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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Wolves failed to build on their impressive scalp of Manchester City last time out as they drew to Southampton at Molineux on Saturday.

Although, the result could have been very much in their favour after having two Raul Jimenez efforts chalked off due to VAR.

It was the visitors that opened the scoring eight minutes into the second half when Danny Ings capitalised on a Connor Coady blunder to rush through on goal and slot past Rui Patricio.

Wolves’ Mexican striker finally got on the scoresheet himself just after the hour mark as he dispatched from the penalty spot after Matt Doherty was felled by visiting skipper Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

But Nuno Santo limited the team’s attacking threat with one critical decision.

On the Chalkboard

In recent matches, Ruben Neves has faced the drop from Nuno’s starting line-up.

Following the 5-2 drubbing by Chelsea, the 22-year-old featured for 33 minutes off the bench in the dramatic draw with Crystal Palace and then played just three minutes in the Watford victory.

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He was recalled for the City win last time out and even managed to keep his place for this game, but he’s not been as influential as last season.

The reason for which could be down to just how deep Nuno is operating him this season, which is displayed through WhoScored’s heatmap below against Southampton.

As you can see, Neves barely crosses the halfway line, which seems daft for a player that has contributed ten goals and four assists from midfield over the previous two seasons.

The Portuguese boss needs to play him further forward again so that the team can reap the rewards from his attacking prowess.

His lessening impact is only further reinforced when delving into Understat’s xG model, where he has regressed in every single statistic, which is surely a consequence of him playing an anchorman role this season.

Last campaign, Neves recorded an xG of 3.39 at an average rate of 0.10 per 90 minutes, but now that has decreased substantially to 0.03 per 90 minutes, meaning it’s improbable that he will be able to improve on that total.

The same goes for assists per 90 minutes too, that is down from 0.06 to 0.04 while shots per 90 minutes have decreased from 2.21 to 1.47.

To add to that, his key passes leading to a shot per 90 minutes is down too, meaning his deeper presence is affecting his ability to impact games and thus is surely detrimental to the Wolves squad as a whole.

This is undoubtedly an area that Nuno needs to resolve as quickly as possible.

Many Arsenal fans have responded on Twitter after the club account tweeted about an interview with Gabriel Martinelli.

@Arsenal tweeted quotes from the young Brazillian, where he describes himself to the Arsenal fans so that they know a bit more about the player.

He said (via the Arsenal website): “Sure, you’ve seen me play but you probably don’t know too much about me. So let me tell you a little bit about my story so far.

“I guess the most important thing is that I’ve always known I would be a footballer. My family and I always believed I could do it. They boosted my confidence and have supported me, no matter what.

“I’m proud that Arsenal has put its trust in me, so I will always give my all to help this team reach the top. That’s where it belongs.

“What they can expect from me now [Arsenal fans]? Someone who always gives his best, his maximum, and who always plays with his heart. That’s the most important thing you need to know about me.”

Martinelli joined Arsenal in the summer from Ituano in Brazil, where he had managed to score 10 goals in 34 appearances after debuting in 2017, according to the BBC.

Despite being only 18, the Brazilian has managed to rack up a decent amount of football under his belt considering that he is in his first year in England. The attacker has scored four goals in five games for the club – with just two of those starts.

Martinelli was able to bag a brace and an assist against Standard Liege in the Europa League as well as two goals against Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup. His other three appearances have been from the bench in the Premier League, playing against Newcastle United, Bournemouth and most recently Sheffield United.

Unsurprisingly, Arsenal fans loved to hear what they did from the young attacker, and messages of support poured in for the teenager, as you can see below…

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

According to ESPN, Manchester United are interested in signing Lille prospect Boubakary Soumare.

What’s the word?

The Red Devils let go of both Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini this calendar year, but have failed to bring in any midfield replacements for the duo.

Now, ESPN claim Soumare has been followed by United for a number of years, and that the Red Devils are now “ready to get the ball rolling to try to recruit him before anyone else”. The report adds that the club sees the 20-year-old prodigy as a potential heir to Paul Pogba, and that he has impressed the Old Trafford hierarchy with his “activity, physicality, and technical skills for someone of his size”.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

In addition, it is suggested Soumare also ticks United’s remit of signing young, talented players, and that with his contract running out next summer, a deal could get done.

Pogba’s heir

After all the drama in the summer regarding the long-term future of Pogba, it was perhaps quite the surprise to see the France World Cup winner ending up remaining at Old Trafford beyond the transfer deadline. The 26-year-old made it very clear that he is keen on trying a new challenge, and so there no doubt would have been some kind of contingency plan put in place by United.

