This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
Nathan Redmond has always been somewhat of a flash-in-the-pan player, with no real consistency to his game.
That may sound harsh, but the one-cap England international has never scored more than seven goals in a league campaign across a huge 351 career appearances.
In those games, Redmond has managed to score 43 goals and record 44 assists – on average, that works out at a goal every 8.16 games.
To further emphasise the Englishman’s previous ineffectiveness, it took Redmond until May to find the back of the net in the 2017/18 campaign – his one and only Premier League goal that term – and he only registered three assists throughout the entirety of that season.
The Birmingham-born forward also didn’t score until three days before Christmas last season.
Having said that, the former Birmingham forward enjoyed a decent 2018/19 campaign in which he scored nine times over the course of the final six months of the season across the FA Cup and Premier League.
Redmond also earned a call-up into Gareth Southgate’s England squad as a result of his excellent form.
Furthermore, Southampton decided to hand the attacker a new long-term contract as reward for his efforts.
Sadly, it seems as if Redmond has reverted to type since August 8 – the day of his contract renewal.
In the ten Premier League games since he put pen to paper, the 25-year-old has scored just once amid a string of ineffective showings.
Most recently, Redmond did next to nothing in the Saints’ 2-1 defeat to Everton last time out as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men suffered their eighth loss in the Premier League this season.
The former Norwich forward – who cost Southampton a reported £10m – didn’t have a single shot against the Toffees while also failing to make a key pass.
The Saints No.22 also didn’t embark on a single dribble, nor did he draw a foul from the opposition – it is a mystery as to what he did actually do before being substituted in the 81st minute.
It is a real shame to see. Things looked like they were on the up in regards to Redmond’s form at the end of last season, but it appears as if the England international has slipped back into his comfort zone following his contract extension.
Liverpool fans are buzzing about the performance of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on international duty with England. The 26-year-old was playing in a midfield three with his country and opened the scoring with a sweet finish.
Now, after his first international goal since he bagged against Scotland over two years ago, fans are delighted with his newly found form. The former Arsenal man has had a torrid time with injuries and missed most of Liverpool’s incredible season last year by sitting on the sidelines for 293 days.
Now, however, it seems there has been a huge revival in his career and fans are loving it.
The £35m star has only started twice in the league but has bagged five times in his last six outings for club and country.
As a result of his fantastic form, Liverpool fans are very excited for the rest of his season, with many other supporters pointing to the fact he “can’t stop scoring”.
Up next for the Reds is the tough away trip to Crystal Palace. Now, with the injury news on Mohamed Salah unclear, there is a good chance Oxlade-Chamberlain could continuing this run at Selhurst Park.
Here’s what fans have had to say about another great performance from their man…
Manuel Pellegrini has had the whole international break to mull over the lineup that he will put out as West Ham United face Tottenham Hotspur on a day when Jose Mourinho makes his return to the Premier League.
A 3-0 loss suffered at the hands of Burnley in the Hammers’ previous game means that there could be changes made in an attempt to turn the team’s fortunes around.
That is greatly needed for a side whose winless run has now extended to seven games following that defeat at Turf Moor.
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Beating bitter rivals Spurs would certainly be a way of helping to lift morale around the club, so with this in mind, here is our expected XI as Pellegrini makes three changes from the side that were humbled at Turf Moor:
Roberto may have made two mistakes during the Burnley loss, adding to the many he has made since coming in to cover for Lukasz Fabianski, but Pellegrini has hinted that he will be sticking with the Spaniard, as reported on the official club website.
Ryan Fredericks was reinstated to the side against Burnley after Pablo Zabaleta struggled against Newcastle United. Considering how much the Argentinian struggled against Allan Saint-Maximin, it seems likely that Fredericks will be adding to his 10 starts this season.
Issa Diop has played every Premier League game so far, meaning that alongside Declan Rice and Sebastien Haller he is pretty much nailed on to be playing in this game.
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Angelo Ogbonna has been picked ahead of Fabian Balbuena here, after the Paraguayan’s role in Burnley’s second goal. The Italian has also been better statistically across the campaign, indicating he deserves the chance to step in.
