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Liverpool’s Champions League knockout stage clash with Bayern Munich didn’t quite go to plan, with the two sides inseparable over the course of ninety minutes as the game finished 0-0.

Jurgen Klopp’s men uncharacteristically faltered under the Anfield lights as their finishing was lacklustre – on another day, the Merseysiders could have smashed their German opposition but, regardless, they will fancy themselves going to the Allianz Arena having avoided conceding an away goal on Tuesday.

With a huge game against Manchester United on Sunday, there is little time for the Reds players to switch off as they return their attention to the Premier League title race. They have closed the gap on champions Manchester City both literally and figuratively this season, with the two clubs level on points but also far more equal in terms of quality.

Who in the Liverpool ranks, though, has improved the most over the course of the season and who has declined?

Most improved: Fabinho

Despite having been slowly integrated into the starting XI, the Brazilian has become one of the Reds’ most consistent performers in recent weeks and his versatility has become indispensable to his side’s success amidst injuries and suspensions.

With Joe Gomez still not back to full fitness, Dejan Lovren also out of contention and Virgil van Dijk suspended, the former Monaco man stepped in alongside Joel Matip at the heart of defence against Bayern and hardly put a foot wrong.

A midfielder by trade, the 25-year-old looks likely to only get better and could hold down the base of Liverpool’s midfield for years to come.

Far removed: Trent Alexander-Arnold

A revelation last season, the England international has, unfortunately, been unable to improve on his stellar breakout season, with his performance against Bayern, in particular, of a standard far less than expected from the 20-year-old.

The 5-cap international wrote headlines with his inch-perfect crossing and delivery into the box and quickly forced his way into Gareth Southgate’s England considerations, although Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka looks like more of a worthy pick for the Three Lions based on current form.

Is Jurgen Klopp a “serial bottler”? The fan in the video below certainly thinks so…

There is no denying the Scouser has an extremely bright future ahead of him but, while he has been set back by injuries, his 18/19 campaign has been underwhelming thus far.

استبعد المدير الرياضي لنادي نابولي كريستيانو جيونتولي فكرة رحيل المدافع خاليدو كوليبالي عن الفريق الإيطالي، قبل انتهاء موسم الانتقالات الصيفي الحالي.

وارتبط السنغالي، في الفترة الأخيرة، بنادي مانشستر سيتي حيث يرغب الفريق الإنجليزي في الحصول على خدماته هذا الصيف.

ولم يتمكن مانشستر سيتي من التوصل إلى اتفاق مع نابولي حول الرسوم المالية لصفقة كوليبالي.

وقال كريستيانو جيونتولي في تصريحات نشرتها صحيفة “مترو” الإنجليزية: “فريقنا كامل، لذا سنحاول الآن الاستغناء عن اللاعبين الذين لن يكون لديهم الكثير من الوقت على أرض الملعب”.

وأضاف: “أعتقد أن كوليبالي باقٍ، نحن سعداء جدًا وكذلك هو”.

وواصل: “مازال لديه ثلاث سنوات في عقده الحالي، أعتقد أنه باق”.

Celtic fans must be reeving following Brendan Rodgers business end bail, but the news that rumoured replacement David Moyes could be heading to the Chinese Super League instead of Glasgow will surely improve their mood slightly.

According to The Sun, Manchester United, Real Sociedad, Sunderland and West Ham flop David Moyes has announced his interest in returning to management and has set his sights on former club Celtic, alongside the CSL.

The man he wants to replace, Neil Lennon, is currently on his second managerial stint with the Hoops having been drafted on an interim basis but has made a decent enough case for succeeding as the permanent coach with two wins out of two – the most recent guiding Celtic into the final four of the domestic cup.

A win against Aberdeen at the week would surely leave Lennon in good stead.

Moyes, on the other hand, has been out of a job since being sacked by West Ham and has scantly achieved any kind of success since his Everton days.

Conveniently, we have a warning from history which reminds us that David Moyes is a poorly qualified candidate for handling the pressures of succeeding a very successful manager at a club.

As far as we are concerned, and likely anyone else who have endured his management style, he is regressive in his tactics and exists as a prominent reminder of how far the game has come in recent years.

Fortunately, there is every chance the Chinese Super League could be the next home for David Moyes as they continue their mission to boost the profile of football in the country.

Regardless, the Celtic faithful will surely be hoping that the board are looking at forward-thinking coaches who could drive the club on a similar trajectory as their former man Rodgers.

It was another depressing day for Everton fans on Saturday, wasn’t it? After the draw against Liverpool last week, you’d have thought it might kick start a vein of form, but that’s clearly not the case.

Losing a game after earning a two-goal lead is unforgivable, whether it’s a World Cup final or a pub league match. Everton lacked composure and bottle yesterday and that was clear, but it’s the ironically consistent inconsistency of it all that will have Evertonians banging their heads against walls.

This season, they’ve shown their capable of playing fast-paced, attacking football that can please the Goodison faithful, but they’ve just not shown it enough. On other occasions, they look devoid of any promise at all and that switch can happen as quickly as it did against Newcastle on Saturday.

