Haaland shows Gyokeres how to score goals

Manchester City forward Erling Haaland/ HANDOUT 

I can understand Mikel Arteta being frustrated with his team’s performance against Wolves, but at the end of the day, criticising his players is merely a reflection of his own failings.

He said, “The margins should have been bigger” and a short period of “unacceptable, horrible defensive habits” were nowhere near the level he requires. But again, I say, whose fault is that? Isn’t that what intense weekly training is all about?

I can understand Arteta feeling downhearted, but at the end of the game, they did just about register a win, but it was last season at around this time, when leading the title race, they started dropping points, which resulted in a huge £270million investment upgrading their squad.

There was much noise about bringing in a new striker, but choosing Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres is proving to be questionable. After the Wolves match, many supporters were asking, “Where was our striker?” Thank goodness the Gunners still have Bukayo Saka, who assisted in both Arsenal goals.

When playing for Sporting, Gyokeres had a signature move, running into space in behind the defence, very often as part of a counterattack and he used his physical presence and speed to leave defenders stranded.

Arsenal are different and do not need a striker doing that because Saka and Gabriel Martinelli wait for oppositions to line up their defence high up the field and the Arsenal midfield and defenders feed high passes for them to run on to. Gyokeres isn’t needed in that strategy.

If you compare Gyokeres to Erling Haaland, the difference is clear to understand. Both strikers have to work their way around deep defensive blocks, which is the modern way of defending. Haaland, for instance, has received far fewer chances since joining Manchester City but he still manages to score goals, and sometimes, when his presence in the match is minimal, he is always running energetically around creating space for others to operate in.

No room for Mainoo in United’s midfield

Kobbie Mainoo is still considering leaving Old Trafford in January despite replacing Casemiro in the 61st minute against Bournemouth on Monday evening.

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is aware of the situation, but he has not spoken with Kobbie, but simply said, “The team comes first and if Kobbie comes to me and talks to me, I will talk to him…I am not going to tell you what I will sa,y but I will be really pleased if he comes to talk to me about the situation.”

Amorim has settled on his favourite pair, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes this season and Kobbie would have to replace the United captain as No. 10, and there is little chance of that happening. He is also frustrated by the arrival of Bryan Mbuemo and Matheus Cunha, which has further pushed him into a supporting role.

Amorim insisted that there are still chances for Kobbie if United revert to three midfielders but at the moment, he is happy with his chosen pair for the middle of the field. He emphasised that training is a big part of how he sets his team up and who plays but the door is always open for players to change his mind. From everything I know and have heard and talking to United people there is a good chance Mainoo will choose to leave or go out on loan in January.

Rogers delights at Villa

Morgan Rogers is a very hot property at the moment. Aston Villa fought hard to keep him during the summer transfer window and several key members of the club management team abandoned their holidays to combine and fight off approaches from Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. His price rose to £80million and the Villa team succeeded in keeping him at Villa Park.

At 23 he is now on the England manager Thomas Tuchel’s list of players he wants to take to the World Cup. Rogers is an excellent example of what modern football is all about…he is strong, athletic, intelligent and dynamic. A player who can read a game and dribble past defenders often results in a powerful shot on goal.

Morgan prefers to play on the left wing but can operate in several positions, which gives Unai Emery options. He already has five goals this season and is aiming to reach double figures. Against West Ham, he bagged two goals, one of which was a superb effort after taking a pass from Victor Lindelöf and shooting into Alphonse Areola’s net.

The final word from Unai Emery, “I need to push him sometimes, he is growing up quickly and has a huge mentality. He is funny and focused in the dressing room and very popular.”

Villa earn their place as title-contenders

At the beginning of the season, Aston Villa earned only three points from their first five games and coach Unai Emery was searching for answers.

How things have changed and after 16 games Villa are now being talked about as likely title contenders. With Arsenal on 36 points, Manchester City on 34 and Villa only one point behind, the title is wide open.

Villa narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification last season and the downgrade to the Europa League had an impact on the amount of money the club will make this year. It caused a drop in the club’s retail sales.

Villa did not score their first goal this season until match five and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Brentford.

It was the game against Fulham which saw a dramatic turnaround in Villa’s season after trailing at home on September 28. Ollie Watkins scored his first goal of the season, John McGinn scored a second and Emiliano Buendia hit the net for the first time in a year.

Suddenly, Villa were back and they have now won 10 of their recent eleven games, losing only to Liverpool at the beginning of November. Unai Emery believes that when on form, the Villa midfield of Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans is as good as any in the league.

Can Villa seriously challenge Arsenal, who have been slipping lately and the improving, stronger Manchester City side? Emery and the supporters believe they can.

News from Bournemouth coach on Adam’s injury

USA national team midfielder and captain and now a crucial part of Adoni Iraola’s Bournemouth line-up, was helped off the field after only five minutes when he collided with Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha. After raising his right hand to call on the medical team, he was in pain when they put his knee through a series of movements.

