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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…

Things are currently far from being rosy in the Catalan capital.

Even though Barcelona returned to their winning ways last week with a pair of victories over Villarreal and Getafe, their problems seem far from fixed.

At the moment, the atmosphere within the Blaugrana squad is still gloomy as some players are starting to lose trust in Ernesto Valverde and the upper hierarchy of the club will have to keep the team from falling apart.

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One of their still fresh solutions, however, seems to have been a failure as well.

Recently, Barcelona contacted their icon, Carles Puyol, in an attempt to lure him back as their new sporting director. And just the other day, they have received their answer – a resounding no.

Puyol, now aged 41, is a true legend of the Blaugrana, having risen from La Masia and playing a total of 594 games donning the shirt of the Catalan giant. He retired from professional football in the summer of 2014.

Needless to say, the Spaniard loves Barcelona and everything they represent and yet, he decided to decline their offer to return to the club of his youth.

Of course, the 41-year-old made an official statement on his Twitter account to explain his decision and claimed he turned it down due to having other personal projects on his hands.

While that does seem like a reasonable explanation, it’s still really difficult to digest entirely.

Puyol even mentions how he desires to return to Barcelona and yet decided to pass on the opportunity when it was presented to him.

With the state the club is currently in – their form, hierarchy and with Valverde at the helm – could it be that Puyol simply doesn’t trust the process and the current direction his beloved team is heading towards?

If we can take anything away from his statement then it’s the fact the former defender hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a big return in the future.

Is he just waiting for the situation to change just a tiny bit? It really wouldn’t be a stretch to consider that option.

And if that’s really his true reason, even though he would never admit it publicly, then this just might have been a big message to the current board and one that should sound all the alarms around the Camp Nou.

We’ll have to wait and see how it actually affects the club moving forward.

Gareth Southgate has moved to quash reports linking him with succeeding Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, and fans have been reacting in a similar fashion to his comments.

Pochettino is under mounting pressure following a week in which his side lost twice and conceded ten goals, leaving them without an away league win since the 20th of January and taking only 22 points from their last 20 Premier League games.

As a result, it may not be a surprise to see speculation regarding a potential successor, but Southgate’s name being touted isn’t one that appeals to the fanbase.

That is a little surprising given how successful and popular Southgate has been as England manager, taking the Three Lions to the semi-finals of both of the World Cup and the UEFA Nations League.

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However, Southgate has played down the rumours linking him to Spurs.

“I’m England manager, it is a massive privilege. We think the team can continue to improve, and until I am told otherwise, 2022 is my contract.”

– Southgate on Tottenham rumours

Supporter opposition could be born out of the fact he has previously underwhelmed as Middlesbrough manager, and indeed one fan has referred to him as a national team manager rather than club, with another making it clear that he would prefer Jose Mourinho to come in.

Here is some of the reaction from Spurs fans to the latest development on Southgate…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Former England striker Alan Shearer has admitted he “fully” expects Gareth Southgate to make changes to his side to face Bulgaria on Monday, and claims that questions can be asked over his inclusion of Jordan Pickford and Michael Keane in the team that was beaten by the Czech Republic.

What’s he said?

Keane and Pickford retained their starting roles in Southgate’s plans to face the Czechs last week, despite the pair struggling for form with Everton and the defender making a high-profile blunder in his last Three Lions outing.

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Against Kosovo, the 26-year-old centre-half left his club teammate exposed by an errant back pass.

Everton have recorded just one win across all competitions since the pair returned to Goodison Park in September, amid a run of five games that has seen the Toffees concede nine goals and fall inside the bottom three of the Premier League standings.

Shearer has pointed to the club’s slack results of late as something that should have seen Keane and Pickford strive to regain their form, but could instead see their places in the England fold under threat.

Writing in his column for The Sun, the Newcastle United icon said:

“You could make a case for Friday’s team being a surprise, as four of the back five are going through a tough spell. Jordan Pickford and Michael Keane with Everton, Harry Maguire with Manchester United and Danny Rose with Tottenham.