Arthur Masuaku spoke to Manuel Pellegrini about his recent lack of game time, as reported by Football Insider, and there is the possibility that he could now be reinstated back into the team, continuing the trend of rotation at left-back.
Andriy Yarmolenko didn’t start against Burnley, but having assisted Ukraine’s late equaliser against Serbia, he could get the nod to start this time around.
Michail Antonio was considered here, but as he is only just returning from injury it may be wise to bring him off the bench.
Mark Noble has recovered from the injury that forced him off against Burnley, so he should be able to regain his place in the midfield. This would see Pablo Fornals miss out on a place in the team, though the captain is more likely to play, especially when it is considered how underwhelming the Spaniard has been.
Having scored against both Sheffield United and Newcastle United, it can be reasonably expected that Snodgrass will be featuring against Spurs.
Felipe Anderson has been slightly underwhelming this season, failing to score a single goal so far, but he has still managed three assists. Pellegrini will be hoping the Brazilian can replicate what he did last time Jose Mourinho came to London Stadium and get himself on the scoresheet.
Considering the team’s poor run of form, the result in this game could see the mood at West Ham rise or fall considerably, so Pellegrini will need to find the right balance in an attempt to overcome Spurs.
Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti appears to be already gearing up for next season if reports emerging over the weekend are to be believed.
According to the Mirror [March 29th, page 77], winger Theo Walcott has been made available for transfer after failing to impress the 60-year-old ever since he took the reins back in December.
It’s claimed that the club will try to move the 31-year-old on should any reasonable offer come in for him this summer. He’s currently valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt and is on a healthy pay packet of £100k-per-week with his contract not set to expire until 2021.
And fans have been discussing his future on social media, here’s what has been said so far…
There were those fully behind the ploy, claiming it was “finally good news” with one supporter even blasting the Englishman for being a “mercenary”.
Walcott has made 25 appearances this term, but has only managed to find the net once whilst three assists in all competitions is hardly inspiring either.
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As a winger, his numbers are just as dire, averaging a mere 0.4 crosses, 0.6 key passes and 1.6 unsuccessful touches per game in the Premier League, per WhoScored.
However, there were some fans who would rather see other names out the exit door before the veteran wide man, most notably Gylfi Sigurdsson – a further member of the Toffees faithful said he’d accept as little as £5m for the Icelandic playmaker as he’s been the “biggest waste of money” in the club’s history.
Other names listed included Sandro Ramirez, Yannick Bolasie and Cuco Martina while others had their doubts over whether they could actually rid Goodison Park of Walcott.
How much do you really know about the Farhad Moshiri era? Answer 25 simple questions below…
AND in other news, Everton must be ruthless with this 26 y/o in the summer…
Everton winger Bernard has issued a strong response via his official Instagram account after Italian media outlet LaRoma24, via Sport Witness, reported that he had been offered to the AS Roma.
The report says that the 27-year-old is just one of a number of Brazilian players they are targeting this summer, as they look to boost their frontline ahead of the 2020/21 campaign – whenever that may be.
After the EvertonNewsFeed account posted the story on Instagram, the South American attacker was quick to shoot the rumours down, simply responding: “This is lie”.
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It has certainly been an interesting campaign for Bernard under Marco Silva, Duncan Ferguson and now Carlo Ancelotti, scoring three goals and providing a further two assists in 22 appearances in all competitions.
In the 11 Premier League matches the Italian has been at the helm for, the winger has started six of them.
However, he has been taken off at half-time in two of those, and was an unused substitute for two more, so he certainly doesn’t appear to have won Ancelotti over just yet.
In other Everton news, one Toffees transfer target has been compared to Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema…
Arsenal haven’t always covered themselves in glory in the transfer market over the years, with arguably more flops than successes coming through the Emirates Stadium doors.
Even great manager Arsene Wenger wasn’t immune to signing the odd flop, although he often got it right as well, with Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and several others going on to do great things for the Gunners.
Unai Emery bought his fair share of flops during his short spell, too, and no doubt Mikel Arteta will make mistakes during his tenure, too.