Everton have big plans for the future, with a new 50,000-capacity stadium being built and a clear aim of playing European football inside it, but if the team can’t be consistent on the pitch they will never reach their goals. How can a club build momentum financially and grow into a major English power if the team play well one week and then woefully the next?

The modern football fan now demands more than just results, and that’s why they employed Marco Silva. Supporters want to be entertained, so if a consistent balance between exciting football and results can’t be found in the next year or so, the manager won’t last long.

Yes, they need to spend money in summer, but Everton already have the quality to play better than they did at Newcastle, and they showed it to go 2-0 up. That’s what will frustrate Evertonians most, and rightly so.

Everton fans, who do you feel your club should sign this summer? Join the discussion by commenting below…

Everton have a tough run of fixtures coming up with Liverpool and Chelsea to come to Goodison Park, so things aren’t about to get any easier for Marco Silva’s side. 

The Toffees will still feel as if they can challenge for a European spot in the current campaign, despite losing their last three games, as there’s still a lot of games left to play.

Interestingly, it appears as if the Merseyside club are eyeing a possible summer swoop, as according to Le10 Sport (via HITC), Everton are interested in a summer move for Thomas Meunier.

Meunier has established himself as one of Europe’s best full-backs since moving to Paris Saint-Germain, but he just hasn’t been able to work his way into Thomas Tuchel’s plans in recent times.

Seamus Coleman has had his injury troubles and he’s set to turn 31 this year, so it would make sense for the Toffees to bring in a replacement.

Marcel Brands pulled off a masterstroke by bringing Lucas Digne to the Premier League back in the summer transfer window, as he’s gone on to become one of Everton’s star performers.

Believe it or not, the PSG man is currently a better player than Digne as he’s more defensively assured and can apply a deadly touch in the final third, whether it’s with a dangerous cross or a strike from distance. Indeed, the Frenchman was arguably Everton’s best summer signing and offers an awful lot going forward, but Meunier can provide more height and has more goals and assists to his name this season, despite playing one less game.

So, Brands has the opportunity to pull off another masterstroke by moving for Meunier, who is valued at £31.5 million (by Transfermarkt). Indeed, the Belgium international could really thrive in the Toffees’ system as Marco Silva gives the full-backs the licence to get forward, which is what the Belgian does best.

Everton fans – thoughts on a potential move for Thomas Meunier?

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Sunderland are seriously struggling to score goals at the moment, and Jack Ross simply must re-introduce Max Power to the starting XI along with a slight tweak to Friday’s formation.

After facing pressure to play two strikers up front together, Ross finally pulled the trigger last week as Charlie Wyke and Will Grigg started against Accrington Stanley at the Stadium of Light.

Grigg missed two golden opportunities to open his Sunderland account while Wyke was barely even involved in the match as both of the front men blanked in the 2-2 draw.

Now, Ross must find another solution to fix the balance in his side. Sitting six points off the automatic promotion places and drawing six of their last seven league games, the Black Cats should bring back Power in a traditional 4-2-3-1 formation.

The ex-Wigan ace has become a somewhat controversial figure after picking up three red cards earlier in the season, but his return will help at both ends of the pitch.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

On the chalkboard

While scoring goals has been a problem – Ross’ side have scored just one goal in ten of their last 11 league games – the defence has looked weak in recent weeks too, perhaps due to a lack of protection from midfield.

Alongside the experienced and reliable Grant Leadbitter, Power’s energy, drive and skill will be able to get his side on the front foot from midfield, while also offering a little more defensive protection than starting with two up front.

The 25 year-old’s all-action presence will make life much easier for Leadbitter, and the pair should be capable of controlling the midfield – where the game is won and lost – against most of the sides in League One.

Get Grigg going

Switching to a 4-2-3-1 could also get Grigg firing in a red and white shirt, as the Northern Irishman hasn’t quite got going yet at the Stadium of Light.

With the likes of Aiden McGeady, George Honeyman, Lynden Gooch and Chris Maguire to choose from for those spots behind the striker, it shouldn’t be too difficult to surround Grigg with pace, creativity and movement.

With three attacking midfielders behind the January signing as well as Power bursting forward from midfield, the goals will be flowing in no time, and Grigg could be the biggest beneficiary of all.

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Mauricio Pochettino has suggested that Tottenham Hotspur lack the mentality of champions.

Spurs lost to Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday and play Chelsea on Wednesday, and the Argentine insists that it may take a decade to turn the club into title-winners.

What’s the word?

Spurs’ defeat to Burnley leaves them five points adrift of both Liverpool and Manchester City, with games against Chelsea and Arsenal to come this week.

Tottenham have yet to draw a game this season but lost seven times; City have lost four, Liverpool just once.

Those losses have included defeats to the likes of Watford, Wolves and the Clarets, along with Manchester United and Arsenal and the top two teams.

And Pochettino says the defeat at Vicarage Road, where Spurs led, is evidence that they are not yet ready to lift the biggest prize in English football.

“The example is Watford,” he told reporters, as quoted by The Independent.