“You look at their form and their club results, and they weren’t exactly bouncing going into the international break. Perhaps you would like to think they could go in fresh, and look at it as an opportunity, but clearly they didn’t do that.

“I fully expect changes at the back and maybe even in the formation.”

Southgate gambled on experience over potential

For his squad to face the Czech Republic last Friday, Southgate took the gamble of relying on experience over potential by naming Keane and Pickford in the starting line-up despite their ailing efforts for Everton, all the while Fikayo Tomori thrives with Chelsea.

Ever wondered how modern day skills would cope with the world’s oldest football? Find out in the video below…

Frank Lampard has trusted Tomori to start Chelsea’s last five league fixtures, and the 21-year-old’s average of three successful tackles, 2.8 interceptions, 1.4 clearances and 1.6 successful aerial duels per ninety minutes, per WhoScored data, helped him earn a maiden senior England call-up.

It is expected that Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings will be the defender Southgate turns to against Bulgaria if he is to make changes in defence, though, with the defensive ace reportedly in line for his England debut in place of Keane.

The latter should not be surprised in the slightest to see that it is his name scrubbed from the teamsheet, and Everton will be hoping he responds positively for them in the way Shearer had hoped he would respond for England.

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…

Having been linked with a big-money move away from Crystal Palace once again this summer, Wilfried Zaha ended up remaining at Selhurst Park with his tail tucked between his legs. The Ivory Coast international has long been the Eagles’ shining light in recent seasons, and has played a key role in helping them avoid relegation on numerous occasions.

Last season alone, the 26-year-old recorded the footballing equivalent of a ‘double-double’, with ten goals and ten assists in 36 appearances across all competitions. This year however, has been rather indifferent. Whether it’s the forward’s failure to secure his ‘dream’ move to Arsenal, or simply being given a new role (he has played six times on the right-wing compared to just two outings there all last season), something isn’t quite right with Zaha.

The indoor football skills in the video below have to be seen to be believed…

The Eagles star has registered no goals and just one assist in nine matches this season – and that’s bizarrely exactly why Man City must be fearful when they face Roy Hodgson’s men on Saturday afternoon. The Citizens suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to Wolves, and they were completely destroyed at the end of the game by sprint king Adama Traore – a wide-man whose combination of pace and trickery is similar to what Zaha has to offer.

Whilst Pep Guardiola may feel Zaha’s rough patch of form means he isn’t a player for City to be overly concerned about, the writing is on the wall if the Spanish boss approaches the game in that fashion. Make no mistake about it, the Ivorian’s style of play means he is likely to explode in scintillating fashion at any time. A team having to play Fernandinho at centre-back due to an injury crisis, is exactly the kind of opposition the Palace man will fancy his chances of breaking his goal-scoring duck against.

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Despite his lack of goal contributions, the under-lying numbers prove why the Manchester side can’t simply twiddle their thumbs. Zaha has averaged 1.8 shots per game (only 0.3 less than last year) and 4.8 dribbles per game (a staggering 1.4 more than the previous campaign) – they are the sort of figures that essentially indicate his goals and assists drought is more than likely to end soon.

So whilst zero goals and just one assist may suggest Zaha is in a terrible run of form, Guardiola and City simply cannot under-estimate the potential damage he could inflict if they’re lulled into a false sense of security.

Troy Parrott has proved why Tottenham Hotspur fans won’t want him to go anywhere in the near future.Football website 90min.com released an exclusive on Monday claiming that Bundesliga big boys Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, the latter of whom is where England star Jadon Sancho is currently cutting his teeth, are both preparing to raid Spurs of striking gem Parrott.Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The 17-year-old was in fine form for Tottenham’s U18 side last season, bagging 14 goals in nine appearances before being promoted to the U23 squad where he currently resides.

Mauricio Pochettino also gifted the forward his first opportunity in the senior squad to face Colchester United in the League Cup earlier this season, though the game ended in disaster with Spurs falling on penalties.

Back with Tottenham youth squad, Parrott netted an impressive four goals as Spurs decimated Red Star in the UEFA Youth League…

A shining light during a period of misery and despair.

Liverpool fans are unhappy with manager Jurgen Klopp’s verdict on the midfield three that played against Genk, after he said that he felt like Fabinho was the only midfielder at times.

Despite beating the Belgian champions 4-1 at the Luminus Arena in the Champions League on Wednesday, the boss found some faults with his side’s performance.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a brace and contributions from Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah rounded off the scoring tally in Belgium, putting the Reds second in Group E behind leaders Napoli.

Fabinho was partnered alongside the former Arsenal midfielder and Naby Keita in the trio. Despite the attacking prowess in the middle of the park, Klopp was not satisfied with their performances.

Supporters were quick to criticise his analysis of the formation and made their feelings clear on social media.

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One fan said that he was having to defend his decision to drop Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain, and highlighted the two sets of midfielders against Manchester United and Genk respectively.

Here you will find some of the best responses from Liverpool fans:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Monthly Review series, which analyses what managers can learn from the previous month and what the coming month could have in store.

October is almost behind us and Real Madrid are still far from their absolute best. With that being said, Zinedine Zidane will have two major issues to iron out come next month: consistency and Eden Hazard’s form.

Consistency is key

Even though we have seen Real Madrid flying high and, rather paradoxically, hitting the gutters this season, one thing that has been present throughout the start of the ongoing 2019/20 campaign is the lack of consistency in their team.

So far, it has been either really good or really bad and Los Blancos have been unable to string multiple wins together and find their rhythm.

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For that reason, the fact that they’ve only managed to win two games in a row on one occasion this season – when they followed up their victory over Sevilla with a triumph over Osasuna – doesn’t really come as a surprise.

In fact, the last time they won three games in a row was in March when Santiago Solari was still in charge of the team. Shortly after that, he got sacked but Real Madrid’s problems persisted.

It will be up to Zidane to change that in the coming month if he wants to be a real contender for the title.

Hazard’s emergence

This one is closely connected to the previous issue – you can’t win games and be consistent without scoring goals, can you?

And even though they have scored 16 goals this season already, much of that has been thanks to one man only – Karim Benzema.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

The Frenchman is the team’s leading goalscorer with six strikes to his name and is followed by Gareth Bale’s two.

But Los Blancos are still waiting for Hazard to emerge from his cocoon and finally start contributing to the team. So far, he only has one goal and two assists in seven games across all competitions and needless to say, much more will be expected from the 28-year-old Belgian.

Once he finds his groove, the team should immediately start ticking much better and Zidane will have to find a way to get the best out of him.

We’re slowly moving into November already and it would be about time for Hazard to warrant the reputation he had at Chelsea.

Let’s see if he can do that or not.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho is wanted by his former club Manchester City according to new reports from Sport Bild.

What’s the word?

Since leaving Manchester for Germany, Sancho has become one of the most wanted youngsters in world football. The Englishman scored 12 goals in the Bundesliga last season and topped the charts for the most assists in Germany with 14.

As a result of his phenomenal form, Sport Bild states that giant clubs across the continent are keeping tabs on the 19-year-old. These include the likes of Liverpool, Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Chelsea.

In order to replace Sancho, Dortmund are believed to be targeting Hertha Berlin’s Javairo Dilrosun, another former City youth player.

Deal would underline City’s problem with youth integration

Pep Guardiola initially waved goodbye to Sancho back in 2017 and has had to watch the youngster blossom into an elite winger ever since. The sale of Sancho was a prime example of City leaving their finest youth products in a situation in which they feel compelled to leave in search of regular first team football.

This emerging trend is in part due to the fact that, with the exception of Foden, no player from City’s youth academy has broken into the side since Sheikh Mansour purchased the club.

