Arsenal fans continue to mull over the situation that has seen their club turned on its head recently. Mesut Ozil and Unai Emery’s apparent rift continues to cause problems and the fans simply have no explanation, however, an unlikely source who does is Jose Mourinho as an Arsenal fan has uncovered an interest Jose quote on the German.

Mesut Ozil and Jose Mourinho worked together at Real Madrid and it seems that despite the Portuguese tactician’s rigid style and emphasis on defensive work, the German was a player who he cherished. Ozil produced 81 assists in three years under Mourinho and that stat speaks for itself as the Gunners wonder why Emery cannot get the best from the German.

Now 30-years-old, Ozil still has loads to offer at The Emirates and it seems crazy that the club fails to play to his strengths. His creative nouse is second to none and when he’s on form he becomes nye on impossible to stop. However, under Emery this season the ex-Los Blancos hero has provided just four goals and two assists in 18 games in all competitions as he continues to look closer and closer to an exit.

You can read the Gunners’ thoughts on Mourinho’s Ozil quotes here:

The Gunners will be even more frustrated to see that even Mourinho can see a solution to their problems as they continue to look for an answer to their Ozil issue.

أكد محمد فضل، عضو اللجنة الخماسية المُكلفة بإدارة اتحاد الكرة، أن الأهلي حصل منذ أسبوعين على رخصة الأندية المحترفة، ليكون أول ناد يتقدم بالأوراق الخاصة للحصول على الرخصة.

وتوج الأهلي ببطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز، رسميًا، للمرة 42 في تاريخه والخامسة على التوالي، وذلك قبل انتهاء المسابقة الجارية.

اقرأ ايضًا.. تشكيل الأهلي المتوقع أمام طنطا.. كهربا أساسيا ومروان محسن يقود الهجوم

وأضاف فضل خلال لقائه عبر قناة “أون تايم سبورت”: “الأهلي منذ أسبوعين بالظبط بدأ في إرسال الأوراق من أجل إنهاء التراخيص، ومن السهل حصول الأندية على رخصة المحترفين”.

وتابع: “أمامنا مشكلة تواجهنا من حيث أسعار اللاعبين، بدأت أضع الحلول من خلال التراخيص، لابد أن أعرف ميزانية النادي وبالطبع النادي عليه عدم الخسارة، لكن أسعار اللاعبين مبالغة جدًا ولا تسير مع السوق هذا غير منطقي ما هو مصدر الأموال”.

وواصل: “بدأنا أيضًا تكريم قدامى الأهلي والزمالك في لقاء السوبر الأخير ثم تكريم عبد الله السعيد بدخوله ضمن قائمة نادي المائة، ثم تغيير هوية الاتحاد وشكل الاتحاد المصري، وسيكون هناك تكريم لرموز نادي المائة”.

واستكمل: “بدايتي كانت من خلال النادي الأهلي باعتباري ناشئ لكن في العمل العام، أنا أفصل، علاقتي مع النادي الأهلي جيدة لأنه بيتي وبعد عملي العام سأكون بين صفوف الجماهير”.

واختتم: “بصرف النظر عن عمله الإداري لابد من الاستفادة من حسام غالي، مدير الكرة بنادي الجونة، لأنه من الكوادر القوية في المستقبل”.

Southampton have garnered a reputation for being a club that is able to make millions upon millions by selling their best talent. Players from Luke Shaw to Nathaniel Clyne to Virgil van Dijk have been sold by the club for big sums of money, and they’ve often been replaced seamlessly.

However, not all of their sales have been smart, and TalkSport man Adrian Durham has attacked the club for their decision to sell Dusan Tadic to Ajax.

As per TalkSport, Durham said: “On Dusan Tadic we’ve talked about this before – £10million. That was the fee agreed for Southampton to sell him to Ajax. He had two years left on his contract. For me, he’s the best footballer – think about my words – the best footballer Southampton have had since Matt Le Tissier.”

He continued: “What were the so-called brains trust at Southampton Football Club – whether it be Mark Hughes, Les Reed at the time – thinking of? Absolutely appalling decision from them…You can’t just let him go for £10million and you’re Southampton! It’s ridiculous.”

Durham clearly isn’t impressed by the Saints’ decision to sell Tadic, especially for such a small fee, and this is, of course, on the back of his brilliant performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League. He scored and assisted two goals for the Dutch side, and he was undeniably the best player on the pitch. In fact, he made history by being given the rare distinction of a 10/10 grade by L’Equipe for his performance (via Jonathan Johnson on Twitter).

His display would have given Southampton fans memories of just how good he could be in a Saints shirt, but admittedly, his problem was that he didn’t deliver that often enough. He was inconsistent, and that’s likely a core reason why the club decided to cash in.

His performance on Tuesday was brilliant, but that was a one-off. He hasn’t been able to produce magic like that very often, and it would be wrong to view that fixture in a vacuum. Sure, his 16 goal Eredivisie return this term is a good record, but that’s only one part of his game, and he’s often been unrefined.