“One-nil [up], and then in the last 20 minutes we threw away the game, because of us, not because of Watford.

“If you watch the game again you know that is what happened, and my worry is what happened and to change that is not only five-year work, maybe it is 10-year work to change that thing that happened here.”

Asked about the Burnley game, Pochettino said “it is unacceptable to lose”.

He added: “If you lose you cannot after say ‘No, we are a real contender, in the last 10 or 12 games you must be strong and you have to dominate and show you are a real contender’.

“We showed on Saturday that we are a good team yes, we have good quality yes, but it’s not enough to win a title like the Premier League and that is the reality.

“I think you think the same and the players think the same and everyone thinks the same.

“If you’re not going to be able to beat Burnley playing for the title I think it’s impossible to think that you are going to win the title.

“Maybe you might win afterwards but because another loses the opportunity to win, not because you push to win.”

Bottlers?

This will do little to dispel the misguided notion that Pochettino has yet to shake off the “bottling” tag that has long plagued Spurs.

The fact of the matter is that they are currently ahead of schedule in terms of their development.

The manager deserves a lot of credit for transforming the club from top-four contenders to title challengers but this kind of message is the wrong one to send out.

The likes of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli are approaching their peaks and suggesting that they are not currently made of the stuff required to win titles is counter-intuitive.

If Pochettino is right, Kane may be 35 before Spurs win the Premier League. He may well decide that he cannot wait that long, and that decision may be traced back to this very press conference.

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Reports late last week suggested Rangers will secure a pre-contract agreement with Jake Hastie, and fans are absolutely ecstatic over the potential deal.

According to a recent report from The Scottish Sun, Rangers are set to win the race to sign Motherwell’s Hastie this summer.

The young winger is attracting interest from Celtic, Middlesbrough, Derby, Millwall and Hull claims the report, but Steven Gerrard “has won the race for his signature”.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals he often received racist abuse after North London Derbies – Check out the video below…

The 19 year-old is of course out of contract in the summer, meaning the Gers can snap him up for free so long as they agree a deal with the player.

Hastie has scored ten times and registered seven assists this season, an impressive return for such a young player.

And the Gers are in need of a little extra dynamism up front, as outside of Alfredo Morelos you couldn’t call any of their current attackers consistent.

However, if they can secure Ryan Kent on a permanent deal and sign Hastie then Gerrard would have two explosive young wingers in his arsenal, and the Twitter reactions down below are desperate for it to happen…

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On Tuesday, Everton legend Tim Cahill shared an image of his son, Cruz Cahill, at a training session with the Toffees.

There is absolutely no question that Cahill – Tim that is – is an Everton legend, having made close to 300 appearances for the Merseyside club in all competitions, scoring 68 times in the process.

The 39-year-old is still playing professionally in the Indian Premier League, turning out for Jamshedpur FC.

Cahill was back on English soil earlier this week, however, and shared an image of his son in training with Everton.

Cruz was born in September 2012, meaning that he will turn seven later this year.

The post from his father was always going to bring a huge reaction from the Everton fans when considering Cahill senior’s standing at the club.

Pl>ymaker FC’s Matchday with Max caught up with Jamaica’s women’s team. See what happened when he met the history makers in the video below…

And that was indeed the case, with the Everton supporters, who are frustrated with their team at the moment, reacting to the image in their numbers:

West Ham United suffered a rather disappointing 2-0 defeat at Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon, which saw the Hammers struggle to work their magic in front of goal, ultimately failing to create any worthy goal scoring opportunities.

The result, however, also emphasised that midfielder Manuel Lanzini still has a lot of work to do to get back to his best following his long injury layoff, which only saw him make his first appearance of the campaign against Fulham at the end of February.

Since then, manager Manuel Pellegrini has tried to ease the 26-year-old back into the team, starting him in their previous two matches.

But, it was evident on Saturday that Lanzini has to get used to playing in a team environment again and will need to adapt as soon as possible to the type of game Pellegrini wants him to play.

Of course, the only way for a player who was out for such a long period of time to get back into the thick of the action is to play and get as many minutes under the belt as possible.

However, he will need to work closely with the manager at the training ground to get the full grip of tactics that Pellegrini wants to implement in the team.

Lanzini started in the centre of the midfield, next to captain Mark Noble on Saturday, but was replaced in the 58th minute of the match, shortly after Cardiff scored their second goal.

Michail Antonio was the man who replaced him as Pellegrini clearly felt Lanzini wasn’t being creative or effective enough for his team to get on the score-sheet.

The manager also threw on Samir Nasri for Noble at the same time, trying to be more attacking but it was all in vain as Neil Warnock’s men hung on for the remainder of the match.

Pellegrini will now have a difficult task in deciding how he is going to use Lanzini for the final stages of the season in order to get the best outcome for both the player and the club.

West Ham welcome Huddersfield Town to the London Stadium this coming Saturday and their fans will expect them to not have a lot of troubles seeing off the Terriers.

West Ham fans, do you think Manuel Lanzini will ever get back to his best? Join the discussion by commenting below…