So we’ve taken a look at back at the 20 biggest Arsenal flops in the Premier League era, although admittedly it could’ve been a lot more…
Mikael Silvestre
We start with a great player who the Gunners just decided to prise away from Manchester United way too late in his career, versatile French defender Mikael Silvestre.
The 31-year-old at the time of his Emirates Stadium arrival really struggled to have the same impact he had at Old Trafford in north London and featured a mere 43 times in two years.
Andre Santos
Arsene Wenger scouted the former Brazil international at Fenerbache and decided to take a near £5m punt on the left-sided star, it was one that failed to pay off with Santos only able to provide three goals and no assists in 33 outings.
He also hardly endeared himself to the red army, see Robin van Persie incident.
John Jensen
Curly-haired Danish 1992 UEFA European champion John Jensen became something of a cult hero at Highbury right at the beginning of the Premier League era.
However, that doesn’t really take away from the fact that he never really delivered in the tricky pre-Wenger period for the North Londoners and he was signed as a result of an agent giving George Graham a back-hander – at least he’ll always have that seminal goal against Queens Park Rangers to remember.
Denilson
Football – Leyton Orient v Arsenal FA Cup Fifth Round – The Matchroom Stadium, Brisbane Road – 10/11 – 20/2/11 Arsenal’s Denilson lies on the picth after appearing to sustain an injury Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Tony O’Brien Livepic
When the Gunners forked out £3.4m to sign little-known 19-year-old Brazilian Denilson in the summer of 2006, there was a feeling of excitement and bemusement around the club.
The latter one turned out to be the more appropriate reaction.
Despite making over a century-and-a-half of Arsenal appearances, the central defensive midfielder never really lived up to his potential and comfortably makes it onto this list.
Sebastien Squillaci
Taking about easily being one of the Gunners’ worst signings in Premier League history, Sebastien Squillaci is right up there and could even be the worst.
The ill-disciplined ex-France centre-back never really settled into English football, struggling from the off and the fact that his international career was brought to a halt after he moved to north London says it all really.
Denis Suarez
Denis Suarez’s loan from Barcelona to Arsenal in the second half of 2018/2019 was certainly one of the most pointless transfers of the Premier League era.
The agile attacking midfielder played just six times, a cameo role from the bench on each occasion, before picking up a groin injury a month before the end of the campaign and spending the rest of it on the sidelines.
Junichi Inamoto
There was definitely something fishy about Japan legend Junichi Inamoto’s switch to Highbury in 2001 as he was plucked out of the microscopic J-League on loan only to ever feature four times in cup competitions.
Looking back now it very much appears that there were other motives behind this move, perhaps the Gunners wanted to raise their profile and sell more shirts in Japan ahead of the 2002 FIFA World Cup? And maybe the transfer was successful in that sense?
Nevertheless, Arsene Wenger’s face above doesn’t in the least suggest suspicion…
Yaya Sanogo
Former Golden Boy nominee Yaya Sanogo is a classic example of that player who impresses hugely in pre-season and turns out to be a flop when they start to sink their teeth into some competitive action.
The French youth prodigy did what Arsenal’s official social media accounts are still referring to as a “madness” against Napoli in the Emirates Cup in just his second pre-season, scoring four times in a 5-1 victory.
However, his form competitively was a world apart from this as Sanogo pathetically never scored a Premier League goal in four years before a free transfer back to his homeland with Toulouse.
Richard Wright
Arsenal’s goalkeeper Richard Wright watches the ball bounce past himduring their English Premiere League match against Charlton Athletic atHighbury November 4, 2001. Arsenal lost the match 4-2. REUTERS/RussellBoyce “No online/internet usage without FAPL licence. For details seewww.faplweb.com”RUS/AA
It’s simply laughable that not only did the Gunners spend £2m, some sum in 2001, to bring goalkeeper Richard Wright in from Ipswich Town, Arsene Wenger saw him as the long-term replacement for ageing club legend David Seaman.
Wait, it gets better, Wright actually managed to earn a Premier League winners’ medal during his mistake-laden Highbury spell but unsurprisingly, he didn’t even come close to establishing himself as the new first choice in north London.