Iraola was very concerned and after the game, “I think it’s the worst news from the game, definitely. He twisted his knee. I think it’s just an MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) but we have to check and see if it is a small sprain or something bigger. Obviously, it is not what we want. To lose a player like Tyler for us is massive, especially when you do not have Lewis Cook. Alex (Scott) had to play in that holding position and he has done really well, but it’s bad news because Tyler is massive for us.”

 Calvert-Lewin realises his potential

I have always felt that Dominic Calvert-Lewin could have enjoyed a much more high-profile career. A player of enormous talent as a goal scorer who seemed to fall short much of the time. His time at Leeds is proving to be an enjoyable experience for the 28-year-old and even England manager Thomas Tuchel has taken note of his performance level.

Calvert-Lewin is a heading specialist and his 82nd-minute goal demonstrated a skill that few other strikers can match. Coach Daniel Farke says of Calvert-Lewin, “We are very, very blessed to have him. In his current form, he is unstoppable. From the first day he walked through the door, I knew we had made a good decision to bring him in. He is a great human being, on and off the pitch. A great team-mate, great for the dressing room and a hard worker. He has been very unlucky during the past two years with injuries but his quality was never in doubt. His CV speaks for itself.”

Dominic himself said, “I’m feeling good, feeling healthy. This is the fittest I have been in a long time and I’ve worked hard to get into this position.”

Farke’s 3-5-2 line-up is getting the best out of the striker, who has seen him score in four consecutive Premier League appearances.

Frank finds Tottenham a tough task

You have probably read that Thomas Frank is under serious pressure at Tottenham and even he admits that he has a much more difficult job at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium than his previous long-standing comfortable position at Brentford.

Horrified supporters could only watch in pain as goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario took on the role of Santa Claus and presented a gift to Archie Gray to set up Callum Hudson-Odoi for Nottingham Forest to assert superiority over Tottenham. Despite fielding a strong forward line of Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons, Randal Kolo Muani and Richarlison, Tottenham only managed one shot on goal.

After finishing 17th last season the club’s owners, the Lewis family and the CEO Vinai Venkatesham sacked Ange Postecoglou and replaced him with Frank. The deal was less theory and more action. Win games, he was told.

Managing Brentford was relatively easy because they are a small club performing above their status. Tottenham is a completely different situation, still being one of football’s biggest clubs. I have met Frank on several occasions and he is a very likeable, very knowledgeable football manager. A nice guy, in fact. But this job at Tottenham is testing him like no other and at the moment, the fans are losing confidence and I am not sure he is retaining much backing at the club despite being promised money to spend in January. Will Tottenham keep supporting Frank? Time will tell but at the moment, Venkatesham says he wants Frank to carry on.

Howe apologises for lacklustre display against fierce rivals

After a fierce but somewhat scrappy battle, Sunderland couldn’t get past the Newcastle defence on Sunday and so Nick Woltemade intervened and scored in the wrong net and his own goal gave the home fans bragging rights until 2026.

It was a match that both sets of fans were desperate to win, as I said in last week’s column, and that was also the brief to the players and the coaches. The importance of the match prompted Newcastle manager Eddie Howe to issue an apology to his supporters after losing the seventh match in eight against their bitter rivals.

In case you were wondering why Sunderland posed for a team picture, it was a revenge move because Newcastle did the same thing when they won 3-0 in the Stadium of Light in 2024, when they posed for a celebratory picture.

Howe said, “I am so disappointed for our supporters and sorry for the performance and the lack of goalmouth action….that’s going to sting for a long time.”

Big defender Dan Burn was taken to the hospital at halftime with breathing difficulties after a collision with Nordi Mukiele, which fractured a rib and damaged a lung. He spent the night in the hospital and is now being cared for by Newcastle’s medical team.

Howe’s immediate problem is to work hard with Anthony Elanga, who promised so much when transferring from Nottingham Forest for £50million but has so far been relatively quiet.

 Vardy marches on…

He will always be a legend on the terraces at Leicester City, but at 39 years of age, Jamie Vardy is still proving he is a force to be reckoned with.

He has just received the honour of being awarded the Italian EA Sports FC Player of the Month for November, beating notable players such as Mike Maignan, Lautaro Martinez, David Neres, Leo Ostigard and Nicolo Zaniolo.

Luigi De Siervo, CEO of Serie A, where Jamie is wowing fans with his unique brand of football, said this week, “Jamie Vardy is truly a player from another era. One of those talents, who with their history, their achievements and the indomitable spirit with which he lives every match, best expresses the romance of football.”

His arrival at Cremonese, who were quick to seize the opportunity to sign him this past summer, was greeted with great enthusiasm by all Serie A fans and Vardy is repaying them with top-level performances, great leadership and important goals, the result of the competitive spirit and shooting skills that have always distinguished him.”

Jamie scored two for his club, Cremonese, in their most recent match against Bologna and has helped them climb into the top half of the table in Serie A.

Jamie’s coach, Davide Nicola, revealed that he still prepares his own food and eats exactly what he likes…cheese and ham omelettes, pizza, port and Red Bull.” He did explain that the port helped him get to sleep the night before a big game.

Jamie said, “I wake up in the morning and have a Red Bull. I get out of bed, get the children up, get their breakfast and then I open a Red Bull!”