” destacou como foi o contraste do seu posicionamento diante do Uruguai com o do triunfo sobre a Venezuela, na sexta-feira passada.

– Contra a Venezuela, que é uma equipe bem fechada, tínhamos uma situação na qual precisávamos achar espaço. Aí eu pude jogar mais pela beirada. Não vejo problema sobre onde jogar. O professor está aí para dizer qual é o melhor caminho – garantiu.

O camisa 7 refletiu o espírito de luta que deve se sobressair entre os convocados, ainda mais em um período tão desgastante.

– Estamos preparados para todos os jogos. Nos criticaram por termos feito 1 a 0 na Venezuela, mas vimos o sofrimento que foi furar o bloqueio defensivo deles. Lógico que queríamos marcar mais gols, mas comemoramos muito e continuamos invictos – disse.

Tite também foi categórico ao traçar o panorama das duas partidas.

-A história do jogo de hoje (terça-feira) era diferente da partida contra a Venezuela – e recordou como foi a partida contra a Vinotinto:

-Contra a Venezuela não precisávamos de um volante, mas de um meia, por isso entrou o Paquetá. Hoje (contra o Uruguai), o Douglas foi decisivo – completou.

Passados os jogos de 2020 das Eliminatórias da Copa do Mundo, Tite tem o desafio de fazer a Seleção Brasileira voltar, enfim, a brilhar.

Tottenham Hotspur could make a "concrete" move to sign an "unreal" midfielder to replace Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

What's the latest Spurs transfer news?

Spurs have enjoyed an absolutely brilliant start to this 2023/2024 Premier League season, but potential injuries to star players could well hamper their form given Ange Postecoglou's lack of squad depth. The likes of Manor Solomon, Ivan Perisic and Brennan Johnson are already on the treatment table at Tottenham, but if the likes of James Maddison, Son Heung-min son or Micky van de Ven were to join them, it would spell disaster.

As a result, it has been reported that the north Londoners are targeting a second central defensive signing in the January transfer window as cover for both van de Ven and Cristian Romero. An array of names have been linked, including the likes of Galatasaray defender Victor Nelsson, Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly, Juventus star Gleison Bremer and Bayer Leverkusen's Edmond Tapsoba most recently.

Tottenham sealed seven major signings in the summer window, but they've been tipped to be busy again this winter. The Lilywhites may also sign a new midfield ace, and one who can provide more attacking flair, if the sporadically-used Hojbjerg leaves in 2024.

Who could Tottenham sign in January?

Once a mainstay under Conte, the Denmark international now finds himself on the periphery of Postecoglou's first team, with the majority of his appearances this season coming from the substitute's bench. Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr are favoured as Tottenham's dual midfield pivot; limiting Hojbjerg's involvement.

There have been rumours that the former Southampton star even feels "betrayed" by Spurs over his sparse game time, prompting interest from Serie A giants Juventus, who are apparently eager to take advantage and swoop for the 28-year-old. Journalist Rudy Galetti, sharing an update for Tribal Football, has an update on the situation and who Spurs could replace Hojbjerg with.

According to the transfer reporter, Tottenham could make a "concrete move" for Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher, and he says to "keep an eye" on that potential development.

Tottenham Hotspur's summer signings	Fee
James Maddison	£40m
Guglielmo Vicario	£17.2m
Manor Solomon	Free
Brennan Johnson	£47.5m
Alejo Veliz	£13m
Ashley Phillips	£2m
Micky van de Ven	£43m

"Conor – as is well known – attracted the attention of many Premier League teams and continues to do so," wrote Galletti. "For this reason, let's keep an eye on Tottenham, already in January: Spurs could make a concrete move following the possible farewell of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg."

How good is Conor Gallagher?

The 23-year-old has become a mainstay under Mauricio Pochettino this season; starting all seven of Chelsea's league games while ranking as their best-performing regular per 90 (with more than one start), according to WhoScored. Gallagher, it would seem, is justifying Lee Bowyer's past praise.

"He's a good player," Bowyer told talkSPORT. "Whatever you tell him he does and I just keep encouraging him to get in the box, and things are falling for him at the moment. His willingness and work rate are unreal."

There was so much positivity regarding Manchester United heading into the new season.

Erik ten Hag’s feet were now firmly under the desk having guided the Red Devils back into the Champions League and won a trophy in his first season.

This was, therefore, meant to be a campaign that extended on those good vibes, but seven games in and United are staring down the barrel of their worst start to a season in 34 years.

Ten Hag is searching for an answer, yet that aforementioned desk is no longer very organised.

It’s covered in coffee stains, filled with scrunched-up bits of paper and torn-up post-it notes. His best-laid plans and blueprints are out the window and his side resembles a sinking ship.

The Dutchman may well have navigated back-to-back wins over Burnley and then Crystal Palace in the cup in midweek, but their troublesome form prior to those wins reared its ugly head on Saturday afternoon.

A consecutive game with Palace was on the menu, but it did not taste so sweet this time. Rather, Ten Hag and his side were left with a bitter taste in the mouth following Joachim Andersen’s scorching effort that ensured the Eagles left the north west with a 1-0 victory.

The finger of blame could be pointed at many things. Defensive injuries haven’t helped, neither have off-field issues.

Marcus Rashford can’t seem to find his form of last term and Rasmus Hojlund, as energetic and exciting as he has been, is still adjusting to English football.

The former is one man they should be able to count on more often, but the fact of the matter is that United are being let down by their senior players. Case in point; Casemiro.

How is Casemiro playing this season?