That said, is he worth more than £10 million? You’d certainly think so, and Southampton are likely regretting selling him for that fee. Hindsight, so they say, however, is 20/20, and there was no way of the club knowing that he had this sort of performance in his locker.

Southampton fans – do you regret selling Tadic? Let us know by joining the discussion below!

Could the well-documented demise of Sunderland Football Club been saved if Steve Bruce managed to sign one of the world’s most famous people, David Beckham, back in 2010 – we’ll never know.

What we do know, however, is that the extensive list of truly disappointing, overpaid “talent” each contributed in their own way to lead Sunderland to successive relegation from the Premier League to League One.

The Black Cat’s transfer history is long and makes for very, very poor reading.

Players such as Steven Fletcher, who’s now withering away in the Championship, were completing deals upwards of £14m (source: BBC Sport). Jack Rodwell, often considered their worst ever signing, joined for £10m and continued to collect his £70,000 per week up until 2018, despite rarely ever playing – costing a calculated £299,000 per appearance (source: Chronicle Live). Jeremain Lens, Fabio Borini, Kaboul, Alvarez and Kone; the list goes on and on.

Indeed, it’s no secret that their frivolous recruitment took its toll on the club, which later found itself on the brink of ruin.

To what extent would Steve Bruce’s marquee signing have saved the club…

David Beckham: the missing link?

At 35-years-of-age, David Beckham was in the twilight years of his career when former Sunderland manager Steve Bruce tried to acquire his services back in 2010 (source: Daily Star).

A player at LA Galaxy at the time, whose season had already ended, Beckham was on the market for a club while he waited for the following campaign and had a number of solid possible locations in Europe. Namely, Sunderland and Milan.

Bruce apparently tried his best to lure the ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid star to the north east but ultimately failed when Beckham opted to join Andrea Pirlo and Ronaldinho at AC Milan.

Although he certainly wasn’t in his prime, he certainly would have done a better job than Andy Reid and Sessegnon – with the added bonus of substantial financial benefits.

After all, his sole purpose in the MLS was to promote “soccer” to the American market.

The same could certainly have been said of Sunderland if he had he joined.

Then again, there’s every chance the club could have squandered the money on more useless players. So maybe it was for the better.

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Liverpool booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 3-1 success against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.

Perhaps more was expected of Bayern in the second leg, but Liverpool deserve huge praise for winning in Germany to advance to the final eight of the competition.

Fabinho surprisingly started the clash on the bench, but was introduced in the 13th minute when Jordan Henderson pulled up with an ankle problem.

According to WhoScored, the Brazilian went on to make two tackles and won two aerial duels during his time on the field.

It would be fair to say that it took the midfielder a bit of time to settle at Liverpool following a move from Monaco in last summer’s transfer window.

Mo Salah has been brutally mocked for his recent diving antics in a new video by 442oons. Check it out below…

However, the 25-year-old has been a regular in recent weeks and the Merseyside outfit’s fans were delighted with his showing against the German champions.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

West Ham’s main man Marko Arnautovic has been linked with a move away from the club for months, but he now needs to knuckle down and prove he’s worth being snapped up.

The Austrian striker’s brother pleaded with the club to let him leave in a statement in January, but his ‘dream move’ to an unnamed Chinese club fell through when a £35m bid was rejected. Why he wanted to go to China is beyond us all but since that deal didn’t materialise, the talented frontman should perform like everyone knows he can to earn a move to a club which is a step up from West Ham.

Why he’d even want to leave The London Stadium in January is another question that’s hard to answer. They’re playing some great football at the moment and are looking capable of mounting a challenge for a European spot over the next year or so. However, if he really does want to leave, then he needs to get his head back into playing for the Hammers until the end of the season.

There’s no questioning his quality, it’s there, but his attitude is something that sometimes lets him down, and that’s the difference between a good player and a world-class player – mentality. This is a test of character for the 29-year-old and could mean him signing for a Chinese club to rot away into obscurity or being picked up by a club already playing European football.

The opportunity to build up his goal tally is there. He’s now playing alongside players like Samir Nasri, Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson who will be able to set him up for fun against most opposition. West Ham are creating chances against the best sides in the league too and he could be finishing those as their main man up top.

If Arnautovic would lift his head up and realise what an opportunity he has in front of him, he could be playing European football next season, whether that be with West Ham or not. Surely that would be more of a ‘dream move’ than China?

Where do you think Marko Arnautovic will be playing his football next season?

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino claims he is “shocked” by the two-game ban he has been issued with by the FA, per Football.London.

The Spurs manager has been punished for his part in an altercation with referee Mike Dean after the club lost 2-1 to Burnley at Turf Moor earlier this month.

What’s the word?

Pochettino confronted Dean after a game that saw Spurs’ title bid completely derailed.

It is unclear what was said between the two to provoke such a reaction from the Argentine, but the FA have confirmed that he has been sanctioned, and will subsequently be forced to sit in the stands for the upcoming Premier League games against Southampton and Liverpool.

Thr 47-year-old has expressed his disbelief at the severity of his punishment, insisting that it is “unfair”.