Andrey Arshavin
Andrey Arshavin is a man who will always polarise opinion in world football – there was no doubting his talent though he could never really get over his frustrating inconsistency.
The fact remains, however, that the Gunners never really got anything more than THAT performance against Liverpool at Anfield out of the controversial Russian for their lofty £14.85m.
Some Leeds United fans have reacted to comments made by striker Tyler Roberts about he and his teammates’ desire to finish the league season.
The Whites sit top of the Championship table as things stand and are on the verge of sealing promotion to the Premier League. However, with football currently at a standstill due to the recent pandemic, fans of the Yorkshire club have been left on the edge.
Many claims have been made about the restart of the Championship season, whilst the German Bundesliga are the first European league expected to return, confirming that they will return to action on May 15.
Roberts, who has appeared sparingly this season for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, has now spoken to BBC Radio Leeds about the squad’s desire to return and finish off the season.
“We as players desperately want to play out the end of the season,” the striker said.
Leeds still have nine games left to play in the Championship, last playing on March 13, and the news of Bundesliga’s return has sparked many fans of the club to show excitement over a potential return for England’s second flight.
Reacting to Roberts’ comments, fans shared their opinion on the matter….
Do you think Tyler Roberts should be handed more playing time? Let us know in the comments section below…
Leeds United centre-back Gaetano Berardi’s future is in limbo and it’s only been made more complicated by any potential extension to the Championship season.
The 31-year-old is out of contract this summer but director of football Victor Orta is expecting him – and others – to be available for selection should the campaign run into July.
LeedsLive reporter Beren Cross relayed an interview the Spaniard did with Guillem Balague in a recent article and fans have been reacting to the news on social media.
Berardi is certainly a divisive figure at Elland Road and these comments have only increased divide tenfold – many would like to see him stay next term whilst others still believe he’s a liability.
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The Swiss defender has played 17 times in the Championship this term, keeping a clean sheet in 11 of those matches as backup to skipper Liam Cooper and loan star Ben White.
It remains to be seen if Marcelo Bielsa will keep hold of him when his contract does expire.
Here’s how fans have been reacting…
AND in other news, Leeds fans react as Phil Hay relays key EFL news
Plenty of Newcastle United fans have been lauding an update on the prospective takeover in the North East from Henry Winter after he shared his latest thoughts on the matter on his official Twitter page.
As per The Times journalist, he claims that the Saudis, referring to Amanda Staveley’s consortium on the buying side side of the deal with Mike Ashley on the other, remain the favourites to get their bid over the line, and added that money talks loudest with the Premier League.
Winter says that Staveley and the billionaire Reuben brothers in the consortium bring credibility, and suggests that supporters of the Tyneside club deserve a decision.
The writer also hinted that a group from the United States with ties in Great Britain have a long-term interest in the Magpies, and have the funds in place to potentially swoop in as they are watching the delay with keen interest.
These members of the Toon faithful lauded the update as Winter seems to be a man that they trust:
Geordies, do you trust Winter with takeover updates? Comment below!
With various Arsenal players signing new contracts last week such as David Luiz and Cedric Soares, it looks likely that young prospect Bukayo Saka is close to following suit.
According to David Ornstein, who writes for The Athletic on Arsenal matters, the Gunners are putting the finishing touches to a new long-term contract for Saka that will settle his future at the club.
Saka has had a fine breakthrough season for the north London side. He is only one of the first names on the team sheet.
He has played 11 times as a left-back, seven times as a left-winger, twice as an attacking midfielder and once as a left midfielder, per Transfermarkt, which also shows how versatile he is and highlights his enormous potential.
Saka has made 33 appearances this season, scoring three times and picking up 10 assists. He has also managed 1.4 tackles a game, per WhoScored, which highlights he has been solid defensively as well.
The academy graduate looks happy to stay and be a part of Mikel Arteta’s plans for the long-term future.
Therefore, the news of him signing a new contract will be a great boost for both the club and its supporters and hopefully Arsenal can tie down a few more of his team-mates for the long-term so that they can improve upon their Premier League position next season.
Gunners fans, how happy are you that Saka is extending his stay at the club? Let us know in the comments below!