Last term it looked as though the Red Devils could not cope when the Brazilian was missing from the side.

Indeed, as of April 2023, Ten Hag’s squad had lost four of the eight games Casemiro was absent from.

When he played, they had only lost three of 19 fixtures. The issue, therefore, was trying to find someone to fill his boots.

A calming influence who could also pack a punch in the middle of the park, United need their £350k-per-week man to rediscover the form that saw him named as the best holding midfielder in the world, according to Fifpro.

The former Real Madrid star stood out against Roy Hodgson’s side only a few days ago, scoring and laying on an assist.

In fact, Casemiro has been a fantastic asset offensively throughout the embryonic stages of 2023/24.

He bagged twice against Bayern Munich in Europe and even found the net against Nottingham Forest. Clearly, there is little to scrutiny when analysing how well the 31-year-old is playing when he gets forward.

However, the abilities that saw him celebrated as one of the best defensive midfielders on the planet are missing.

Last term, Casemiro prevailed in a whopping 81.4% of his duels. His regression this season has been remarkable, winning just 28.1%.

That speaks volumes of a player who simply isn’t offering United enough in the areas they really need.

One United content producer, Casey Evans, perhaps put it best, saying on social media: “It’s hilarious how Casemiro is our only goal threat but he’s also a massive liability doing what should actually be his job on the pitch.”

How did Casemiro play against Palace?

After starring against the Londoners in midweek, he truly let his manager down on this occasion, squandering possession and failing to break up the play adequately.

He was given a horrendous 4/10 player rating by the MEN’s Samuel Luckhurst, who reserved some particularly damning words:

‘Booked early on in the game and seemed to play within himself against a team he was sent off against last season. Played some inexplicable passes.’

That inexplicable and wasteful nature was best summed up by Casemiro’s 18 concessions of the ball.

For a player of his quality and stardom that is a remarkable number. For context, on average this season he is losing the ball 13.3 times per game.

Compare that with his peers across the top-flight and it makes for grim reading. Declan Rice has lost the ball just 6.3 times per match, Rodri 7.7 occasions and Yves Bissouma slightly higher at 11.9.

They have done the dirt work fantastically well this season and it will come as no surprise to see their sides leading the way in the Premier League this season.

When it comes to ball recovery, both Bissouma (6.7 per game) and Rodri (7.5) better Casemiro too, who makes six per match on average.

In that area, he still evidently thrives but in the main, his defensive play this season has left plenty to be desired. He may have made four successful tackles and won seven ground duels at Old Trafford this weekend but he also gave away four fouls.

You may well suggest with such a desire to contest in physical battles, the law of averages dictates you’ll give away plenty of fouls. Yet, last season, he only gave away 1.7 per match. Clearly, something is going wrong for Casemiro this season.

It may well be the overall chaos at the football club right now, but either way, Ten Hag needs his defensive midfielder to do more of what he’s really been signed for. After all, when on song as he was in 2022/23, United are a great deal harder to beat.

There has been a "new" update on West Ham United star Jarrod Bowen and a proposed contract extension at the London Stadium.

Latest West Ham news

David Moyes and his Hammers side have started the new Premier League campaign in fine fashion overall; sealing impressive wins over big-spending Chelsea, high-flying Brighton and newly-promoted Luton Town.

Building upon their Europa Conference League triumph last season, some of West Ham's summer arrivals have quickly taken to life in east London.

Midfielders Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse perform as if they've been at the club for years, while Ghana star Mohammed Kudus arrives with an exciting reputation.

West Ham recorded their first defeat of the season on Saturday as European champions Man City clinched a 3-1 win courtesy of goals from Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland.

However, given they're arguably the best side on the continent right now, supporters can forgive Moyes' side and look forward to their next league game away to Liverpool.

Jarrod Bowen new contract

One of West Ham's star players has been England winger Bowen, who has racked up three goals and one assist in just five league appearances so far.

The 26-year-old struggled in parts last campaign but has since returned to form; dazzling as one of West Ham's main attacking outlets alongside Ward-Prowse, Lucas Paqueta and Michail Antonio.

Antonio has reportedly already signed a new deal at West Ham, and the Irons are apparently really pushing to tie down Bowen on top of him.

That is according to Irons reporter Toby Cudworth, who writes on X and in a co-wrote article for 90min that a fresh terms are on the cards for Bowen.

West Ham are apparently confident they can get him to sign and remain "hopeful" of him putting pen to paper as "negotiations continue".

"NEW: West Ham hopeful Jarrod Bowen will sign contract extension as negotiations continue," wrote Cudworth on X.

"Current deal runs out in the summer of 2025, incredibly he has only missed 2 PL games since joining in January 2020."

For 90min, Cudworth writes with fellow reporter Graeme Bailey that West Ham are working hard to seal a new and improved deal for Bowen.

How good is Jarrod Bowen?

The former Hull City star has been a revelation since joining West Ham in January 2020.

Over his 163 appearances in all competitions, Bowen has 43 goals and 32 assists to his name, with Sky pundit Paul Merson also branding him "outstanding" and "underrated".

“Jarrod Bowen is someone who got recognition on the grandest stage recently as he made his England debut, but I still believe he’s underrated,” Merson said to Sports Keeda last summer.

“He’s an outstanding player and has gone from strength to strength since swapping Hull City for West Ham – I can’t believe it took so much time for Gareth Southgate to call him up.

“When West Ham have a big game coming up, he’s a player – along with Declan Rice – who gets rested and that just shows how much he’s grown in stature. Come to think of it, he reminds me of a forward version of James Milner – reliable, honest and works his socks off for the team."