According to Football.London, he said: “I am a little bit in shock because I think it is completely unfair, but what can I do now? Nothing.”

He added, when pressed on the possibility of an appeal against the ban: “We are waiting since Wednesday for a letter from the FA but it’s still not arrived. I am so curious to see why they decided to do what they do.

“Two game ban for me is completely unfair and I want to see why and then talk a little bit more. You know, it’s my seventh season in England and you can see my behaviour from day one, talking in public and in private of course I was a coach, a manager, a person, who wanted to help, the Premier League, the FA, someone who tried to emphasise, understand and behave in my best to try to help the referees and football and always to try to improve our game.

“It is my first time here that I’m maybe not completely right in my behaviour but I feel this is too much. I feel a little bit sad and disappointed with the punishment.

“I need to wait and see what they put in the letter and the reasons to ban me for two games. It’s unbelievable no?”

Appeal likely and justified

Pochettino has been a model of consistency since his arrival in England.

This is the first time that he has ever reacted in such a manner against an official and it will surely be the last after such a hefty suspension.

The FA, as he has said, are yet to reveal their reasons for the ban but it is clear that Pochettino believes he has been made an example of.

An appeal could be seen as frivolous by the powers-that-be but the Spurs boss clearly feels strongly enough that it may well be successful.

That could see him in the dugout against Liverpool in a game that could have a major impact on the Premier League title race.

Pochettino did deserve to be punished and behaved in a manner that was unbecoming, but the level of the punishment is over-the-top. Justice would see him take his place on the bench at Anfield.

سقط نادي أستون فيلا على أرضه ملعب “فيلا بارك” أمام ستوك سيتي بهدف نظيف في المباراة التي جمعت بين الفريقين في دور الـ 16 من بطولة كأس الرابطة الإنجليزية.

وشهدت هذه المباراة مشاركة أحمد المحمدي مدافع منتخب مصر منذ البداية ولمدة 90 دقيقة، بينما غاب محمود حسن تريزيجيه عن قائمة اللاعبين المُعلنة قبل انطلاق اللقاء من المدرب، دين سميث.

اقرأ أيضًا.. أستون فيلا يُعلن التعاقد مع باركلي من تشيلسي

سجل هدف المباراة الوحيد لصالح ستوك سيتي اللاعب، سام فوكس، في الدقيقة 26 من زمن الشوط الأول.

بهذه الخسارة، يغادر أستون فيلا بطولة كأس كاراباو خاصة وأن رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية قد ألغت نظام الذهاب والعودة في تلك المرحلة بسبب ضغط المباريات بعد تأخر انتهاء الموسم الماضي مع جائحة فيروس كورونا.

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20-year-old West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice recently pledged his international future to England, despite having previously represented the Republic of Ireland in three friendly matches, as reported by the BBC.

Born in London – but eligible for Ireland due to having Irish grandparents – the young defensive midfielder will now be determined to justify his decision by breaking into Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions setup.

Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini certainly believes that Rice ought to be in the England manager’s plans.

What he said

As quoted by the club’s official website, the Irons’ Chilean coach said that Rice “is ready to play for England. We are just starting the development of him as a player. But at this moment his performances are better than every holding midfielder.”

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

The 65-year-old former Manchester City boss clarified his final point, saying “I am talking about the English players.” He clearly believes that the West Ham academy graduate is destined for big things though, adding: “we are just starting to see what will be with Declan in the future.”

A dangerous game

Pellegrini has demonstrated a huge amount of faith in Rice with these comments. Such praise is not unwarranted either – the youngster has been a revelation this season at the London Stadium, making himself one of the east London club’s most important players.

However, the manager has also taken a risk with this statement. Whilst Rice may well get a confidence boost from his words, they also apply additional pressure. Calling him one of the best in the country will raise the expectation levels that people have of Rice, which could ultimately have a negative impact on his development.

As a young player, it would be perfectly normal for the midfielder to show some inconsistency or suffer fluctuations in form. Following Pellegrini’s words, if this now happens to Rice he may be more harshly judged than he otherwise would be without the additional hype added by his coach.

It was a big summer for West Ham heading into this season after they forked out on the likes of Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko.

And the east London club could be about to follow that theme again once the transfer window reopens after the end of the current campaign.

The Breakdown

Claretandhugh reports Manuel Pellegrini is keen on reinforcements, though players will need to be sold to fund a potential spending spree with Arthur Masuaku, Pedro Obiang, Carlos Sanchez, Javier Hernandez and Lucas Perez all said to be names the West Ham manager could be open to letting go.

Most of the above, by no means, are terrible footballers. But if getting rid of them is what it takes for Pellegrini to be able to shape this West Ham squad further in his image, then it has to be done.

After a dreadful start to the season, the Chilean has gone on to show that he could be onto something special with his West Ham side managing to pick up some big results against the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal while playing a more entertaining brand of football along the way.

Considering that, with players he feels are more suited to what he wants to see on the pitch, West Ham could be on course to reaching that next level.

Ultimately, a summer clear-out might just be what the club needs to help give Pellegrini the best London Stadium team yet.