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And one man who could certainly fill the shoes of the former Juventus star, is Soumare. Standing at 6 foot 2, the 20-year-old is a physical presence, and has a dynamism to his game that is very similar to Pogba. In his three Champions League games for Lille this season, the midfielder has averaged 1.7 tackles, two interceptions, 0.7 shots, one key pass and 2.7 dribbles per game. Exactly the kind of all-action displays United may have thought they were getting when they brought Pogba back to Old Trafford.

Indeed, after seeing Soumare sign a three-year contract with the French side a couple of years ago, Lille’s CEO Marc Ingla exclaimed: “He is a powerful and technical player who can evolve to several positions in the field. His maturity pleased us even if we must not forget that he is only 18 years old.”

So if Pogba does eventually make his exit from United, the Red Devils must be proactive and sign the player who could quite conceivably be the man to replace him.

Talk about settling into a new club. After arriving from Championship side Swansea in rather low-key fashion, Daniel James has well and truly hit the ground running at Manchester United.

The Wales international has scored three goals and provided a further two assists in ten Premier League games, and his importance to the Red Devils’ cause is shown by the fact he has featured in every top-flight game this season.

Against Norwich at Carrow Road on Sunday, James was at his menacing best once more, and as per Sofascore, provided an assist, two key passes and won a penalty too. Not bad for an afternoon’s work.

After seeing his impressive display, United fans took to Twitter to hail their £15m summer signing.

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Many Red Devils supporters insisted he is quite simply the “bargain of the season”, and wondered excitingly at just how good he could get at Old Trafford.

One fan even suggested that he could go down as the club’s best signing since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure back in the summer of 2013.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

Although Arsenal are currently in a complicated situation with pressure mounting on manager Unai Emery alongside disputes between club captain Grant Xhaka and sections of the fanbase, this hasn’t stopped the club appreciating the birthday of a Gunners’ legend.

In doing so, they’ve been remembering fonder times in north London.

Ian Wright, who scored 185 goals in 288 appearances for the club, wrote his name into the history books whilst playing at the north London side, reaching second spot on the club’s all-time goalscorers list.

Whilst the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have taken up goalscoring duties at the club in Wright’s absence, there can be no doubting that a player of the former striker’s calibre would be welcomed back to The Emirates with open arms.

And these Arsenal fans have been appreciating the legendary status of the 185-goal man on his 56th birthday.

Here are some of the best reactions following an official club tweet from Arsenal regarding Wright.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Both at opposite ends of their respective careers, Ashley Young and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have been regular fixtures in Manchester United’s starting eleven this season, playing a combined total of 23 games.

Whilst Young has been one of the club’s scapegoats in recent seasons – the 34-year-old was even booed his own fans during the club’s pre-season tour earlier in the summer – Wan-Bissaka has quickly established himself as a fan favourite. The £50m signing from Crystal Palace has won the hearts of the Old Trafford faithful with his full-blooded approach, and is third for most tackles made in the Premier League despite missing two matches this season.

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But, one thing neither have been particularly good at, is their contributions going forward. Prior to Thursday night’s comprehensive victory over Partizan Belgrade in the Europa League, Young and Wan-Bissaka had not provided a single goal or assist.

The Red Devils as a whole have been rather goal-shy, managing just 13 goals in 11 league games, and scoring more than once in a game on just two separate occasions before Thursday’s 3-0 triumph. The role of the modern full-back has seen a growing emphasis on what they can contribute going forward, and finally, United’s pair seemed unleashed from their shackles.

On the chalkboard

As per Whoscored, their heat-maps paint a startling picture of just how much they occupied the space in the opposition half, compared to their positioning in the dismal 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth last weekend. Both Wan-Bissaka and Young averaged far higher positions, and it was the latter’s late entry into the penalty box that saw him lay the ball off for Marcus Rashford’s superbly struck goal.

When you don’t have full-backs either willing or capable of getting on the overlap and providing an alternative to the wingers, then attacks can often become stale, and the forwards isolated. Solskjaer’s more aggressive use of them on Thursday has well and truly provided the benchmark for how they should be setting up and performing from now on.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Together, they completed five successful dribbles, had two shots, three key passes and four accurate long balls as per Sofascore. The duo looked far more dangerous with the kind of spaces they were taking, and with some better deliveries, could have seen United go out of sight.

It may only have been against a side who are currently fourth in Serbia’s Super Liga, but ultimately, it provided a real taster of what could be on the cards if Solskjaer gets his two full-backs to throw caution to the wind.

Both Mariano and Brahim Diaz haven’t really seen much game time at Real Madrid as of late.

The former is yet to tally a single minute in the ongoing 2019/20 season and he was only on the bench once in the process.

The latter’s situation is better but only slightly.

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Brahim has featured twice, both times registering just nine minutes of game time along the way for a total of just 18 throughout the whole campaign.