Nowadays, the likes of Foden are struggling to get into the side, with the 19-year-old failing to start a Premier League game this season. The likes of Tommy Doyle have only just broken into the side after his midweek debut in the Carabao Cup, while Eric Garcia continues to impress at centre-back when called upon.

But aside from those rare cases, there has been little sign of academy players progressing into the senior squad, and signing Sancho would hardly aid that process either.

The promising winger, Ian Poveda, who has 18 goals for City’s youth teams over the past three seasons, would likely suffer from his arrival and be forced to leave the club, but at what future cost?

Ultimately, though there’s no doubting Sancho would be an exciting addition, a multi-million pound deal to re-sign a player that once resided with City’s youth system and left for a measly £8m would serve to illuminate the club’s long-term problem with youth integration.

And, perhaps most pertinently of all, City only have to assess Paul Pogba’s return to Manchester United to appreciate that the Bundesliga star may be one to avoid.

Atlanta United academy ‘keeper Vicente Reyes would one day love a dream move to Manchester City, citing his idols Claudio Bravo and Ederson as huge influences on his career, according to Futbol Chileno (via Sport Witness).

Vicente Reyes, who is also a Chile U17 international, is making his way up the ranks at the tender age of 15, standing out amongst the crowd in Atlanta’s MLS academy with a bright future ahead of him.

If he were to make it to the top as a professional, given his choice of elite European sides to make a dream move across the Atlantic, it has been revealed that he would opt to sign for the current Premier League champions.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Futbol Chileno via Sport Witness, Reyes spoke about one day plying his trade in the Premier League at Eastlands, prompting him to praise his two goalkeeping idols.

“I have two special idols, Claudio Bravo and Ederson Moraes, both from Manchester City,” said Reyes.

“He’s [Bravo] a great example if I want to be a goalkeeper, because of his footwork and because he’s a good leader both on and off the pitch. He’s my role model.

“I want to play in England, that’s my dream, play in Europe in general.

“With my dad I always talk about playing in the Premier League. I would love to be a Manchester City goalkeeper like Claudio Bravo, I follow the team, they’re my favourite in the English league.”

Indeed, with Reyes so open about the fact he would love to join City in the future, and given how quickly he is rising through the ranks at Atlanta, it’s safe to say the Premier League champions could have a future star on their hands if they decide to make his dreams a reality.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

It’s no secret that Chris Wilder and Sheffield United have been doing well this season.

With Wilder being recommended for the Manchester United & Arsenal jobs and the players getting praise from opposition managers, they’ve become one of the feel-good stories of the season.

And according to former Premier League defender Stephen Warnock, it hasn’t come their way by chance.

Although the numbers will show that it’s not really all been down to what Wilder and the players have been doing, some of it falls on their opponents.

What’s he said?

Speaking on Sky Sports News (11am onwards, 11/11), Warnock claimed that Sheffield United are in the position they are now because they deserve to be there.

“It’s not a fluke that they’re getting results it’s a well-oiled system that he’s got, the players believe in what they’re doing and that’s one of the big key factors in a team that performs well. It’s believing what the manager puts out on the pitch. They look at ease away from home as much as they do at home.”

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Six of one, half a dozen of the other

Some credit does have to go to Wilder and his men for the way have done so far this season.

They’ve put together arguably one of the better starts to a season by any promoted team but there should still be a little bit of scepticism when it comes to where they are, because they have been incredibly lucky so far this season.

As this table from Experimental361 shows, whilst they may have one of the best defensive records in the league, having only conceded nine times in 13 games, part of that comes from the sheer wastefulness of the teams they’ve been playing.

The table shows that the Blades have been the joint biggest beneficiaries, along with Crystal Palace of missed chances, with 4.5 ‘expected goals’ being wasted by their opponents meaning they should actually be 13th in the table rather than fifth.

It would be a miracle if they manage to keep hold of that sort of luck all season, sooner or later they may get found out, like when they play top scorers Manchester City on 29th December (who have scored more goals than they should based off expected goals), then we’ll really get to see if it’s all down to what they have done rather than what the opponents haven’t.