Quite clearly, something has to change and both young talents should probably look for their fortunes elsewhere.

Interestingly enough, a new report from El Chiringuito TV stated that Espanyol are interested in both of them and could take them off Real Madrid’s hands.

But this report also provoked a big discussion from many Real Madrid fans who were quick to voice their opinions on the whole situation on social media.

It seems that some are in favour of a loan deal rather than a permanent one, but there are some who would keep one of the Diaz talents and sell the other.

You can see some of their reactions down in the collection of tweets below:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

Not for the first time have West Bromwich Albion fans wanted Oliver Burke to finally show what he can do. And not for the first time he majorly disappointed.

His appearance for Scotland in their Euro 2020 qualifier over Cyprus merely proved just how difficult the task ahead might be for Slaven Bilic and co.

Snapshot

Steve Clarke called on the Albion man with 18 minutes to go as the Scots were being backed up against the wall despite holding a 2-1 lead with the home nation dominating spells of the second half.

Cyprus recorded five more shots at goal and also 61% possession, so Burke replaced the ineffective James Forrest – who failed to swing in a single accurate cross – with the manager looking for more of a spark in attack.

Off the Bench

However, the 22-year-old – yes, the man once dubbed the next Gareth Bale is still somehow only 22 – struggled to justify his national team placing let alone show his abilities to any potential suitors that may want to sign him in summer.

Or even Baggies boss Slaven Bilic himself.

Per SofaScore, Burke managed just five touches in nearly 20 minutes of action, meaning he touched the ball just under once every four minutes, and for two of those, he even lost possession. The other three times, he failed to win any of his ground duels.

Overall, it was a drastically poor showing from the winger, even more so after his comments in midweek about his future.

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Burke, who is valued at £6.75m by Transfermarkt, said:

“I’ve been there so long, but then I’ve not actually played many games for them, so you almost feel like you are not part of that team because I’ve been to other clubs and been on loan. I just have to focus on this loan I’m on now and take it all in and hopefully good things come from me going on loan now and getting game time. Hopefully, it puts me in the shop window.”

Well, if that’s his attempt at putting himself in the shop window, then it’s likely to be the doors to the local rubbish tip office rather than Gucci.

If he keeps this level of showing up, Bilic is going to have a monumental task on trying to offload him in the summer – an already troubling problem considering the Albion flop still has two years to run on his current contract.

It seems rather unlikely that he’ll get to add to his one goal in 24 appearances at the Hawthorns.

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

According to a fresh report coming from the Catalan outlet, Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona had the chance to sign the current 18-year-old Arsenal prodigy, Gabriel Martinelli, but they opted against it. This might come back to bite them.

What’s the word, then?

The young talent signed for Arsenal back in the summer and has since then exploded onto the scene.

But the interesting part is that Barcelona had the chance to tie him down even before the Gunners got their hands on him.

Watch Spanish Football Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Mundo Deportivo revealed that the Catalan giants even had the 18-year-old prodigy at their own facilities and Martinelli played some football with their Juvenil A and Juvenil B squads respectively.

But after that one trial, the Blaugrana deemed him not good enough and decided not to proceed with his signing.

And seeing Martinelli now, that huge decision just might come back to bite them in the not so distant future.

“One of the greatest talents of this century”

Martinelli has recently literally exploded onto the scene.

The youngster has played a total of nine games for Arsenal and has already managed to bag seven goals and one assist in the process.

Not to mention that two of those goals were actually against current European champions, Liverpool, in the EFL Cup and that game also prompted Jurgen Klopp to label him “a talent of the century”.

If he can continue developing like this in the future, the sky could be the limit and Barcelona might be banging their heads against the wall if and when that actually happens.

Not many players are deemed worthy of donning the Blaugrana kit and many youngsters surely get discarded quite often but Martinelli just might be one of those that got away for the Catalans.

Their poor judgement could mean they’re missing out on a truly remarkable talent, if Klopp’s words are anything to go by.

We’ll have to wait and see what ends up happening.

Mauricio Pochettino was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday, after taking over at the helm in 2014.

This followed on from a run of five consecutive Premier League games without a win, which had left Spurs 14th in the table.

However, West Ham United are having various problems of their own, with their run of winless games now extending to seven games in all competitions.

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There are now various fans who want to see a change being made at the club, with them hoping to see a move made for Mauricio Pochettino.

The Hammers have a history of making ambition transfer attempts, especially in the era of David Gold and Sullivan, so it is not impossible that the club could give it a go.

Though it would be a pretty incredible turn of events if the move was to be made, firstly due to the current stance of sticking by Manuel Pellegrini, as well as the fact that Pochettino has just left Spurs.

A selection of Twitter reaction to the idea of recruiting Pochettino, including posts from hopeful West Ham fans, can be seen below: